Quincy escapes with close win at Ephrata

Ephrata's Gerry Villafana (black) tries to fight off Quincy's Victor Tafoya Thursday at Ephrata High School.

by CONNOR VANDERWEYST & Sports Editor
Staff Writer | January 29, 2016 12:45 PM

EPHRATA — A little luck is sometimes needed to walk out of a hostile environment against a rival with a win.

So when a sure pin by Ephrata’s Jared Durfee (195) turned into a pin by Andy Reynolds, Quincy had to feel fortunate. Especially with a forfeit at 220 pounds looming.

Instead of giving up 12 quick points, the Jacks split the difference and hung on to beat the Tigers by eight points, 36-28.

“We expected it to be close,” Quincy head coach Greg Martinez said. “We’re both kind of on the younger end. If you look at our match scores they’ve been very similar all year so for the kids to come in and wrestle well when they needed to was good.

“We wanted to end on a positive note and take that into the district meet.”

After Ephrata’s Cade Cox (120) won by fall in the third round, Quincy was able to regain the lead for good when Julian Trejo (126) and Devon Salcedo (138) posted wins. Ephrata forfeited 132 pounds.

The Tigers posted a win at 145 points before the Jacks responded with wins in five out of the next seven matches.

“I thought Ephrata did real well,” Martinez said. “I thought they were aggressive. They were working the head real good. We definitely need to fix that when we see them at districts, but it was a good match.”

Quincy’s Tanner Wallace (152), Ray Robinson (160) and Victor Tafoya (170) rattle off three wins to give Quincy some breathing room, 27-9.

Ephrata’s Drew Anderson (182) answered with a tight 5-2 win over Iche Ramirez.

In a match pitting the fourth-ranked Ramirez against Anderson, the two were tied 2-2 in the third round before Ramirez chose the neutral position and spotted Anderson a point. The decision proved costly as Anderson was able to record a take down with 16 seconds left to preserve the win.

Rey Rubio (285) edged Rolo Reyes for Quincy’s last win of the night. Ephrata closed the gap with wins at 106 and 113 pounds.

Both teams will reconvene Feb. 5 at the district tournament in Ellensburg.

“Tomorrow morning in our wrestling we have a couple challenges to finalize our team and then a good day of hard work tomorrow,” Martinez said. “Give them the weekend off then Monday back at it to rock and roll.”

Othello 48, Wapato 24

WAPATO — Anthony Ruiz (220) and Alejandro Cardenas (132) finished undefeated in the CWAC as Othello downed Wapato 48-24.

The Huskies won nine matches, three by forfeit.

Wapato dominated the lightweights, winning at 106, 113, 120, 126 and 138 pounds. However, Cardenas picked up a win at 132 pounds and Othello ran the table form 145 to 285 pounds.

Collin Freeman (152), Reese Jones (160), Allen Rosales (170) and DJ Guzman (195) won by fall.