Maverick boys win, girls fall to Davis

MOSES LAKE — Both the Moses Lake boys and girls wrestling teams wrapped up their dual meets for the 2023-24 season Wednesday night against Davis, with the girls falling 54-24 and the boys winning 32-30.

“We were pretty competitive, but our experience showed,” Moses Lake girls wrestling Head Coach David Peralez said. “A little bit more than half our team are first-year wrestlers or freshmen. Davis has a lot of numbers, which is awesome to continue growing the sport, but they’re kind of where we were last year when we beat them.”

The 24 points for the Maverick girls from Wednesday’s dual came off of pins by freshman Kamilah Martinez (110), senior Ashley Naranjo (115), sophomore Reese Prescott (125) and senior Gabriela Vela (135).

While the latter three are all returners, Peralez noted Martinez’s recent performances have continued to get better and better.

“She came out there and took a lot of great shots, brought her opponent down,” Peralez said. “For a freshman, she’s putting in a lot of work and she’s really starting to take off now.”

Moses Lake concludes its regular season at Saturday’s Bring Home Da Beef tournament in Quincy; Peralez said the Mavs plan to use Saturday’s tournament as a “dress rehearsal” for the postseason.

“I’m glad that we saw some mistakes that we can fix for postseason, and we have lots of time, which is the great part of it,” Peralez said. “The girls are not scared anymore, they’re going out there and you can see the heart that they have; they’re fighting off their back or finishing shots. I’m loving that progress.”

Following the girls match, the Moses Lake boys opened Wednesday’s dual with a 22-0 lead after freshman Bryan Naranjo (113) pinned his opponent, freshman Duane Zamora (120) earned a major decision and junior Drayden Gaither (126) and freshman Trenton Vasquez (132) both picked up wins by decision. Davis had a forfeit in the 106-pound bout.

Davis won six of the next seven matches, but only recorded two pins over Maverick wrestlers; a key match, even though it ended in a loss for Moses Lake, was in the 175-pound bout when freshman Imer Gallardo avoided being pinned.

“That saved us,” Moses Lake boys wrestling Head Coach Jose Tanguma said. “If Davis would have got that pin, they would have won.”

After giving up five pins to Richland a week ago, the Mavs only had two pins against them Wednesday night.

“A lot was working on fighting off our back,” Tanguma said. “Being more aggressive, explosive in our hands when we’re on our back and telling the kids they’ve got to have a strong mentality right there not to give up and keep fighting off their back.”

Moses Lake led 28-24 entering the 190-pound bout, where freshman Eli Anderson picked up a 3-1 decision to put his team up 31-24. Moses Lake’s final point was awarded due to an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Davis.

“We knew we had to forfeit at heavyweight, so we knew Davis was going to get six points,” Tanguma said. “That 215 match was very critical; Eli Anderson ended up getting the decision win, and Eli sealed the win.”

Across the boy's and girl’s duals, all three Moses Lake seniors that wrestled Wednesday night picked up wins on their senior night; Naranjo and Vela won their matches in the girls dual, and Maverick senior Dayton Regan pinned his opponent in the second round of the 150-pound match.

“He dominated his opponent, I believe he had 10 takedowns on the kid; we told him to have fun, it’s his senior night,” Tanguma said.

The Moses Lake boys closed out the regular season by winning five straight duals; at West Valley (Yakima) 43-33 on Jan. 3, vs. Eisenhower 54-24 on Jan. 9, at Wenatchee 49-24 on Jan. 11, vs Richland 35-30 on Jan. 16 and Wednesday’s win against Davis.

“The kids are all excited, they know they did a great job,” Tanguma said. “Getting all these dual wins just showed the kids that we’re still improving, and we’re still trying to get on top of that mountain. It’s showing that they’re putting in the work and being successful on the mat.”

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

   Moses Lake freshman Eli Anderson, right, clinched the win over Davis Wednesday night with a 3-1 decision.