Local teams compete at Warden Girls Wrestling Invitational

WARDEN — Four local teams traveled to the Warden Girls Wrestling Invitational on Saturday, with the Othello Huskies taking home a tournament win followed by Moses Lake in second place.

“We don’t have too many tournaments on this side, but when we get Othello, Warden, Moses Lake and Ephrata together, we are an exciting group to hang around,” Warden Head Coach Valerie Hernandez said. “The energy is always positive and a great balance; we see each other often and it’s fun.”

Following the Huskies and Mavericks were Quincy in fifth place, Ephrata in seventh and Warden in eighth. Othello had 22 wrestlers place, including champions Ollonie Gonzalez (100), Aliyah Espinoza (105), Nayeli Leal (145) and Elia Velazquez (190).

“We had a few more girls place (than last week), which was really good to see,” Othello Head Coach Rafael Ruiz said. “Especially our younger wrestlers to be able to get to the podium, it’s a big deal.”

All five Warden wrestlers placed: Alona Castro (105), fourth place; Jade Hernandez (115), second place; Maria Yanet Zaragoza (115), sixth place; Dannika Escamilla (120), fifth place; and Ashley Criz (130), fourth place.

“They’re actually doing really well, and their progress is showing,” Hernandez said. “I know it’s early on in the season, but we had five girls enter the tournament that are stacking up pretty well and holding their own in tournaments.”

Hernandez said that Saturday’s performance demonstrated that even with smaller numbers, the Cougars can still be a force to be reckoned with.

“This is the first tournament on this side and in our area, so I told them it’s pretty important to see that you are placing only for the sole fact that you see where you stand,” Hernandez said. “That tells us what we need to work on.”

This is the second time the Mavs have finished second at a tournament this season, matching the result of last weekend’s Ladycats Classic at Eastmont.

“We’re very happy with the way that the wrestlers wrestled, still keeping up with that intensity,” Moses Lake Head Coach David Peralez said. “We saw a lot of positives going forward; we’re feeling really good about the Warden tournament and enjoying the fact that the wrestlers are continuing to build (skills) week by week.”

Ashley Naranjo (115), Reese Prescott (125) and Katelyn Rodriguez (170) finished as champions for Moses Lake.

“I think the wrestlers are doing a great job in the room, and it’s showing,” Peralez said. “All the wrestlers, we told them at the beginning of the year to make a good run; everyone’s going to have to contribute to make things happen. We need as many of them as possible to continue to grow and continue to contribute at these tournaments and going into the postseason.”

Peralez said that this was the first time that Rodriguez had left a tournament as a champion, giving the sophomore a confidence boost early in the season.

“That tournament really will build her confidence and I saw it come out of her throughout the tournament,” Peralez said. “She’s just flowing a lot better, she started to become more aware of things.”

Of the original 22 teams to sign up for Saturday’s tournament, seven were unable to show due to weather conditions. Even with the shortened wrestling pool on Saturday, local coaches raved about the environment at Warden.

“To an extent, we thought this might be a battle of the Columbia Basin due to weather,” Hernandez joked.

Othello was originally scheduled to go to a tournament in Granger over the weekend, but weather concerns forced the Huskies to cancel the trip at the last minute. Luckily, Warden had extra spots available in its tournament.

“They were pretty exhausted because our trip was canceled at four in the morning,” Ruiz said. “There were a lot of adjustments, but everyone wrestled through it. Luckily Warden is 30 minutes down the road.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.