Moses Lake 2nd overall at districts

YAKIMA — Jonathan Tanguma lay there, flat on his back, in the lowest moment of his season.

While the audience at Davis High School swirled around him, Tanguma collected himself and exited the mat gracefully. Those that watched his match would have understood if he didn’t.

Tanguma was the recipient of a knee to the nose from Davis sophomore Jaden Sanchez in the third round of the 113-pound District 6 championship final. Tanguma was awarded one point for the misconduct and the match resumed, amidst the disbelief of the crowd.

Up 8-2 in the third round, Tanguma was then reversed by Sanchez and pinned in a stark turn of events.

“Jon just got put in a position where he hung onto a leg for too long and the guy caught him in what’s called a barbwire and Jon needed to let go,” head coach Jaime Garza said. “He took that kid down three times and then escaped once because it was seven and then he got that misconduct point, so with that being said, he had sole control of that match. He won in all three phases, essentially. Jon just needs to be aware of, OK, let go.”

Although Garza broke down why he thought Sanchez’s knee didn’t change the match’s outcome, he didn’t mince words on the events that transpired.

“It was intentional, when you look at it and go back and review the video,” he said. “It’s just not good for our sport, it’s not good for any sport when people do that. Nowadays we see a lot of, at times, misbehavior and it’s not something that gets promoted, it’s not something that’s acceptable, or a representation of our school, of our community.”

Tanguma was one of six Chiefs to reach championship finals as Moses Lake (354.5) took second to Sunnyside (435.5) in the team standings. Tanguma, who was undefeated before Saturday, had pinned Sanchez at last year’s district tournament before losing to him at Mat Classic two weeks later.

“I think this is going to stoke his fire, honestly,” Garza said. I think he’s burning right now in regards to he’s hungry. He was ranked number one and, with that being said, now he’s not this week. We’ll see what happens after next week. So I’m excited for that, I’m excited for him to go back in there and wrestle and have a great week of practice.”

Saul Villa (285), Cruz Vasquez (160) and Max Zamora (145) all captured district titles for the Chiefs, who advanced 13 wrestlers to this weekend’s 4A Region IV tournament at Skyline High School in Issaquah.

Villa wasted little time, pinning Benji Rosiles of Eisenhower in the first round.

“When you step on the mat with confidence, it’s a unique thing because you feel like you have so much control and wrestling, obviously we know, is a sport of control, right? We’re trying to hold the guy down, take him down, put them to their back and it’s all in these control positions and so when you have the confidence to step out there and wrestle and feel in control it makes the sport pretty easy, it makes it really fun and right now that’s where he’s (Villa) at.”

Vasquez and Zamora won finals matches against rival Sunnyside. Vasquez controlled Alan Ochoa in the 160-pound finals to win a methodical 5-0 match. Zamora dominated Moises Zesati en route to a 15-3 major decision.

“He’s putting it together, he’s having fun,” Garza said of Zamora. “He’s smiling in practice and on the mat he’s wrestling with a lot of spunk.”

Team scores: Sunnyside 435.5, Moses Lake 354.5, Wenatchee 249.5, Eastmont 178.5, Eisenhower 146, Davis 139, West Valley 36.

Moses Lake placers: Max Zamora, first; Cruz Vasquez, first; Saul Villa, first; Saul Salinas, second; Hunter White, second; Jonathan Tanguma, second; Jeremiah Martinez, third; Ryan Grubb, third; Jayden Adame, third; Everett Ashley, third; Andrew Kile, third; Lerenz Thomas, fourth; Jose Corza, fifth; Gavyn Rodriguez, fifth; Gustavo Barajas, fifth; Rene Uribe, fifth; Joseph Freidig, sixth.

2A CWAC District 5/6

Team scores: 1. Toppenish 405.5, 2. Othello 279, 6. Ephrata 130, 8. Quincy 106.5.

Othello placers: 126, Forrest Roylance, 4th; 126, Miguel Amezola, 6th; 132, Kyler Freeman, 5th; 138, Jaxon Rocha, 2nd; 138, Andrew Velazquez, 6th; 145, Arturo Solario, 1st; 152, Jonathan Gomez, 2nd; 152, Ethan Medina, 4th; 160, Nathan Garza, 3rd; 170, Liddell Giles, 5th; 182, Alexis Espindola, 5th; 195, Eric Gomez, 5th; 195, Josue Solorio, 4th; 220, Elijah Roylance, 3rd; 285, Isaiah Perez, 1st.

Ephrata placers: 126, Hudson Sager, 5th; 170, Octavio Placido, 6th; 182, Carter Mills, 2nd; 195, Mac Laird, 1st; 195, Kevin Pelayo, third; 285, Moises Rosales, 6th.

Quincy placers: 126, Israel Perez, 3rd; 152, Oswaldo Perez, 5th; 160, Alex Bonilla, 5th; 170, Mykenzi Realme, 3rd; 220, Ruben Vargas, 2nd.

Girls District 5 Tournament

Team scores: 1. Toppenish 173, 2. Othello 148, 9. Warden 71, 11. Wahluke 58, 15. Royal 35.

Othello placers: 100, Virginia Pineda, 4th; 110, Emily Mendez, 1st; 110, Alexis Monday, 2nd; 115, Iyazely Barraza, 1st; 115, Mercedes Gonzalez, 4th; 120, Hazel Gonzalez, 6th; 130, Lisbeth Vasquez, 4th.

Warden placers: 105, Aaliyah Escamilla, 2nd; 135, Alexia Hernandez, 3rd; 145, Marilee Garza, 6th; 155, Angalee Beck, 3rd.

Wahluke placers: 120, Haley Felker, 5th; 140, Keila Maravilla, 5th; 155, Laly Gonzalez, 2nd.

Royal placers: 155, Alondra Morales, 1st.

Girls District 6 Tournament

Team scores: 1. Sunnyside 295, 2. Quincy 155, 4. Moses Lake 96, 9. Ephrata 63.

Quincy placers: 105, Xochitl Tafoya, 2nd; 115, Gloria Ramirez, 5th; 135, Juana Giron, 1st; 145, Maria Esparza, 4th; 155, Shannon Workinger, 1st; 170, Divinna Munoz, 6th; 170, Brenda Salgado, 2nd; 190, Gladys Reyes, 2nd; 190, Kimberly Gonzales, 3rd.

Moses Lake placers: 100, Jhalie De Guzman, 6th; 110, Manna Wu, 4th; 110, Brianna Martinez, 5th; 115, Bianca Johnson, 1st; 120, Gabriela Cisneros, 6th; 130, Kimberly Avila, 5th; 140, Jessica Mendoza, 5th; 155, Serena Jewell, 4th.

Ephrata placers: 100, Marysol Flores, 2nd; 115, Zoe Ellis, 6th; 120, McKell Johns, 4th; 140, Rashann Olsen, 2nd.