Mavericks take down Panthers

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake’s girls wrestling team improved to 4-0 in the Columbia Basin Big 9 league standings with Thursday night’s defeat of Wenatchee, taking down the Panthers with a 59-6 win in the dual. 

“I thought the team felt really good,” head coach David Peralez said. “It’s one of our last home duals before the end of the season, so we’re trying to clean up everything that we need to in order to get ready for districts, and it’s one of your last few times to represent Moses Lake here in front of the home crowd.” 

A significant chunk of Moses Lake’s points came via Panther forfeits, though the Mavericks did win four of the five matches wrestled on Thursday night; freshman Kayla Gonzalez (100 pounds), senior Grace Martinez (105), junior Hayden Morris (120) and sophomore Meczi Johnson (125) all won their matches in the dual. 

Peralez credited the wins to carrying over what’s done in practice over to the mat in competition. 

“Being able to utilize that in a live match against another school is just having the confidence, and I think what we saw was a lot more smart wrestling and controlling the match,” he said. “Having confidence that we’re okay with where our offense is at this point and that we’re OK with only winning the match by one (point).” 

Gonzalez claimed a quick win with a first-round pin in the 100-pound bout, followed up by Martinez earning a technical fall in the third round with a 19-4 score. At 120 pounds, Morris earned a narrow victory in a 3-2 decision over Wenatchee’s Saveana Hoffman and at 125 pounds, a late reversal by Johnson was enough for the sophomore to earn a 2-0 decision over Wenatchee’s Violet Giannandrea. 

“It’s encouraging to see that they’re being able to stay in the match and not being discouraged based on the scoreboard or not panicking based on the closeness of the match,” Peralez said. “Still just wrestling tough and having that mentality that ‘I’m going to pull this one off.’” 

Thursday’s win improved the Mavericks to 4-0 in Big 9 duals; they defeated Eastmont 54-24 on Dec. 11, West Valley (Yakima) 57-18 on Dec. 19, Eisenhower 39-33 on Jan. 8 ahead of Thursday’s win against Wenatchee. 

“It takes a team to win; everyone has to be accountable at practice and everyone has to be accountable going out there in those matches,” Peralez said. “I think what’s really helped the team is we have accountability toward each other, and their camaraderie with each other has been great. It’s really fun to see this season.” 

Mental resilience was a key in the narrow win over the Cadets, Peralez said. Sophomore Kamilah Martinez (110), sophomore Ariah Loiseau (115) and sophomore Emma Thompson all won their matches at the dual, with an Eisenhower forfeit at 170 pounds being the deciding factor in the meet. 

“Some matches don’t bounce your way; you miss an open shot, or someone hits a reversal that you haven’t seen before,” he said. “Having some of those matches where it is really close or those duals where it is coming down to the wire, and still having their mental resilience to recover and push through.” 

Moses Lake continues its dual schedule Tuesday on the road against Davis. The Pirates are 3-0 with wins over West Valley, Eisenhower and Wenatchee. Matches begin at 6 p.m. 

    Maverick senior Grace Martinez, right, works to flip her opponent on her back during Thursday’s dual against Wenatchee. Martinez won the match with a 19-4 technical fall.
  

    Moses Lake junior Hayden Morris, top, won her match in a 3-2 decision in the 120-pound class.