Area wrestlers litter podium at girls sub-regional
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Othello's Nikki Velazqez (left) is tied up with Lakeside's Akina Yamada during the 130-pound championship.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Othello's Nikki Velazquez (red) scores back points in the district semifinals against Maria Mondragon of Kiona-Benton.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden's Angelica Vela works to get Othello's Emily Mendez onto her back during the 105-pound district final.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Othello's Nikki Velazquez (red) tries to free her leg from Kiona-Benton's Maria Mondragon.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden's Aaliyah Escamilla (blue) tries to dodge a shot from Moses Lake's Melanie Flores.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Quincy's Cynthia Diaz falls on top of Warden's Mariah Garza for a take-down and last-second win in the 110-pound championship.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Othello's Kaylee Martinez (red) controls Wilbur-Creston's Taylor Strozyk from the top position in the district semifinals.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden's Aaliyah Escamilla (blue) tries to escape the grasp of Moses Lake's Melanie Flores.
Kennady Schlagel/courtesy photo Moses Lake's Beau Mauseth grapples with Eisenhower's Raul Jimenez during the 170-pound district finals.
Kennady Schlagel/courtesy photo Moses Lake's Hunter Cruz (top) pinned his way to the 152-pound district championship.
WARDEN — Quincy’s Cynthia Diaz (110) danced up the podium, all the way to the top spot.
Her improbable run to a district championship and a No. 1 regional seed culminated with a last-second take-down to upset tenth-ranked state veteran Mariah Garza of Warden.
“It feels really good,” Diaz said. “I’ve worked really hard, but I’m not done. Hard work still works. I have regionals and my goal is to get into state so I know I need to push it a lot more to make it there. It feels really good to know that hard work pays off in the end if you push yourself — that third round, those full six minutes — in the end it all pays off.”
Diaz denied host Warden a third consecutive district champion, scoring two points as time expired. Garza, trailing 6-5, worked herself free of Diaz’s grasp for a one-point escape and had control of a leg.
However, Diaz was able to maneuver toward the inside of the mat and fall on top of Garza for the take-down just before the whistle.
“I hopped on my other leg and hipped her and she went down and I just jumped on her,” Diaz said. “I got right on her and I got my two points.”
Diaz’s victory highlighted a day of dominance for Columbia Basin wrestlers. Othello and Warden, with the most numbers by far, cruised to first and second, respectively, in the team race. The Huskies totaled 260 points and advanced 14 to the regional tournament at Wahluke. The Cougars scored 184 points and had seven wrestlers move on in the postseason.
“We got more through than I anticipated,” Othello head coach JJ Martinez said. “That finals is not enough for us. There’s some disappointing matches overall that I felt that we should have won. We were expecting to just about everyone in... We have a lot of things to work on to get ready for the tough, tough competition.”
Othello had the most finalists with seven, but only crowned one district champion — Nikki Velazquez (130). Velazquez faced Akina Yamada of Lakeside in a repeat of the championship at the Othello Girls Invitational last month. Yamada was disqualified in that match.
On Saturday, Yamada kept things close quarters, but Velazquez avoided a take-down and won on a lone escape in the second round, 1-0.
“All she wants to do is throw me,” said Velazquez, who is ranked third at 130 pounds. “That’s why I have another week to practice for her because I know next week she’s going to want to come out and beat me and I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Warden took five into the finals and had three champions. Aaliyah Escamilla (100) and Angelica Vela (105) began the final round with two wins for the hosts. Escamilla outlasted Moses Lake’s Melanie Flores 3-2. Neither girl scored a take-down, but Escamilla was awarded two points for technical violations by Flores.
“I think it was more nerves coming into it and it becoming a reality,” Warden head coach Valerie Hernandez said. “She (Escamilla) has set her goals quite high and her expectations are high also, but I think she handled it quite well. She’s been competing since she was eight years old so she’s handled it pretty well.”
Monica Canales (125) rounded out Warden’s district champions with a 7-0 victory against Othello’s Rose Gutierrez, receiving a raucous ovation.
“It was nice to actually see the crowd be loud and the girls really appreciated that. I appreciated that so it was fun,” Hernandez said.
