Chiefs fall to Sunnyside in final home dual

Moses Lake High School boys wrestling lost a narrow dual match against Sunnyside High School at home Tuesday, 23-34.

This was the Moses Lake Chief seniors’ final chance to wrestle under the big light on the mat Tuesday night in the Chiefs Gym. Sunnyside picked up a pair of early forfeit victories at 106 and 113 pounds to take a 12-0 advantage.

Moses Lake freshman Dayton Regan, at 126 pounds, fell by major decision, 9-1. Senior Jonathan Tanguma fought a tough match at 132 pounds, falling just short with the 5-3 decision.

Derek Grubb fell by pin to his opponent at 138 pounds. Senior Hunter White took a 1-0 score advantage into the third round at 145 pounds before falling behind in points in the final two minutes, leading to a 7-4 decision.

Senior Camron Regan, at 152 pounds, secured the first points for Moses Lake. Regan jumped to 7-2 after the first round, holding on against a former state champion to a 12-9 decision. The Chiefs still trailed 28-3 as a team on the scoreboard. Jayden Adame lost a 7-2 decision at 160 pounds.

Senior Cruz Vasquez was dominant at 170 pounds with a technical fall victory, pushing the score to 31-8. Brock Clark gained a 5-3 decision, giving the Chiefs some late momentum.

Senior Maximus Zamora picked up the first and only pin of the day for the Chiefs in a dominant display at 182 pounds. Zamora secured a pin in the third round followed by a forfeit victory for fellow senior Everett Ashley at 220 pushing the score to 31-23.

Heavyweight Saul Villa capped off the dual in a closely contested bout. Both wrestlers battled to the final whistle with Sunnyside taking a narrow 4-3 decision and a 34-23 dual win.

“It was good for all the seniors to come back and get another match in under the lights,” Zamora said. “It’s crazy this is the last time we are gonna wrestle here; it’s just so sad missing out on what we could of had.”

Zamora said he’s proud of what the team has accomplished this season.

“All these kids came out knowing we’re not going to have a real season and busted their butts and they all worked really hard,” Zamora said. “It seemed like they worked for nothing, but really it was a great gateway to get these younger kids in there and see what this is like.”

Moses Lake head coach Jaime Garza said he knew it was going to be a tough battle, but was still impressed with his team’s performance.

Hunter White wrestled fabulously and was intelligent with his approach, Garza said. Adame, a sophomore, held his own against an opponent from Sunnyside that Garza said he expected would have been a top-two wrestler in the state.

Garza credited the tradition of the wrestling program with keeping the seniors dialed in this year.

“It’s our responsibility to pass this down to the younger class,” Garza said. “We’ll keep on moving through this, that’s the joy of this program is we have a rich tradition and I truly believe we would have had eight guys placing at the state finals.”

The season wraps up today at Eisenhower High School with the Columbia Basin Big 9 District Wrestling event.