MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake freshman Bianca Johnson looks to make her mark at the Tacoma Dome this weekend, while helping to usher in a new era for the Moses Lake girls wrestling program.

With 13 participants heading to Tacoma from the boys wrestling team, Bianca Johnson will be the lone representative from the girls’ side. Johnson is the first Moses Lake freshman girl to qualify for the Mat Classic, with former Chief Melanie Flores not making it until her sophomore season. Moses Lake head coach Javier Valdez credited the time his freshman has spent in the club system for her early success.

“The girls coming out of the club system are much more technically proficient, and so the more girls we get out of the club, the better this team will get,” Valdez said.

The Moses Lake freshman said she’s been in club wrestling for eight years. Coming in with that experience, Johnson said she was confident she could reach this level in her first season.

Valdez said Johnson has worked hard this year, and credited his wrestler’s technical proficiency.

“She’s been beaten by some of the seniors, the top girls in the state, and that’s to be expected,” Valdez said. “But, with each tough match, she learns, ‘What do I need to do to beat them?’”

These losses against the top wrestlers in her division, Johnson said, only help her build a blueprint to have the advantage the next time they face off.

“It shows me what I need to work on, and what I need to do to be closer to beating them, and beating them,” Johnson emphasized.

Coming into the season the Moses Lake head coach said Johnson wanted to enjoy her first season on the mat for the Chiefs.

“She knows that’s going to be the one year she has to make mistakes, be a kid,” Valdez said. “And we had that conversation early on, and I said ‘That’s fine. But, just know that we expect you to be at that state tournament. We’ve been saying all year, you can place third, easy.’”

Johnson said she sees the extra knowledge upperclassmen bring against her, but said she feels her club experience has its own advantages. Having that base knowledge coming to the mat at the beginning of the season allowed her to hit the ground running, Johnson said.

“Knowing what to do, instead of falling behind when the boys are continuing to learn more stuff, me already knowing what the basics are helped me move through and get my drilling in,” she said.

Heading to Tacoma this weekend, Valdez is still confident his freshman can walk away with, at least, a top-three finish in her first trip.

“Now, does she have the ability to reach the finals?” Valdez asked rhetorically. “Yeah, she does. But, wrestling’s not always about technique. It’s about the mental game. And, as a young freshman, even as experienced as she is in tournaments, for whatever reason, state’s different.”

Valdez said some kids bring it, some don’t. The Moses Lake coach said we’ll just have to “wait and see who shows up to wrestle.”

Before walking away from her time as a Chief, the Moses Lake freshman said she just has one small goal: be state champion. At least twice.

Her coach said there’s “no doubt” she has the ability to do so. As she continues to grow, Valdez said it will be a matter of continuing to adjust her wrestling style, while also adjusting to facing bigger and taller girls.

“I threw her against two-time state champion Taylor Wilson, she barely lost, and they were both at the same weight,” Valdez said. “And then she grew. And because she was so much taller, Wilson took her over and pinned her.”

This summer, Valdez said Johnson was wrestling at around 98, 100 pounds. By the beginning of training in November, she’d grown two inches and went up to the 115 division. The Moses Lake coach said he doesn’t think she’s done growing.

“She still has to find that balance, the equilibrium of being taller, longer,” Valdez said. “It just changes the dynamics of her wrestling style. We’re working with that.”

The Moses Lake head coach said once she figures out how to utilize her body, she’ll be a force the next three years on the mat.

Valdez continued to see growth out of his program this season, not only with Johnson making the trip to state.

Last year, the Chiefs took six wrestlers to districts, taking sixth place as a team. This season, Moses Lake took nine wrestlers, placing fourth overall.

“We’re climbing that ladder, slowly,” Valdez said. “Next year, hopefully, I’ll have 15. But Bianca is the first of a few girls that will be coming in.”

The Moses Lake head coach said the club wrestling is continuing to produce more and more wrestlers, which will only be beneficial for the program. Next season, Valdez said they will have another wrestler coming in who they feel can be “the next Bianca.”

“Those two are gonna push this team to be better because the girls that are here from last year are improving,” Valdez said. “I took three to regional, got one in; last year we only got one. The program’s improving, and it takes girls like Bianca to make that happen.”

Valdez said Johnson will become a leader for this team, whether she likes it or knows it.

Johnson said this is a role she’d like to embrace down the road, but she doesn’t know how she feels about it now as a freshman. Establishing success in the program, Johnson said, would only help it build into the future.

“It’d be better, to get more girls into the wrestling room and help our team grow,” Johnson said.