WARDEN – The Warden Cougars wrestling team dominated nearly every match Thursday night as they left little doubt in their 72-10 South Central Athletic Conference dual meet victory over the Wahluke Warriors.

Although his team dominated the meet Thursday night, Warden head coach Rick Bowers was pleased to get his wrestlers some time on the mat.

“We are tuning up for the Dream Duals Saturday,” he said. “We wrestled a lot of young kids for seeding purposes (at districts).”

The Cougars took a 12-0 lead before the first match was wrestled Thursday night when Wahluke forfeited matches to Franky Jiminez at 125 pounds and Jesse Guerra at 130 pounds.

After Warden took a 12-0 lead on forfeits, Robert Pruneda faced Jesus Rodriguez at 135 pounds. Pruneda dominated his match with Rodriguez, nearly pinning his Wahluke opponent for the majority of the first period. Pruneda was unable to pin Rodriguez in the first period, but rallied in the second to pin his shoulders to the mat for the win and a 18-0 Warden lead.

Warden dominated the match early on, winning five consecutive matches to begin their contest with Wahluke. Following Pruneda’s pin at 135 pounds, Lupe Landeros pinned Antonio Godinez to give the Cougars a 24-0. The Cougars extended their lead to 27-0 at 145 pounds when Kenny Sullivan earned a 10-9 decision over Mario Herrera.

The 27-0 lead was more than enough for the Cougars as they rolled to a 72-10 victory.

Warden won 12 of the 14 matches Thursday night and Bowers said his team became more experienced with the win.

“Anytime you get on the mat you learn something,” he said. “(Wahluke is) a young team and we are an experienced, mature team.”

The Cougars head to East Valley Saturday for the Dream Dual tournament and Bowers said his team is coming together after the win over Wahluke.

“We won the matches we wanted to win,” he said. “The pieces are all together.”

Dual Meet Results

• 103) Javier Tapia (Warden) won by forfeit
• 112) Carlos Gomez (Warden) def. Austin Hudson (Wahluke) 5-2
• 119) Jonny Guerra (Warden) pinned Javier Zapien (Wahluke)
• 125) Franky Jiminez (Warden) won by forfeit
• 130) Jesse Guerra (Warden) won by forfeit
• 135) Robert Pruneda (Warden) pinned Jesus Rodriguez (Wahluke)
• 140) Lupe Landeros (Warden) pinned Kenny Sullivan (Wahluke)
• 145) Kenny Sullivan (Warden) def. Mario Herera (Wahluke) 10-9
• 152) Mario Herrera (Wahluke) def. Carmelo DeLeon (Warden) 19-5
• 160) Jose Gonzalez (Warden) pinned Taylor Yorgenson (Wahluke)
• 171) Dakota Scott (Warden) pinned Eduardo Cuevas (Wahluke)
• 189) Enrique Barajas (Wahluke) pinned Bernie Garza (Warden)
• 215) Matt DeLeon (Warden) pinned Alan Garcia (Wahluke)
• 285) Gerino Luna (Warden) pinned Jose Mata (Wahluke)