MLHS girls wrestling creates a legacy

MOSES LAKE — When David Peralez, a 2010 graduate of Moses Lake High School, signed on to coach the Maverick girls wrestling team last season, he had the idea in mind to create a program similar to what boys wrestling is in Moses Lake.

After a sixth-place finish at state last year, the Moses Lake girls wrestling team is off to a strong start in building its legacy.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to have the girls have a program similar to the guys,” Peralez said. “Where it has a great degree of wrestlers coming back, I was more drawn to the idea of building this historic program much similar to the guys, and I think that wrestling is now starting to move towards having more girls participate, which I love seeing.”

The Mavs had two undefeated wrestlers finish atop their weight classes at last year’s state meet, with Ashley Naranjo placing first in the girls 115 class and Bianca Johnson finishing first in the girls 120 class. Both wrestlers finished the season undefeated.

“With Bianca and Ashley both taking state championships last year, they were products of being Moses Lake wrestlers since they were little kids,” Peralez said. “They put in the work in the off-season, in their club practices and just staying involved in wrestling. It was really fun to see them grow from Moses Lake and being a product of Moses Lake.”

What separated Johnson and Naranjo from the pack is their wanting to take the next step in creating a legacy for future wrestlers to follow, according to their head coach.

“They understand that future girls in Moses Lake or around the area can look up to them as the leaders of this program and really pioneering girl’s wrestling in Moses Lake,” Peralez said.

The results are beginning to show for the girl’s wrestling program at Moses Lake, which has already more than doubled its team turnout from eight wrestlers last year to around 20 this season.

“We’re starting to see more and more support from the community,” Peralez said. “When you’re starting a program that doesn’t really have a lot of history, there are some struggles there. Just getting noticed in the community that this is a new program that is starting to pick up some steam, and I think placing at state really helped.”

Peralez believes that many of the returning wrestlers will make what he calls a “sophomore jump,” which will help guide many of the new wrestlers in the program. Of the around 20 wrestlers on the team, there are six seniors, five of whom wrestled last year, to balance out with the six incoming freshmen.

“The fun part is that we have the entire team coming back from last year, we didn’t have any seniors,” Peralez said. “We have everyone coming back, and we’re reloading with all the new wrestlers that are coming in.”

Wrestlers participated in open gyms throughout the off-season, where wrestlers could work with Peralez on areas they struggled in.

“I think (open gyms) help a lot in the sense that you have the opportunity to practice and fail with something that maybe you weren’t comfortable with using during the season,” Peralez said. “I understand that as a wrestler myself, there’s some things that you don’t feel comfortable with because you feel like you’re not going to get the opportunity to practice it.”

“I think these girls have the opportunity to show these next couple of years that wrestling is for the girls as well, and Moses Lake can have a program that is really proud of,” Peralez said. “But it needs the community support.”

Moses Lake Girls Wrestling Meet Schedule

Dec. 3 - @ Ladycat KO - 10 a.m.

Dec. 7 - Home Dual vs Sunnyside - 6 p.m.

Dec. 10 - @ Warden Invite - 10 a.m.

Dec. 15 - @ Eastmont Dual - 6 p.m.

Dec. 16/17 - @ Hammerhead Invitational - 9:30 a.m.

Dec. 29 - @ Hanford Winter Cup - 9 a.m.

Jan. 4 - Home Dual vs West Valley - 6 p.m.

Jan. 5-7 - @ Kelso Invite - 3:30 p.m.

Jan. 12 - Home Dual vs Wenatchee - 6 p.m.

Jan. 14 - @ Davis Invite - 9 a.m.

Jan. 19 - @ Davis Dual - 6 p.m.

Jan. 20/21 - @ Othello Invite - 5 p.m., 10 a.m.

Jan. 28 - @ Quincy Invite - 10 a.m.