Japanese youth team shows off impressive skill-set
Moses Lake's Chandler Fluaitt (left) wrestles with Japan's Shuhei Nagano Wednesday at Royal High School.
Warden's Josiah Guerra (red) tries to free himself from the grip of Taishi Narikumi. Fluaitt and Guerra wrestled as members of the Columbia Basin All-Stars against an elite Japanese team filled with Olympic hopefuls.
ROYAL CITY — 300.
That’s how many days in a year Japan’s youth wrestling team trains. To put that number in perspective, a high school wrestling season is typically around 90 days.
The Japanese team that flew into Spokane Monday and traveled to Royal City for a dual with the Columbia Basin All-Stars — a team comprised of some of the best wrestlers from Moses Lake, Warden, Othello, Royal and other east side schools — was the best of the best.
And they showed it.
Showcasing some of the top youth wrestlers in all of Asia, Team Japan won all of its matches and the final team score was 54-0.
The Japanese had to make a slight adjustment from wrestling freestyle to folkstyle, but the effect was superfluous.
“If these guys are the elite team that are trying to get on their Olympic team they’re the real deal,” Warden head coach Brent Cox said. “They’ve got muscles on top of muscles.”
Cox had one wrestler in the field, Josiah Guerra (132). Guerra was a state runner-up at last year’s Mat Classic. Guerra matched up with Japan’s Taishi Narikumi.
Although Narikumi won comfortably 12-4, Guerra was the first Columbia Basin wrestler to score two points on a reversal in the first five matches.
“This is exciting for him,” Cox said. “Just to be able to have this opportunity to come and wrestle with these guys. I said just go have fun ... Josiah’s just an exceptional wrestler.”
Othello wrestlers Reese Jones (163) and Anthony Ruiz (183) also wrestled their counterparts closely, both losing 4-2 decisions.
Moses Lake’s Chandler Fluaitt (264) came close to downing two-time national champion Shuhei Nagano. After escaping twice, Fluaitt trailed 4-2 in the waning moments of the match but couldn’t take down Nagano to force overtime.
Despite going against one of the best international youth heavyweights, Fluaitt’s approach didn’t change.
“I knew what he was capable of, but it was a new style for him so it was kind of tough,” he said. “If we were wrestling anything else I think it would’ve been a lot different. He wrestled very well and so did I. It was a great experience. I’m glad to wrestle him and I appreciate this tournament and stuff.
“I really didn’t think anything different, though. It was just go and wrestle how I want to wrestle, control the match, control the ties, do what I want to do. Don’t give him anything stupid.”
The capacity crown became energized during Regan Callahan’s (145) match. Callahan, a member of the Royal wrestling team, was close to notching Columbia Basin’s first win of the night when he cradled Juki Takamori and scored a two-point near fall in the second round. However, Takamori recovered and pinned Callahan.
“You got the people on their feet,” Royal head coach Randy Miller told Callahan as he left the mat. “They were excited.”
Royal’s Kiki Chabolla and Reardan’s Josey Anderson held on for close losses. Chabolla lost a 9-4 decision to Ryou Matsui, while Anderson was on the wrong end of a 9-2 decision.
On a Columbia Basin team filled with wrestlers used to success, the result wasn’t ideal. However, the experience of learning a new culture and getting a chance to interact with new teammates was the ultimate reward.
“It’s just nice getting to meet all these new people,” Fluaitt said. “Seeing all the other great wrestlers across the Basin and getting together and wrestling with them.”