Othello wrestlers thrilled the home crowd at PJ Taggares Gym Saturday with a first place finish in the Lady Huskie Invite. Othello placed eight girls in the tournament and crowned two champions along the way.

Emily Mendez overcame a hyperextended elbow in her first match to dominate Grandview’s Maria Reyes in an 8-2 decision to claim the 105-weight class. Mendez advanced to the final round after pinning second ranked Alexandra Puzon from Enumclaw.

Elizabeth Giles (140) pinned River View’s Kasye Magana at the 4:16 mark of their match to claim Othello’s second championship of the competition.

Estephania Vargas (235) turned in a solid outing with a second place finish in her match with Jasmine Fryer from West Valley of Spokane.

“The girls wrestled really well,” coach JJ Martinez said. “I was pleased with their efforts after having such a bad weekend in Kelso. I’m happy with the way they bounced back and put it behind them.”

The Lady Huskies not only thrived in what Martinez called a tough tournament with great competition, they had to overcome a lot of adversity as well.

“We had four injuries to deal with,” Martinez said. “All but one wrestler – Rose Gutiérrez who was dealing with a hip flexor was able to battle though. She held her ground really well, but was unable to place in the tournament.”

Lady Huskie grapplers Jackie Peruero (115) and Victoria Mendoza (190) battled to fourth place finishes. Iyaszely Barraza (115) pinned Grandview’s Adri Graf to claim sixth place, and Gabriela Rodriguez (105) and Leslie Rodriguez (130) wrestled to eighth place finishes respectively.

Top 10 team scores

1. Othello – 174

2. Sunnyside – 146

3. Aberdeen – 128

4. White River – 127

5. Warden – 104

6. Grandview – 98

7. Mt. Baker – 91

8. Granger – 79.5

9. Quincy – 72

10.Burlington Edison – 68.5

Othello was back at it Tuesday in Toppenish for a dual meet with Sunnyside, but the results were not available at press time.

Boys dominate Bulldogs on the mat

Othello took 9-of-14 matches to come away with an impressive 42-19 home win over Ellensburg Thursday.

“I thought the boys wrestled well,” coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “We had back to back days of bus trips for competition so it was nice to win one at home.”

Results

106- Miguel Amezola (o) won by forfeit

113- Andy Cantu (o) won by forfeit

120- Jonathan Gomez (o) won by dec over Christian Davis (E) 3-2

126- Ryker Freeman (e) won by maj dec over Arturo Solorio (o) 10-2

132- Jaxon Rocha (o) won by fall over Jesse Halloway (e) 2:04

138- Jovani Espindola (o) won by fall over Wade Weaver (e) 1:41

145- Levi Garza (o) by dec over Dean Child (e) 10-3

152- Juan Martinez (o) by dec over Dustee Burvee (e) 4-2

160- Brandon Melleguard (e) by dec over Easton Roylance (o) 5-0

170- Bernie Garza Jr. (o) by dec over Lorenzo Gonzalez 4-0

182- Henry Rinhart (e) by fall over Nick Alvarez (o) 1:59

195- Cade Stevenson (e) by dec over DJ Guzman (o) 3-2

220- Tyge Taylor (e) by dec over Elijah Roylance (o) 4-1

285- Isaiah Perez (o) by forfeit

The Huskies hit the road to Grandview Thursday to do battle with the Greyhounds.