MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake boys wrestling picked up the victory over visiting Othello in the rivalry dual last week, 48-28.

Moses Lake’s Lerenz Thomas came out on top in the opening bout at 152 against Jonathan Gomez, slamming his opponent to the mat in the third round before securing the pin 16 seconds into the third round.

In the 160 weight class, fourth-ranked Nathan Garza Jr. made short work of freshman Jayden Adame. Garza picked up the pin 1:16 into the first round. Cruz Vasquez, ranked number two in 4A at 160, took down Othello’s Liddell Giles at 170 on Friday night. Vasquez picked up the pin 1:29 into the first round.

Brandon Garza picked up the pin a minute into the third round against Moses Lake sophomore Joseph Freidig in their bout at 182. At 195, Everett Ashley took the 12-4 decision over Othello’s Eric Gomez in the first bout not finish by a pin.

Ranked second in 2A at 220, Othello’s Elijah Roylance was able to pick up the pin against Andrew Kile 1:44 into the second round as Othello pulled ahead as team for the first time, 18-16.

Moses Lake’s Saul Villa was able to hold off the pin from two-time state champion Isaiah Perez, but the top-ranked 2A wrestler in the weight class ultimately took the 11-2 decision. Moving to 106, Jeremiah Martinez picked up the quick pin just over 30 seconds into the opening round over Othello’s Justin Martinez to even the team score at 22 all.

Freshman Sal Salinas would give the Chiefs back the lead for good in the dual as he picked up the pin 1L29 into the third round over Victorino De La Cruz at 113. Sixth-ranked Jonathan Tanguma moved up a weight class to take on Othello’s Hunter Roylance at 120. Tanguma remained unbeaten on the season, picking up the third-round pin.

The bout in the 126 weight class was called to a halt for an illegal throw by Moses Lake’s Ryan Grubb against Miguel Amezola, giving Amezola the victory. Third-ranked Hunter White continued his strong start to the season with the 15-0 technical fall over Othello’s Andrew Deleon at 132.

Camron Regan picked up the quick pin against Othello’s Kyler Freeman at 138, ending the bout one minute into the first round. In the final bout of the night, Othello’s top-ranked Arturo Solario and sixth-ranked Maximus Zamora went down to the wire.

Zamora was able to keep the edge in points after the first two rounds, 6-2, and 10-5. Solario would make a strong push in the final round, finding himself within a point at 12-11. In the end, the Othello wrestler came within seconds of securing the pin as the horn blew to end the round with Zamora coming out on top.

Moses Lake head coach Jaime Garza said after the dual that he felt his team won the matches they were supposed to, while pulling off a couple he wasn’t as sure of.

“When it comes down to a couple of different matches, it’s huge we were able to get those wins,” he said. “With Lerenz Thomas starting the match off, he’s a guy that’s been out with the flu all week. This is his first time putting on his wrestling shoes. He comes out and gets big win against a good guy, a guy that’s made it to the state tournament.”

Jaime Garza said it can be tough to judge where a team’s at after a dual. The Moses Lake coach said there was effort and passion from his wrestlers, but there’s always things you need to work on, at any point in the season.

Wrestling Othello is something the Moses Lake coach said he loves, bringing out good competition and good crowds for the rivalry. After losing to the Huskies last season, Jaime Garza said it felt good to get some revenge.

“There’s great wrestling around this area, and it’s nice that we only have to travel 24 miles to get some quality competition,” he said. “And that says a lot about what these communities are doing.”

The Moses Lake coach pinpointed a lot of individuals who have been wrestling well so far this season, but Jaime Garza said it’s tough to pinpoint who’s stood out. Tanguma, White, Vasquez and Zamora were a few wrestlers Garza highlighted for the individual performance so far this season, as well as what they bring to the team.

In early January, Jaime Garza said simply, “we still have a lot of wrestling to do.”

“It’s kind of like that first part of the basketball season, or any season,” he said. “You have your preseason and then you kind of jump into the grind of it. Sometimes the grind isn’t so much the dual meets, but the practice and what’s that like.”

Moving forward, Jaime Garza said he’ll work with his team on trying to get the most they can out of their time in the wrestling room, and bring it with them to the mat.