Othello girls reign supreme at regional tournament
Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Victoria Mendoza battles with Jacqueline Luna from Toppenish in the 190-pound championship bout. Mendoza pinned Luna to claim the title.
Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Emily Mendez takes down Maria Reyes from Grandview. Mendez put up a good fight, but dropped the 105-pound championship match to finish runner-up.
SPOKANE VALLEY — Huskies coach JJ Martinez knew his girls were in for a tough weekend of wrestling at East Valley High School, but the team was up for the challenge as Othello was crowned the Region 4 tournament champion besting second place Warden by 18 points.
“The girls wrestled great,” Martinez said. “They came out to do there job and get themselves into state tournament. I was very pleased with the way we performed.”
Othello took 13 wrestlers to the competition, but was only able to get five through to the semifinal round: Emily Mendez (105), Jackie Peguero (115), Leslie Rodriguez (135), Elizabeth Giles (140) and Victoria Mendoza (190).
Giles and Mendoza claimed titles in their weight class, but both had to come from behind to do it. Each trailing 5-0 was able to turn the tide on their opponents in the blink of an eye and win by fall. Giles took down Wapato’s Estrella Pulgarin; Mendoza beat Jacqueline Luna from Toppenish.
Mendez pinned Grandview’s Liliana Luna to advance, but dropped a 3-1 decision to Maria Reyes, also from Grandview to place second. Peguero and Rodriguez dropped their semifinal matches, but were able to make their way through the consolation bracket and come away with fourth place finishes.
The Huskies will take a five wrestlers and one alternate; Mercedes Gonzalez to the
Mat Classic Feb. 16-17 at the Tacoma Dome.
Martinez is seeking another outstanding outing from his team to wrap up the season.
“Our goal is to try to bring some hardware home from Mat Classic. One thing I know of being around the tournament is anything can happen at state. It’s a matter of what team is having a great performance. We hope we can do it one more weekend.”
Team scores: 1. Othello 114. 2. Warden 96. 3. Sunnyside 93. 4. Grandview 62. 5. Granger 59. 6. River View 59. 7. Hanford 56. 8. Kamiakin 43. 9. Toppenish 42. 10. Kiona-Benton 39. 11. Davis 38.5. 12. Quincy 36. 13. Ephrata 35. 14. Newport 35. 15. Liberty 32. 16. West Valley-Spokane 31. 17. Wapato 29. 18. Zillah 26, Mabton 24. 19. Wenatchee 24. 20. Naches Valley 20. 21. Eastmont 18. 22. Richland 18. 23. Connell 17. 24. Shadle Park 16. 25. Moses Lake 15. 26. Deer Park 14. 27. Chiawana 13. 28. Wahluke 13. 29. Kennewick 12. 30. Pasco 10. 31. Cle Elum-Roslyn 9. 32. Okanogan 9. 33. Mary Walker 8. 34. Cashmere 7. 35. Royal 7. 36. Liberty Bell 6. 37. Walla Walla 6.