WARDEN - First-year coach Randy Miller has the Royal boys wrestling team going in the right direction. At last week's SCAC East district tournament, the Knights advanced eight wrestlers to this week's regionals.

Wahluke also fared well, qualifying five boys for regionals. In girls competition, Wahluke advanced six wrestlers while Royal advanced two.

The boys regional, which pits the top 4 from the SCAC West against the top 4 from the SCAC East, will be held Saturday at Zillah, starting at 10 a.m. The girls regional, which will welcome eastern Washington qualifiers from all classifications, will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Wahluke.

Royal's boys finished third at district as a team, only three points out of second. Four won championships, and two were runners-up. Miller expects all six to advance to state, and he's excited about the future for this group that includes only two seniors.

"We are getting there," Miller said. "We're building up. What I like about this group is that they are willing to do the hard work."

Royal was led by sophomore Kiki Chabolla at 113 pounds. He decisioned a Warden boy in the finals to take the championship.

Junior Carlos Hernandez decisioned a Kiona-Benton boy in his final to take the title at 120 pounds. The next title came from senior Emilio Bustos, who scored a major decision over a Ki-Be boy in the 160 final.

The fourth title came from sophomore Darrin Miller at 170. He scored a major decision in the finals over a boy from Burbank.

The two runners-up were senior Carter Allred at 182 and sophomore Matt Bartlett at 195. Sophomore Angel Rojas took third at 285, and sophomore Hunter Follett captured fourth at 220.

The Royal girls who advanced were Brea Diaz and Megan Mianecki. Diaz won the district title at 126. Mianecki finished fourth at 106.

Wahluke was led by Adrian Toscano, who decisioned a Warden boy in overtime for the 138 title. Christian Fabela of the Warriors took second at 132. Both boys are favored to advance to state.

Jack Yorgesen took third place at 182. Francisco Tapia finished fourth at 152, and Omar Loera captured fourth at 170. Yorgesen has a good shot at advancing to state.

The Wahluke girls who qualified for regionals were Fatima Romero (4th at 118), Susie Bartolo (2nd at 137), Eva Herrera (3rd at 155), Victoria Gaytan (3rd at 170), Jessica Rivera (4th at 190) and Jennifer Aznaran (3rd at HW).