Huskie boys send 22 wrestlers to regionals

OTHELLO – The 2023 Central Washington Athletic District champion Othello Huskies are riding a significant amount of momentum into the regional round of the postseason, bringing 22 wrestlers to Saturday’s regional tournament at East Valley (Spokane).

Twenty wrestlers qualified for regionals, with two others qualifying as alternates.

“Showing up with 22 (wrestlers), it’s nice to see because all year we’ve had a lot of depth,” Othello Head Coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “We’ve had high numbers here in Othello for a while now, so much so that we have to split the tournament just because we can’t get our guys in. It’s nice to show the depth.”

Even though the Huskies have had to split their wrestlers up at different tournaments throughout the regular season, this depth has allowed wrestlers to do more at practice.

“It’s nice for the practice room,” Ochoa said. “A big group like that promotes a good practice room. It gives different bodies, different skill sets, and different things to work on. There’s so many positives that come out of quantity.”

Thirteen Othello wrestlers reached the finals of last weekend’s CWAC district tournament, with five winning district championships. Junior Isaac Campos (113), freshman Mason Russell (120), junior Adriel Flores (132), freshman Camilo Mendez III (145) and senior Terrill Freeman (195) all won district titles.

“One of the bummers with postseason – but it’s just the nature of the sport – is that we have to wrestle each other,” Ochoa said. “For example, Isaac (Campos) and Daniel (Gonzalez) in the 113 had to wrestle each other, and that’s a bummer. It’s a heartbreaker because you want them both to win.”

Campos and Gonzalez were one of four Othello duos to meet in the CWAC district finals. Russell and junior Marcos Zuniga met in the 120-pound class, Flores and junior Alexander Mendez met in the 132-pound class and Freeman and senior Josue Solorio met in the 195-pound finals.

“It’s a different feel in the finals because you really can’t get a game plan and a strategy figured out because they’re both on your team, and you want them both to just go out there and hustle their best. For the ones that did win, I think it’s great momentum going into the next weekend. It’s something that they can embrace and celebrate.”

Before districts, 17 Huskie wrestlers were named to the all-CWAC list.

“What excited us was the respect that the other coaches were giving our wrestlers,” Ochoa said. “We’ve seen it all year, so when you see other coaches talk about our wrestlers the way they were talking about them… it gives that feeling of reassurance, that these guys have proved it in our eyes.”

The Othello coaching staff was also named the CWAC’s Coaching Staff of the Year.

“For our staff to get recognized it means a lot, because we put in a ton of work,” Ochoa said. “We do a lot of research, we do a lot of planning, making adjustments throughout the year on what we feel is best for the program as it arises. Just to get that recognition, kind of like the all-league wrestlers, it makes you feel good because you’re getting appreciated for the hard work you’ve put in.”

Ochoa also credited the Huskie fans for showing up to Ellensburg for the district tournament.

“We had really good fan support at the district tournament,” Ochoa said. “You could hear it in the crowd when a takedown would happen, you could hear it in the crowd when we would score. I know the kids feed off of that.”

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