Othello places seventh at Pacific Northwest Classic

by Bob Kirkpatrick Sun Tribune
| January 16, 2018 12:00 AM

SPOKANE VALLEY — Othello wrestlers turned in a solid performance with a seventh-place finish at the Pacific Northwest Classic held at University High School over the weekend.

Flathead High School out of Kalispell, Mont. Placed first with 219 team points. University was a close second with 209.5. Mead High School finished third with 185 points.

Isaiah Perez was the lone Huskie crowned champion at the meet. Perez pulled out an 11-8 decision over Alex Paul from Flathead High School in Montana in the 285-pound classification.

Chris Melo dropped a 16-3 major decision to Mead’s Chase Randall to finish runner-up at 113. Jovani Espindola pinned Casey Howerton from Mt. Spokane just a little over two minutes into the round to take third at 126. Josiah Barrera lost a 7-4 decision to University’s Jason Franklin to place fourth in the 106-weight class. Bernie Garza Jr. claimed a 5-2 decision over Jason Gillingham from East Valley to place fifth at 170.

“Our boys wrestled well,” coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “We are excited that we got some tough competition to help us down the road.”

Othello was back on the mats Tuesday to take on the Jacks in Quincy, but the results were not available at press time.