Team scores
1. Othello 260
2. Warden 184
3. Eastmont 88
4. Kiona-Benton 83.50
5. Wahluke 70
6. Quincy 64
8. Ephrata 52
9. Royal 45
18. Moses Lake 17
31. Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 4
Local placers
100: Aaliyah Escamilla (Warden), 1st; Melanie Flores (Moses Lake), 2nd; Gabriela Rodriguez (Othello), 3rd
105: Angelica Vela (Warden), 1st; Emily Mendez (Othello), 2nd; Kasandra Ozuna (Warden), 4th; Maria Sanchez (Wahluke), 5th
110: Cynthia Diaz (Quincy), 1st; Mariah Garza (Warden), 2nd; Denise Guerra (Othello), 3rd; Carmelita Garcia (Othello, 4th
115: Mya Spencer (Ephrata), 1st; Iyalhye Barraza (Othello), 2nd
120: Sienna Stocking (Ephrata), 1st; Alexis Mendoza (Warden), 2nd; Jacky Peguero (Othello, 3rd
125: Monica Canales (Warden), 1st; Rose Gutierrez (Othello), 2nd; Ruby Villalobos (Othello), 3rd
130: Nikki Velazquez (Othello), 1st
135: Elizabeth Giles (Othello), 2nd; Francisca Sahara-Smith (Quincy), 3rd; Andrea Hernandez (Warden), 5th
140: Kaylee Martinez (Othello, 1st
145: Abby Yorgensen (Wahluke), 2nd; Mariah DeLeon (Othello), 4th
155: Diana Lopez (Wahluke), 1st; Brenda Salgado (Quincy), 4th; Gracie Lopez (Warden), 5th
170: Victoria Mendoza (Othello), 2nd; Bianca Urias (Warden), 6th
190: Estephania Vargas (Othello), 3rd; Alysha Alegria (Othello), 6th
235: Karely Garcia (Warden), 3rd; Amanda Contreras (Warden), 5th
Boys wrestling
Moses Lake runner-up at 4A district wrestling
WENATCHEE — Moses Lake advanced the most wrestlers to the finals, but was runner-up to Sunnyside at the District 6 4A Tournament for the second year in a row.
The Chiefs had nine finalists and five champions. Nick Hara (132) outlasted Davis’ John Sowers 2-0, Hunter Cruz (152) pinned Abraham Arreola of Sunnyside, Daiman Vasquez (182) defeated Wenatchee’s Dillon Bair 12-2, Payton Castro (220) edged Sunnyside’s Daniel Huizar 7-5 and Chandler Fluaitt (285) beat teammate Daniel Zermeno 4-3.
Riley Burgess (106), Christien Knopp (138) and Beau Mauseth (170) were runners-up.
Moses Lake advanced 13 wrestlers to the regional tournament at Curtis High School in University Place.
Othello second to top-ranked Toppenish at 2A districts
WAPATO — Othello finished second at the District 5/6 2A Wrestling Tournament behind top-ranked Toppenish.
The Wildcats raced to the team title with 369.5 points, well ahead of the Huskies’ 249.
The Huskies crowned three champions and advanced 14 wrestlers to the Region IV tournament in Ellensburg. Reese Jones (170), TJ Martinez (195) and Isaiah Perez (220) placed first. Chemi Cantu (285) and Collin Freeman (152) were runners-up.
Ephrata and Quincy finished sixth and seventh with 156 and 152 points, respectively.
Cole Spencer (170 and Drew Anderson (182) took second place. Mac Laird (182) and Eli Guevara (22) both finished third. Ephrata pushed eight wrestlers through to regionals.
Royal first, Warden second at 1A districts
MATTAWA — Royal’s depth delivered against Warden for a district tournament championship.
The Knights advanced 15 wrestlers to regionals and bested Warden in the team race 288-240. Warden had 11 wrestlers move on to the regional tournament Feb. 11 at Royal High School.
Anthony Martinez (113), Rodrigo Ozuna (132), Robert Arredondo (182) and Martin Dominguez (220) were tournament champions for the Cougars. Ozuna was particularly impressive with three first-round pins in a row.
Bryce Martinez (126), Elijah Gonsalez and Tyrone Mendez (170) finished second.