Quincy and Ephrata each advance four wrestlers

MOSES LAKE — Wrestlers from the CWAC North, CWAC South and Great Northern League converged on Moses Lake to compete for the chance to advance to the state wrestling tournament in Tacoma.

When the weekend's wrestling was completed Saturday, the Lakeside Eagles proved their dominance by winning five individual championships and earning the team title with 204.5 points.

Othello, the CWAC South district champions, edged CWAC North champion Cashmere for second place. The Huskies score of 133.5 was just enough to hold off Cashmere, which scored 132 points.

Huskies coach Ruben Martinez felt his team performed relatively well over the weekend.

"We missed a couple opportunities, otherwise we'd be right up there," Martinez said.

"Being second is not so bad for the number (of wrestlers) we brought in," the Othello coach added.

The points Othello needed to beat Cashmere were provided by Phillip Ontiveros, who pinned Lakeside's Jason Thompson for the 140 pound championship. Ontiveros, leading 2-1 late in the first round, threw Thompson to his back near the edge of the mat and picked up the fall just before time expired in the round.

While Ontiveros picked up a quick victory, teammate Freddie Flores found himself in a battle with Connell's Adam Orozco in the 145 pound final.

Flores grabbed an early 2-0 lead with a fireman's carry takedown of Orozco. The Connell wrestler rallied with an escape and a takedown of Flores to take a 3-2 lead.

Flores appeared to be in trouble when Orozco locked up a double arm-bar. As Orozco turned Flores to his back for a 2-point near fall, the Othello wrestler managed to escape the hold and earn a reversal.

With the score 5-4 in the second round, a Flores reversal and a Orozco escape tied the match at seven. Flores opened the third round by giving Orozco an escape, with the hope of regaining the lead with a takedown.

Flores got his takedown, but Orozco retook the lead for good on a reversal with 40 seconds left in the match.

Despite the finals loss, Flores will enter the state tournament as a number one seed. Because regions three and four have combined their state berths this year, the tournament will send two number one seeded wrestlers to state.

In order to determine the true second-place wrestler, wrestle-backs were held between the losers of the championship finals and the winners of the consolation finals who had not met earlier in the tournament.

Othello's Mat Garza took full advantage of this situation, defeating Medical Lake's Justin Murry 4-3 to claim second place and a number one seed in the state tournament. After losing his first match Friday night, Garza won five matches on Saturday to come all the way back for second place in the 119 pound bracket.

Other Othello wrestlers to qualify for state included third-place finishers Jacob Johnston (189 lbs.) and Michael Carmona (275 lbs.), fourth place wrestlers Derek Stelter (112 lbs.) and Rudy Ochoa (215 lbs.) and sixth placer Teddy Montemayor (140 lbs). Montemayor earned a trip to state by handing Ephrata's Dallas Hintz his first loss of the season.

Hintz, battling illness during the weekend, defeated Quincy's Jason Fleming 4-3 for seventh place and a trip to state.

"That was probably the gutsiest performance I've seen a long time," said Ephrata coach Dave Laird of Hintz's efforts. "I just hope we can get him healthy, that's the key."

While Hintz's tournament was all about surviving and advancing, Ephrata's Jake Horn and Zack Brissey were each dominant in winning regional championships.

Horn won the 112 pound title with a 6-0 decision over Kiona-Benton's Troy Cunningham. Horn repeatedly defended Cunningham's takedown attempts, and took the Ki-Be wrestler to his back to break the match open in the second round.

"We expected him to win," said Laird of Horn, "and he won pretty convincingly."

At 152 pounds, Zack Brissey pinned Medical Lake's Justin Propeck to claim the title. Brissey earned a trip to the finals with a 16-1 victory over Pedro Sandoval of Cashmere.

Jakob Torgeson was Ephrata's fourth and final state qualifier with a sixth place finish at 189 pounds.

For Quincy, Gabe Lindquist finished in second place behind Kellen Hopkins of East Valley at 125 pounds. After losing in the finals, Lindquist faced Riverside's Robert Spackman in a wrestle-back match for second place.

Lindquist scored a takedown at the end of the first round and a 3-point near fall in the second round on the way to a 7-5 victory.

"I liked that he has the heart to come back and win it," said Quincy coach Manuel Ybarra of Lindquist's win in the wrestle-back match.

Todd Yeates finished sixth at 145 pounds to qualify for state for the Jacks.

"He is an unknown, and I think that has helped him," said Ybarra of his 145 pound wrestler.

Quincy's Dan Somers (130 lbs.) and Jared Reyes (119 lbs.) each placed seventh to qualify for the state tournament.

Wrestling begins Friday at 10 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome and continues through the weekend.

Team Scores:

1. Lakeside, 204.5; 2. Othello, 133.5; 3. Cashmere, 132; 4. Toppenish, 120.5; 5. Medical Lake, 115; 6. Grandview, 99; 7. Deer Park, 93; 8. Riverside, 86.5; 9. Ephrata, 77.5; 10. Omak, 65.5; 13. Quincy, 51.

Local place winners (Top seven to state, eight place state alternate):

112 - 1. Jake Horn, Ephrata; 4. Derek Stelter, Othello; 8. Armando Herrera, Quincy; 119 - 2. Mat Garza, Othello; 7. Jared Reyes, Quincy; 125 - 2. Gabe Lindquist, Quincy; 130 - 7. Dan Somers, Quincy; 135 - 8. Kevin Smith, Othello; 140 - 1. Phillip Ontiveros, Othello; 6. Teddy Montemayor, Othello; 7. Dallas Hintz, Ephrata; 8. Jason Fleming, Quincy; 145 - 2. Freddie Flores, Othello; 6. Todd Yeates, Quincy; 152 - 1. Zack Brissey, Ephrata; 160 - 8. Gunnar Kallstrom, Ephrata; 171 - 8. Travis Norberg, Ephrata; 189 - 3. Jacob Johnston, Othello; 6. Jakob Torgeson, Ephrata; 215 - 4. Rudy Ochoa, Othello; 275 - 3. Michael Carmona, Othello; 8. Max Melburn, Quincy.