Three-time champ!

TACOMA — Winning a state championship is something every high school wrestler dreams of. Winning three state titles? Now, that’s a whole other challenge.

Moses Lake senior Ashley Naranjo secured her spot in Washington wrestling history at the Tacoma Dome last week, winning her third consecutive state championship at the 2024 Mat Classic.

“I felt that everything was here for me to have, and I just had to go take it,” Naranjo said. “I knew what I was here to get, and just pushed until the very last second.”

Naranjo defeated Lake Stevens’ Kamryn Mason with a first-round pin in the 3A/4A Girls 110-pound championship match Saturday evening at the Tacoma Dome, closing out her high school career with a 111-0 record and her third straight state championship.

“I think just staying in position and being aggressive,” Naranjo said when asked what allowed her to get the win in the finals. “Not backing down, just keep pushing forward with the pressure. Not letting off pressure, and pushing until the last second. Never stop wrestling.”

With the win, Naranjo became the third Moses Lake wrestler – and the first from the girl’s program – to be crowned as a state champion three times. The last Moses Lake wrestler to accomplish that feat was Jamie Wise, who won 101-pound, 108-pound and 115-pound weight classes from 1978-80. The first to win three state championships was Dan Strode, who won the 168-pound and 178-pound classes from 1966-68. Only 14 girls wrestlers across the state have won three state championships.

“Words can’t describe how awesome it was, especially knowing that you get to be there and have the best seat in the house on witnessing history,” Moses Lake Head Coach David Peralez said. “It hasn’t been done since 1980, and who knows if it’ll ever happen again. These things are rare.”

The senior opened the Mat Classic with a bye, then defeated Arlington’s Kyla Brown in the second round of the tournament with a first-round pin. Naranjo closed out the first day of the tournament with an 11-2 major decision in the quarterfinals over Shorewood’s Finley Houck and opened Saturday up with a first-round pin of River Ridge’s Maya Lindauer in the semifinals.

“The first day I felt pretty good, but the second day definitely felt way better,” Naranjo said. “I was excited for the finals.”

After pinning Mason in the 3A/4A 110-pound finals, Naranjo celebrated by turning to the Moses Lake faithful in the stands and holding up three fingers on each of her hands – one for each state championship.

“It was the greatest feeling – it was better than getting my first one,” Naranjo said. “Going undefeated for three years in high school, and not only being a three-timer but also making history for Moses Lake, it’s the best feeling.”

The thought of becoming the first three-time state champion for the Moses Lake girls wrestling program wasn’t something that Naranjo had been focusing on throughout the year, she said.

“It wasn’t something I thought about, but the conversation did come up when the tournament got closer,” Naranjo said. “I just find it as motivation for the girls that are coming into the sport or the girls that are in the wrestling room – that it’s some sort of motivation that any girl can do it too.”

Thirteen of the 21 wrestlers on Moses Lake’s roster were underclassmen this season.

“I hope that they, in their heart, know that they can be there on the finals mat as well, and to be on the podium as well,” Naranjo said. “Just keep pushing, keep training and you’ll get to where you want to be.”

That inspiration to younger wrestlers goes past the Moses Lake High School program. Peralez, who teaches physical education at Lakeview Elementary School, said his students look up to the two Moses Lake state finalists – Naranjo and sophomore Reese Prescott, both of whom made the finals last year – as well.

“They think that Ashley (Naranjo) and Reese (Prescott) are like professionals, on that level of athlete, so they wrote handwritten letters wishing good luck, and you can see the seed being planted in young girl’s eyes about wrestling not just for boys anymore,” Peralez said. “(Naranjo’s) just dominating the wrestling world in this way, and that can be them.”

After going 29-0 her sophomore year and 37-0 her junior year, Naranjo capped off her senior campaign with a 45-0 record.

“I just kept training,” Naranjo said. “My first state title, or my second one, I just put that behind me and focused on the new season. New matches, new tournament every time. I just kept training, kept pushing and never stopped.”

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

    Moses Lake senior Ashley Naranjo, right, stands on the podium at the Mat Classic. Over the course of her career, she’s stood with champions several times.
  

    Ashley Naranjo, top left, Moses Lake, works to pin River Ridge’s Maya Lindauer in the 110-pound semifinals.
  

    Moses Lake senior Ashley Naranjo holds up three fingers after winning a state title at the Mat Classic – one finger for each of her three state titles.