Mavs wrestlers take down Eastmont

MOSES LAKE – After traveling to tournaments over the weekend, both Moses Lake’s boys and girls wrestling teams opened their league schedules with road duals against Eastmont on Wednesday. 

Moses Lake’s girls team won Wednesday’s dual 60-24, while the boys team won 57-30 over the Wildcats. 

“What I noticed was the team was doing a really great job of using what we’ve gone over in practice and making sure that we’re focusing in on the small, little details,” Moses Lake girls wrestling Head Coach David Peralez said. “Going back to the fundamentals, the very basics of particular moves – especially on our feet, in the way that we’re moving and what we’re looking for to get our offense going.” 

Winning their matches in the girls dual were freshman Kayla Gonzalez (100 pounds), freshman Trinity Town (105), senior Grace Martinez (110), sophomore Kamilah Martinez (120), senior Jocelyn Vasquez (130), freshman Anahi Garcia (155), junior Naomi Cruz (170) and freshman Izzabella Fredley (235). All eight wins came by pins. 

“I think it really helps for their confidence level – that's something that has to be instilled to the wrestlers through experience,” Peralez said. “Coming out there, in their first dual, and getting pins in that really shows that all this hard work what we’re doing in practice is really paying off.” 

Peralez noted bouts at the 100 and 105-pound classes as standouts from Wednesday’s dual; Gonzalez pinned Eastmont’s McKenna Walters in the first round of the 100-pound matchup, while Town also pinned Eastmont’s Alejandra Sanchez-Rangel in the first round of the 105-pound matchup. 

“They really set the tone,” Peralez said. “They were shooting first, they were aggressive, they were pressuring and getting the opponents off the mat – really claiming that the center is theirs.” 

In the boys dual, Moses Lake overcame an early 18-0 deficit to come back and defeat the Wildcats 57-30. 

“Our strong lineup – from the lightweights from 113 all the way up to 150, I knew those guys could go out there and get pins for us,” boys wrestling Head Coach Jose Tanguma said. 

The Mavericks were pinned in the 157, 165 and 175-pound matches against Eastmont, but got on the board when senior Malaki Town won in a 5-1 decision at 190 pounds, followed up by sophomore Eli Anderson pinning his opponent in the 215-pound bout.  

“It got the guys fired up,” Tanguma said. “The captains took lead, getting their teammates up and fired up to go out there and be aggressive, to try and get those pins to secure the win for us.” 

After a double forfeit at 106 pounds, pins by sophomore Carter Redford (113), junior Ian Garza (120), sophomore Duane Zamora (132), sophomore Trenton Vasquez (144) and junior Ian Anderson (150) allowed the Mavericks to take the lead before claiming the victory over the Wildcats. 

Redford usually wrestles on the junior varsity team, but stepped into the varsity lineup as the Mavericks had an injury at the 120-pound class. Garza, who typically wrestles at 113 pounds, moved up to 120 and Redford pinned his opponent at 113 pounds in the third round. 

“He (Redford) came out great; he got the first takedown, and ended up pinning the kid for us,” Tanguma said.  

When the two teams met in the 2023-24 season, Moses Lake narrowly defeated the Wildcats 36-33 – Tanguma said the Mavericks wanted to win in a more convincing fashion when they met this year. 

“We knew last year it came down to the last match, but we had a strong feeling, especially with the way the guys have been wrestling now and training in the practice room, that it wasn’t going to be that close this time,” Tanguma said.  

Both teams will travel to tournaments over the weekend; the girls will compete at the Kennewick Lioness Invitational, while the boys team heads to Idaho for the Tri-State tournament at North Idaho College. 

    Moses Lake sophomore Trenton Vasquez, right, wrestles at a regional tournament in Yakima last season. Vasquez was one of six Mavericks who pinned their opponent in Wednesday’s dual against Eastmont.