Moses Lake wins 12 matches, routs West Valley 57-6
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake’s Payton Castro looks to pin West Valley’s Seth Jacobs.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake’s Daiman Vasquez (maroon) takes down West Valley’s Austin Jacobs.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake’s Hunter Cruz (maroon) hangs on to West Valley’s Cade Ewing for a take-down.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake’s Nick Hara (maroon) grapples with West Valley’s Jamie Plumlee.
MOSES LAKE — Adrian Suarez’s (145) return to the Moses Lake home mat was brief, yet rewarding.
The senior, who stepped away from wrestling his junior year, cradled Emanuel Orozco of West Valley for a pin in 14 seconds. It was the first match of the night, setting the tone for another Moses Lake rout 57-6.
Outside of the state veterans, seniors Suarez and Caleb Alvarado (113) provided the highlights at dissimilar times; Suarez’s match ended in an instant whereas Alvarado needed all six minutes.
Down 6-4 late in the third round, Alvarado reversed and scored a two-point near-fall against Kody Lowrie for an 8-4 decision.
“I’m pleased with both of those guys,” head coach Jaime Garza said. “They’re both seniors and I’m glad they stuck through the sport. Adrian is a kid that didn’t wrestle as a junior and I think he kind of regrets it a little bit, but with that being said, I’m glad that he’s in our lineup and I think he’s going to help us out in a variety of ways.
“He’s a great kid and he has some ability... He’s a long, lanky kid and so that’s an advantage when it comes to wrestling.”
Moses Lake won six of the first seven matches; its only loss was at 152 pounds when Levi Carlos was unable to score a go-ahead take-down against Conner Koch for a narrow 5-4 decision.
However, Hunter Cruz (160) started a string of dominant victories. Cruz took down Cade Ewing five times in the first round, finishing with a 19-3 technical fall.
“Last week I kind of just took my guy down and tilted him a lot and I teched him that way in the first round,” said Cruz, who is ranked No. 3 at 160 pounds. “So this week I decided I need to work on my take-downs a little bit better for the weekend.”
Beau Mauseth (170) won by fall in the second round before two consecutive major decision victories by Bailey Sanchez (182) and Daiman Vasquez (195).
Payton Castro outclassed Seth Jacobs for a 15-0 technical fall. Castro, a state participant last season, led 10-0 after the first round.
“We cut a few guys and we put them back on their feet because they just need to open up,” Garza said. “It wasn’t by no means to boast, but these guys need to work on their techniques on their feet and therefore we put a few guys up in that position where they were able to focus on that. Some of our guys we need to become a little better in that neutral position.”
State finalist Nick Hara (138) ended the dual with a third-round pin of Jamie Plumlee.
Caleb Lawson (106) edged Issachar WestRivera 4-0, Thomas Hamm (120) won by technical fall 17-2 and Spencer Humphreys scored a major decision over Josiah Smith 12-4.
“We know who our big dogs are, but it’s those guys that are going to step up that are going to get us a title,” Cruz said.
Results:
145: Adrian Suarez (ML) p. Emanual Orozco
152: Conner Kock d. Levi Carlos (ML) 5-4
160: Hunter Cruz (ML) d. Cade Ewing 19-3
170: Beau Mauseth (ML) p. Stephen Farris
182: Bailey Sanchez (ML) d. Kadin Rathburn 13-5
195: Daiman Vasquez (ML) d. Austin Jacobs 15-4
220: Payton Castro (ML) d. Seth Jacobs 15-0
285: Nick Haviland d. Carson Evan (ML) 7-3
106: Caleb Lawson (ML) d. Issachar WestRivera 4-0
113: Caleb Alvarado (ML) d. Kody Lowrie 8-4
120: Thomas Hamm (ML) d. Adrian Gonzalez 17-2
126: West Valley forfeit
132: Spencer Humphreys (ML) d. Josiah Smith 12-4
138. Nick Hara (ML) p. Jamie Plumlee
Note: Moses Lake travels to the Inland Empire Tournament this weekend at Central Valley High School.