Ephrata falls at home in wrestling dual with Selah
Ephrata’s Brian Olivera fights to try and regain position against his opponent from Selah on Thursday night.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Ephrata’s Carter Mills works to free himself in an early round. Mills defeated his opponent in overtime, giving the Tigers their first points in the matchup.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Ephrata’s Carter Mills sizes up his opponent from Selah before going in for his move on Thursday night at Ephrata High School
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Senior Mac Laird overpowers his opponent from Selah, picking up the win in the first round.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Kevin Pelayo and his matchup in the bout at 220 size each other up as both look to circle in for the attack on Thursday night in Ephrata.
EPHRATA — Ephrata lost their home boys wrestling duel to Selah, 60-21, on Thursday night.
The Vikings were dominant in the matchup, winning the first five matches of the night. At 138, Ephrata’s Kelvin Sager fell just over four minutes into the bout. Selah took the 145 bout after two rounds.
Senior Corbin Sager got taken down in 51 seconds into the first round of his matchup at 152. Caleb McMullen fell in the first round, with 1:18 left on the clock in his bout at 160.
Brian Olivera was down big after the first round before being taken down 1:07 into the second round.
Carter Mills would pick up the first win of the night for the Tigers in his match at 182. Scoreless on both sides after the first round, Mills found himself in a 2-1 deficit heading into the third. Tied up after three, Mills got the takedown against his opponent 36 seconds into overtime.
At 195, Mac Laird would make it two in a row for Ephrata, as he got the pin with just two seconds left on in round one. Selah picked back up where left off in the matchup at 220, as Kevin Pelayo was defeated 56 seconds into the third round. Lucas Tucker was defeated at 285, with 1:21 left in the second round.
Back up to 106, freshman William Flynn was defeated 1:38 into the first round, before Josue Sanchez fell as well in the first round at 113. Francisco Anaya Hernandez was defeated in the second round, with 14 seconds to spare in the last match of the night.
Hudson Sager and Christopher Guerrero would pick up wins by forfeit for the Tigers, as the Vikings took the dual by a handsome margin, 60-21.
Ephrata head coach Patrick Mitchell said, coming in, he knew the matchup would be tough facing a veteran squad with some younger players in the lineup for the Tigers.
“We kinda knew coming that they were gonna be a big challenge for us,” Mitchell said. “I told the young kids that didn’t matter, and I wanted them to come out and compete regardless of outcome.”
The two victors, Mills and Laird both stood out with their performances in the dual to the Ephrata coach. So far early in the season, Mitchell said his group has performed about how he expected coming in.
“We’re going to have to experience some growing pains, things like that,” Mitchell said. “But, they’re learning, they’re working hard and they’re being coachable. They’re doing things that we want, we’ve just got a ways to go.”
Next up for the Tigers is the West Valley Wrestle-rama on Saturday at West Valley (Spokane), beginning at 9 a.m.
