Moses Lake sends talented, inexperienced bunch to Mat Classic XXX

TACOMA — Head coach Jaime Garza makes it a point to schedule top tier tournaments for his group.

The Chiefs traveled to the Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in addition to the Matman Classic and Gut Check Invite.

But the state tournament is something else entirely. The cavernous Tacoma Dome keeps the temperature much cooler than a gymnasium and the long wait between matches can be mind-numbing.

Those idiosyncrasies are some of the things many of Moses Lake’s state qualifiers will have to contend with this weekend. Jonathan Tanguma, Riley Burgess, Bailey Sanchez, Beau Mauseth and Pablo Mejia are all first-time state participants. Seniors Hunter Cruz and Payton Castro are the state veterans of Moses Lake’s group.

“All I can say is just keep focused throughout the whole tournament,” said Castro, who finished sixth at 220 pounds in 2017. “Don’t let anything distract you from what next match is coming to you because you always have to be 100 percent during state and you cannot lose focus.”

Cruz is the headliner.

The defending state champion has only lost once this season — that was to Duke-bound Mason Eaglin of South Kitsap.

Cruz made his road to a second championship that much easier with his work at the regional tournament. Cruz defeated third-ranked Davonn Keys and second-ranked Nathan Marin, both of South Kitsap, on his way to a 160-pound regional championship. Those wins pushed both Keyes and Marin into the other side of the bracket with a possible rematch with either wrestler coming only in the state finals.

“What I enjoy about Hunter is he sees the opportunity within the match and he’s able to seize that moment,” Garza said. “That’s part of just being around the sport for as long as he has been around the sport. Being a senior, wrestling in these high-caliber matches, high-caliber tournaments and these very important matches, so he’s able to see that. He’s able to see the gap and he takes advantage of it and he scores and it’s beautiful to see that.”

Moses Lake’s other regional champion, Castro, moved from 220 pounds to 195 pounds for the postseason. A drop that has paid dividends.

Castro is ranked third entering the state tournament and will not have to contend with University’s Hunter Gregerson, the top-ranked wrestler for much of the season, who was upset twice at the Region 4 tournament in Pasco.

“At 95 I feel a lot quicker on my feet,” Castro said. “A lot of the guys at 220 are just as strong as me, but at 95 I’m one of the stronger guys and it feels a lot different than at 220.”

Sanchez, Castro’s cousin, also qualified at 195 pounds. Although Sanchez was third at districts, he ground out consecutive victories in the consolation rounds of regionals to reach the Tacoma Dome.

“We talked a lot about grit and sacrifice and mental toughness and the will to win and he showed that,” Garza said. “He could have hung back and said, ‘You know what? I don’t think I can do this, coach,’ but he didn’t do that.”

Mauseth and Mejia reached the regional finals and will be No. 2 seeds. Burgess finished fourth at regionals and Tanguma rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the third round to beat Noah Cortez of Graham-Kapowsin 9-8 to place third.

Garza, like all coaches, would have liked to push more wrestlers into state. Contending for a team championship will be a tall task for seven wrestlers.

Just don’t tell Cruz that.

“We’ll get it done. Don’t worry about it.”

Girl power

Moses junior Melanie Flores is making her second consecutive trip to the state tournament.

Flores finished third at the Region 4 tournament in Spokane, losing to Nizhoni Tallman of Granger in the semifinals in ultimate tiebreaker 3-2. Flores bounced back for two straight wins to finish third.

The loss could prove to be advantageous as Flores is positioned on the opposite side of the bracket from No. 1 Taylor Wilson of Hanford and No. 4 Aaliyah Escamilla of Warden.