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ELLENSBURG — TJ Martinez, Othello’s 195-pounder, bent over to catch his breath and readjust his knee brace.

Martinez was deadlocked with Ellenburg’s Andrew Carney 2-2 in the regional championship. Spurned on by his home gym, Carney erased a 2-0 deficit to force overtime.

However, Martinez quickly eased the drama with a take-down within the first 10 seconds of the extra period to capture the regional championship — one of Othello’s three on the day.

“That guy beat us in the dual and TJ’s been working really hard and working on some things,” Othello head coach Rudy Ochao II said. “That Andrew Carney, he’s a tough kid. It was awesome that he was able to battle through being tired — he’s really banged up.”

Preceding Martinez’s win, freshman Isaiah Perez (220) overcame an early scare flat on his back near the boundary to pin Cheney’s Josh Baker in the first round. In a similar tie up that found Perez close to a loss by fall, Perez was able to power Baker down and come out on top in the scramble.

“He was trying to throw me and I locked it up, too, and then when he tried to throw me I used his momentum and rode it through and then he rolled it back through and I rolled it through again,” Perez said.

Reese Jones (170) solidified his fourth straight trip to the Tacoma Dome with a 7-0 win against Keyano Zamarripa of Toppenish in the semifinals and controlled Quintin Stansbury of West Valley (Spokane) in the championship round 6-0.

Collin Freeman gave up a lone reversal in the 152-pound championship and lost to Toppenish’s Andres Aguilera 2-0.

In all, the Huskies qualified seven for the state tournament.

Quincy’s Raul Barajas (126) won a hard-fought semifinal match with Toppenish’s Isaac John 12-9, but forfeited the 126-pound regional championship to Spencer Clegg of Clarkston.

Ephrata pushed four wrestlers into the state tournament and had one regional finalist.

Heavyweight Efrain Bedolla came back from a 6-0 deficit in the third round of his semifinal match against Alan Castillo of East Valley (Yakima) to win by fall. Bedolla ran into buzz-saw Jonathan Cuevas of Toppenish in the finals and was pinned in the first round. Cuevas pinned his way to the title, never leaving the first round.

“It means a lot (to reach the state tournament),” Bedolla said. “Being a first-year wrestler, I have three months of experience and making it this far going to state my first year — it means a lot to me.”

Sammy Flores (106), Cole Spencer (170) and Drew Anderson (182) worked their way back up the consolation bracket to advance to the last tournament of the season. Flores took third and Spencer and Anderson both finished fourth.

“We knew they were going to have their work cut out for them to get through this weekend and they all came here ready to work and ready to bounce back if things didn’t go there way,” Ephrata head coach PJ Anderson said. “They did what they had to do. I was pleased with the way they handled the weekend.”

Local placers

106: Sammy Flores, Ephrata, 3rd

113: Jaxon Rocha, Othello, 6th

120: Ben Garza, Othello, 4th; Jeremy Mendez, Othello, 5th

126: Raul Barajas, Quincy, 2nd

138: Sterling Roylance, Othello, 5th

152: Collin Freeman, Othello, 2nd; Tanner Wallace, Quincy, 5th

160: Bernie Garza Jr., Othello, 5th

170: Reese Jones, Othello, 1st; Cole Spencer, Ephrata, 4th

182: Drew Anderson, Ephrata, 4th; Mac Laird, Ephrata, 5th; Jerry Hodges, Quincy, 5th

195: TJ Martinez, Othello, 1st; DJ Guzman, Othello, 4th

220: Isaiah Perez, Othello, 1st; Eli Guevara, Ephrata, 6th

285: Efrain Bedolla, Ephrata, 2nd; Chemi Cantu, Othello, 3rd; Rey Rubio, Quincy, 5th

Moses Lake crowns three regional champs

UNIVERSITY PLACE — In a new region, Moses Lake took third place as a team and crowned three regional champions.

Hunter Cruz (152) defeated Puyallup’s Nolan Martinez in the final.

State alternate a season ago, Daiman Vasquez dropped down to 182 pounds and captured a regional championship. Vasquez outlasted Puyallup’s Casey Cramer 6-2 for the championship.

Top-ranked Chandler Fluaitt (285) edged Curtis’ Calhoun Helmberger 3-1 in the finals.

State finalist Nick Hara (132) was upset in the semifinals by Sunnyside’s Josiah Rodriguez before rallying to place third. Daniel Zermeno and Payton Castro also placed third.

Christien Knopp (138) finished fourth.

Curtis asserted itself as a state title contender, winning the tournament with 245.5 points. South Kitsap was second with 170 points and Moses Lake totaled 129.

Royal wins regional, pushes 9 to state

ROYAL CITY — Abraham Medina won the 126-pound title and Royal won an improbable regional championship Saturday in its home gym.

All 16 participants scored team points and the Knights upstaged Castle Rock for the team title 204-190. More, the Knights were able to send nine wrestlers to the state tournament.

Eduardo Rodriguez (120) and CJ Quintero (182) were regional finalists.

Warden finished third with 180 points and had seven move on to state. The Cougars were aided in the team standings with three regional champions: Anthony Martinez (113), Tyrone Mendez (170) and Robert Arredondo (182).

Rodrigo Ozuna (132) and Martin Dominguez (220) both finished second.

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague, Almira/Coulee-Hartline advance one wrestler each to state

SPOKANE — Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s Wyatt Zielinski was second at 126 pounds at the B regional tournament in Spokane.

Zielinski was pinned in the second round by Mary Walker’s Randy Dixon.

Tucker Guiles of Lind-Ritzville/Sprague took fourth place.