Othello girls win third straight Central Washington Girls Wrestling title
WARDEN — Tuesday night’s Central Washington Girls Wrestling quad match at Warden had a weird vibe to it, but in the end it was the same result as it’s been all year.
Pasco pulled out, didn’t even make the trip. Sunnyside brought just nine wrestlers, but only wrestled seven matches against the Othello Huskies. The Grizzlies ended up forfeiting so many matches they were never in either dual.
Didn’t matter, Othello (27-0) was at the head of the class, winning its third consecutive conference championship with a 49-12 victory over Sunnyside. Warden (26-1) won just three of the six matches wrestled and ended up beating Sunnyside 48-28.
It was a chance for the Huskies to lock down their third straight conference title and they did it in commanding fashion. Kaylee Martinez wrestled up a weight class to get some work in at 155. She pinned Lourdes Torres at 2:24. Victoria Mendoza won by pin in the 170-pound match.
“Being a part of all three championships means a lot,” said Martinez (30-2), who normally wrestles at 145. “To go back-to-back-to-back and remain undefeated so far says a lot. Moving forward, we have the team experience. We have the numbers, if we go out there and give it everything we got, I think we have a chance to win a state title.”
Rose Gutierrez a nice, efficient match against Jayda Densen at 125, winning 11-2 by major decision. The Husky sophomore represents the next generation of Othello wrestling, though she’s not new the game. She was a part of last year’s conference championship as a freshman.
“I’ve been wrestling since seventh grade and this means so much to me. We practice hard every day to get ready,” she said. “We’re strong all the way through our lineup. We help each other out, lift each other up. We take everything serious. My goal is to go to state and I’ve put a lot of effort into this season.”
The state tournament is the endgame for the Huskies, but they wrestle in one of the toughest conferences in the state. Getting through the regional tournament with numbers is critical Huskies coach J.J. Martinez said.
“(Winning the conference) was one of our goals, but there’s a lot of fine tuning we need to do to get ready for the postseason,” he said. “To be honest with you, we are so stacked with talent on this side of the mountain our regional tournament is tough. For us, Warden as well, it’s a matter of getting our girls to the state tournament were anything can happen.” The only dual Warden has lost this season is to Othello. Cougars coach Valerie Hernandez agrees, wrestling in one of the best conferences in the state is ideal preparation for bigger and better things. “We still have a little bit to clean up,” she said. “With our league, every weekend we are beating each other up, day in day out. We’re wrestling well right now, but if we continue to train hard and keep the mind right, we’ll be OK.”
Othello and Warden will see each other again tonight at Kiona-Benton. The quad will also include Connell.