OTHELLO — They’ve been climbing the mountain together, step by step, ledge by ledge. They have won district championships and now regional titles.

Now, there’s just one more height to reach the dream goal. Region 4 champions and district champions Chris Melo, Isaiah Perez and Elizabeth Giles will lead the Huskies one more time at the Mat Classic XXX at the Tacoma Dome, beginning Friday.

The Othello boys finished fourth in the 2A Region Championships with two regional champions and a total of six state qualifiers.

The four-time Central Washington Girls Wrestling League champion Othello girls won the Region 4 championship at East Valley in Spokane. They too crowned two regional champions in Victoria Mendez (190) and Giles (140) and qualified six and an alternate.

“This is such a tough region,” boys coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “We lost some guys that we thought could have got through and those wins obviously would have helped in the team score.

“We’ll wrestle our best as individuals and let the team chips fall where they will.”

The Husky girls are in the same boat in terms of numbers, but coming out of the Girls Region 4 there’s one thing they do know how to do — wrestle tough.

“The state tournament is all about numbers. Qualifying six might be tough, but they all know what Othello wrestling is all about and we’ll go out there and do our job,” girls coach JJ Martinez said. “This is the toughest region in the state. To get out of our region is huge. Now, we move on and compete in the state tournament and try to bring home some hardware.”

Othello boys

Huskies sophomore Isaiah Perez has been the fall guy this season. He pinned Ephrata’s Efrain Bedolla to win the CWAC District championship and made short work of Dietrik Mueller, pinning the Pullman big man in the second period for the 285-pound regional championship.

“Isaiah was first at districts and first at regionals as a freshman. We thought he was better than the seventh he placed last year at state, but he learned,” Ochoa II said. “He loves putting in the work. He and Chris (Melo) are very similar in that even though they’ve both had a lot of success, they’re always trying to better themselves as wrestlers.”

Melo broke a collarbone right before the regional tournament last year and missed the rest of the season. He’s back with a vengeance, placing at the Tri-State tournament and winning both the district and regional championships at 106.

“This is my last tournament and I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” Melo said. “I’m wrestling pretty good right now and working hard in the room. Wrestling seems like it’s about one guy, but I like the way we’re wrestling as a team right now. We all support each other.”

The Othello state qualifiers include: Chris Melo (106), Juan Martinez (145), Easton Roylance (152), Bernie Garza Jr. (160), DJ Guzman (195) and Isaiah Perez (285).

Othello girls

It’s all about getting to the dance, first or fourth, you have to be there in order to compete. The Husky girls have been a work in progress since losing five to graduation from last year’s team. So to come through the Region 4 tournament with two champions and a runner-up is a tribute to a team putting in the work, Martinez said.

“I thought we did better than anticipated at regionals,” he said. “We had a some girls we hoped would make it through. But like I said, this is the toughest region in the state and to get out is a lot of work.”

Giles slugged her way to both a district and regional championship. There’s just one title left and she’s going to turn it loose she said.

“I tend to wrestle a little tentative, waiting to see how they attack,” Giles said. “But when you have nothing to lose (like at state), you can just go for it and make something happen.”

Mendoza has been battling DaNeil Jolley of Warden all year and the work paid off last week when she defeated Jacqueline Luna of Toppenish for the regional championship.

“I thought Vicky peaked at just the right time to win the regional championship,” Martinez said.

The Othello girls state qualifiers include: Emily Mendez (105), Jackie Peguero (115), Leslie Rodriguez (135), Elizabeth Giles (140), Kaitlyn Goodman (170), and Victoria Mendoza (190).