Tigers victorious as Jacks push them to the limit

QUINCY — As a ruckus crowd packed the gym at Quincy High School, the Ephrata Tigers defeated the Jacks 37-28 on the road in a highly competitive dual that came down to the last match. Tigers head coach Joe Knox said he was proud of how his wrestlers competed Thursday.   

“Every one of them really wrestled their butts off, I couldn't be prouder of the effort,” Knox said. “We knew Quincy was good, and it was going to come right down to the wire, and so it was one of those deals where you get a break here, get a break there, and we were fortunate enough to win tonight.”  

The Jacks took a 9-0 lead after Alejandro Barajas won his match via decision in the 215-lb class and Jayden Ortiz earned a pinfall in the 285-lb match.   

The Tigers’ Louden Leenhouts and Caleb Schooler earned pinfall victories to put Ephrata ahead 12-9. A 9-0 decision victory by Nathan Sandoval extended their lead to 16-9. Though Lucas Martinez scored a 10-5 decision win to cut the deficit for the Jacks, Kylan Lus from Ephrata earned a pinfall win to re-extend their lead to 22-12. This began a trend for the night; as the Jacks fought back, the Tigers would recreate the distance on the scoreboard.   

“We told the guys that every point in this dual would matter, and they needed to fight for every single point and try to win every position and that's what they tried to do,” Knox said.  

After Angel Farias defeated Austin Smith via decision 9-7, the Jacks trailed 28-34 and had the opportunity to pull off a comeback in the final match of the night. The Jacks’ Anthony Averill and the Tigers’ Danny Wurl clashed in the 190-lb class to determine the dual winner.  

Wurl pulled ahead during the match and controlled most of it on the mat. On several occasions, everyone in the gym rose to their feet, cheering both competitors on. In the third round, Averill came close to securing a pinfall; however, Wurl escaped and avoided any takedowns for the remainder of the match to secure the dual win for Ephrata via decision 4-3.   

“It's just a lot of heart,” Knox said. “(Averill) had him in that leg ride and he had him cranked over, and Danny just fought out of it, and then found a way to score there at the end and hold him off ... just a ton of heart.”   

Despite the loss, Quincy head coach Breck Webley was proud of how his wrestlers performed in front of their passionate home crowd.   

“They worked all week, knowing that we're going to have a great environment and a great crowd tonight, and just rising to that occasion. A lot of them fought through some really tough situations, and just like (Averill) put himself in a hairy situation, but gave himself the opportunity to get the points. I was really pleased with a lot of our guys,” Webley said.   

With both of their regular seasons wrapped up, the Jacks and the Tigers will prepare for their Central Washington Athletic Conference district tournament, which is set for Feb. 13-14 at Toppenish High School.   

“We're going to celebrate this a little bit tonight, get back to work tomorrow, and then districts next week. There's a lot of really good kids in the CWAC, and if we're not lined up and ready to go, we'll have a pretty quick district tournament,” Knox said.   

RESULTS:   

215: Alejandro Barajas (QNCY) over Peyton Woods (EPHT), decision 3-2  

285: Jayden Ortiz (QNCY) over Daron Hernandez (EPHT), pinfall   

106: Louden Leenhouts (EPHT) over Jacinto Camacho (QNCY), pinfall  

113: Caleb Schooler (EPHT) over Kevin Morales (QNCY), pinfall   

120: Nathan Sandoval (EPHT) over Johnny Blancas (QNCY), decision 9-0  

126: Lucas Martinez (QNCY) over Mike Ramirez, decision 10-5  

132: Kylan Lus (EPHT) over Izyk Vasquez (QNCY), pinfall   

138: Jace Reyes (QNCY) over Isaac Barajas (EPHT), pinfall  

144: Jody Gardner (QNCY) over Riley RIchards (EPHT), decision 10-7  

150: Carter Garcia (EPHT) over Diego Diaz (QNCY), pinfall   

157: Enrique Rebollo (QNCY) over Adrian Negrete (EPHT), decision 18-6  

165: Colt Staples (EPHT) over Jose Medina (QNCY), pinfall   

175: Angel Farias (QNCY) over Austin Smith (EPHT), decision 9-7  

190: Danny Wurl (EPHT) over Anthony Averill (QNCY), decision 4-3  

    Lucas Martinez, in green, hooks the leg of Mike Ramirez, in orange, during their match Thursday.
  

    The Tigers’ Louden Leenhouts, in black, tries to keep Jacinto Camacho, in green, on the mat during their match Thursday.
  

    Kylan Lus, in orange and black, tries to escape Izyk Vasquez’s, in green, hold during their match Thursday.