Othello girls take second at first two tourneys

OTHELLO – Othello's girls wrestling team has started the 2024-25 season with back-to-back runner-up finishes at tournaments across the region, as the team has seen its depth tested through the early weeks of the regular season. 

“The first two or three weeks, just like every coach says, you get tired of being in that one wrestling room and just competing against your teammates,” head coach Sammy Rocha said. “It’s nice to go out somewhere else and seeing that technique actually work. While we came away from that tournament with second place, we finished with 22 pins.” 

Othello opened the season at the Ladycat Kickoff Classic at Eastmont, finishing second as a team to Zillah by six points. 

Rocha said the Huskies are searching for pins every time they take the mat, something that showed in Saturday’s Kennewick Lioness Invite, where Othello took second as a team for the second time this season, finishing behind Toppenish.  

Othello had 10 wrestlers place at the tournament in Kennewick, including three finalists in sophomore Janissa Barrera, senior Bella Garza and senior Diamond Van Cleve. 

“When we lost to Zillah (at the Eastmont tournament), we actually came back to the classroom on Monday and talked about the bonus points that we missed out on; in the end, we realized that it was a matter of two matches and those two matches happened early in the tournament ... because of that learning session, we went to Kennewick and we actually pinned more people at Kennewick than we did at Eastmont.” 

Even with taking second at their first two tournaments of the season, Rocha said there’s plenty of room to improve; after all, Othello has been competing with four wrestlers missing from its starting lineup this season – sophomore Grayce Mendez, junior Alejandria Espindola, sophomore Lucy Gilbert and senior Serenity Ayala have all missed time with injuries. Three of the four – Mendez, Espindola and Ayala – wrestled at last year’s Mat Classic. 

The absence of starters has allowed other Huskies to step up to the varsity lineup, many of which have been underclassmen. 

“They’re excited and they love the opportunity – those first two weeks they thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I may not make the varsity lineup.’ Now I’m telling them, ‘Hey I’ve got this girl that’s hurt, you’re in,’ and they’re pumped,” Rocha said. “They’re excited to get in on the action because they know they’re good, and they want to be a part of it.” 

This is Rocha’s first season as head coach of the Huskies, taking over for former coach Rafael Ruiz. Rocha has a long history as a wrestling coach, with his first job being at Connell in 1999. Through several stints as an assistant coach with Othello High School’s boys and girls teams, along with being head coach of the girls junior high program, Rocha brings a wealth of experience to the team. 

His daughter, Grace Rocha, is a senior and returning state veteran on this year’s team. 

“I figured it was a perfect transition because I knew the girls at the high school, and I trained the junior high girls,” Rocha said. “It was super easy because all of them came up and wrestled at the high school, and it all picked up starting from day one.” 

Othello returns to the mat Jan. 2 in a home dual against Ephrata. 

    Othello junior Briseida Galvez, right, wrestles at a tournament in Warden last season. Galvez was one of 10 Huskies that placed at Saturday’s Kennewick Lioness Invitational.
  

    Othello wrestlers pose for a photo after taking fourth at last year’s state tournament. The Huskies have been without three returning state veterans this season, who have missed time due to injuries.