Six Basin squads earn team titles at districts

COLUMBIA BASIN — District wrestling competitions were held across the state last Friday and Saturday, with local teams looking to advance their wrestlers to this weekend’s regional competitions.

District 5 Wrestling — Yakima

Five district tournaments were held on 10 mats at the Yakima Valley SunDome on Friday; the South Central Athletic Conference East and West tournaments, the Central Washington Athletic Conference tournament, the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference tournament and the 2A/1A/B Girls Sub-Regional 3.1.

“It was fun, I liked that it was a big arena for the kids to wrestle in,” Othello head coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “It didn’t drag on, it felt like it was a normal tournament. It was good to see all the classifications out there and see some good wrestling all around.”

Of those five tournaments, four Basin teams earned district titles; both the Othello boys and girls wrestling teams, the Royal boys (SCAC East) and the Warden boys (EWAC East).

The Cougars scored 280.5 team points in Friday’s tournament, only finishing second to Goldendale, the EWAC West champion.

“It’s a lot of hard work during the season, the guys really came together,” Warden head coach Johnny Hernandez said. “We have a huge reputation of peaking at the right time, and I really think that’s a lot of success; just getting these guys trained up during the season and getting them to peak right here at the end of the season where it matters.”

Fifteen of the 18 Cougars that wrestled at districts will advance to next weekend’s regional tournament; Hernandez said the team’s focus on conditioning went a long way toward that success.

“We do a lot of conditioning, as I’m sure everyone does,” Hernandez said. “We train these guys super hard and make sure they’re in shape, make sure they can go three rounds, make sure they can go six minutes. We counted about seven matches over the weekend that we won when we were down in the third round and then were able to come back and win those matches.”

Six Warden wrestlers reached the finals in their respective brackets; senior Manny Canales (120), junior Michael Gonzalez (126), junior Junior Santiago (138), freshman Jaden Hernandez (190), senior Omar Pruneda (215) and sophomore Gabriel Serna (215). Santiago and Pruneda both won district titles.

“They’ve been working towards that moment,” Hernandez said. “All of them had some tough matches, but all of them were winnable.”

Othello’s 412 team points clinched a third straight CWAC district title, and Othello’s fourth consecutive title including a stint in the Greater Spokane League in the 2020-21 season.

“The kids have worked hard all year, I was glad that some of them were able to overcome some defeats earlier in the year and come back and beat guys that beat them,” Ochoa said. 

Nineteen Huskies reached the podium, with 15 moving on to wrestle at regionals; reaching the finals were senior Isaac Campos (113), sophomore Daniel Gonzalez (113), sophomore Mason Russell (126), senior Anthony Abundiz (132), senior Marcos Zuniga (132), junior Jeremiah Flores (150), junior Anthony Solorio (215) and junior Mason Perez (285).

“It just took staying the course; staying focused, trying to keep it one match at a time, one round at a time,” Ochoa said. “They went out there and they wrestled well, they trusted their technique. We had some head-to-heads in the finals, which is always hard, but it just shows what the practice room is like.”

Ephrata finished second in the CWAC district tournament with 249 points and will advance 11 wrestlers to regionals.

Ten Knights reaching the finals surged Royal into a first-place finish in the SCAC (East) tournament, with six wrestlers winning district titles; sophomore Antonio Narciso (106), sophomore Dennis Hernandez (113), sophomore Thomas Antonio (120), sophomore Carlos Barajas (132), sophomore Shea Stevenson (150) and senior Aram Garnick (175).

“It was a good feeling because we’ve been putting in the work all season, the guys have been working really hard,” Royal Head Coach Darrin Miller said. “It was nice to see them succeed and reach their goals there. It’s the first step in our journey in trying to make as many state placers as possible.”

Royal advances 17 wrestlers to next week’s regional tournament at Connell.

“It’s going to be tough next week, we have the other side of the district — Toppenish, Wapato, those guys are really tough – so the guys know that the work isn’t done,” Miller said. “We’ve got to have a good week of practice and keep our minds right so that we can be ready for whoever steps out on the mat.”

Othello won the Girls 2A/1A/B District 5 Sub-Regional with a team score of 249 points. The Warden girls finished with a team score of 86 points.

Placement matches were not wrestled in the girls tournament, though the Huskies will advance 18 to regionals while the Cougars will send five wrestlers.

Girls Sub-Regional 4.1 — Ephrata

Ephrata won the Girls 2A/1A/B District 6 Sub-Regional title with a team score of 264 points, just ahead of second-place Omak (238.5 points). Quincy finished third with 223.5 team points.

“The girls wrestled tough,” Ephrata head coach Raul Tejeda said. “Going into the seeding meeting, we had a few matches where we’re like, ‘These girls are going to have a tough match.’ They wrestled tough and they overcame those tough matches, which skyrocketed the confidence and they were able to perform well.”

Between the Tigers and Jackrabbits, 29 wrestlers reached the podium with 18 advancing to regionals; for the Tigers, senior Kadie McMullen (145), sophomore Adylene Sanchez (155) and sophomore Molly McMullen all won sub-regional titles. Quincy senior Allison Guerrero (100), freshman Crystal Perez (110), sophomore Hayden Morris (120) and senior Michelle Acevedo all finished on top of the podium.

Ephrata, LRS, Quincy and Royal will wrestle at next week’s Girls 2A/1A/B Region 4 tournament at Quincy.

“There’s a few things that we’ve got to clean up a little bit, but I think now they have that motivation seeing that they can be up there,” Tejeda said. “That’s a big confidence booster for them; just go back and keep doing what we’re doing.”

Statewide Results

Columbia Basin Big 9 Boys Districts: Moses Lake finished second as a team; sophomore Ian Garza (106), freshman Duane Zamora (120) and senior Dayton Regan won district titles.

Columbia Basin Big 9 Girls Sub-Regionals: Moses Lake finished third as a team; senior Ashley Naranjo (110) and sophomore Reese Prescott (115) won titles.

Girls 2A/1A/B Girls District 7/8 Sub-Regional: Royal won team title, Wahluke placed sixth as a team. Royal sophomore Sharon Arroyo (100), junior Lauren Jenks (135) and senior Emma Villa (170) won sub-regional titles.

1B/2B North League District Tournament: ACH placed second in team score; junior Jack Molitor, freshman Porter Wood (138) and freshman Noah Butler (215) won district titles.

1B/2B South League District Tournament: LRS won team title; senior Alexander Bonner (132), junior Carson Kubik (144), senior Gabriel Smith (215) and junior Brock Tracy (285) won district titles.

Caribou Trail League District Tournament: Quincy placed fourth in CTL; junior Saidt Alvarez (113) won a district title.

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

    Warden sophomore Ashley Cruz, top, is one of five Cougars advancing to next week’s regional tournament.
  

    Royal sophomore Dennis Hernandez, left, won the 113-pound bracket of Friday’s South Central Athletic Conference (East) district tournament.
  

    Warden wrestlers celebrate after winning the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference (East) district tournament.
  

    Quincy freshman Crystal Perez, left, won the 110-pound bracket at Saturday’s Girls 2A/1A/B District 6 Sub-Regional at Ephrata.
  

    Ephrata wrestlers celebrate after winning the Girls 2A/1A/B District 6 Sub-Regional team title.