MOSES LAKE — Call it the calm before the storm.

The appetizer before the entrée.

The opener before the headliner.

Moses Lake won three out of the four matches actually wrestled, accepted 10 forfeits and dispatched visiting West Valley 77-5 in less than a half hour.

“We still got to prepare for this dual just as if we were to prepare for any other dual,” head coach Jaime Garza said. “Though we knew coming into this there weren’t going to be a lot of matches, we adjusted things in our typical match day schedule.”

The Chiefs participated in morning and afternoon practice sessions, the latter running up until almost 5 p.m. before a 5:30 weigh-in.

Jonathan Tanguma (120) made a brief stint on the mat, completing a 16-1 technical fall early in the second round. Camron Regan (138) and Max Zamora (152) recorded first-round falls to keep the proceedings brief. Up comfortably, Zamora was urged to cut his opponent from the sideline, but instead regained his advantageous hand position and found a pin.

“Max was in a position where all he had to do was just adjust his hands a little bit to get back into a pinning combination and at that point he already saw it and was like, ‘I’m grabbing that,’” Garza said. “In that position where he was at he was so close and it just made sense for him to stay with that. His neutral game has increased tremendously. He’s gotten so much stronger in the neutral position being able to take his opponents down, and that’s what he did.”

Caleb Braswell won by technical fall 17-0 over Isaiah Bernal to keep the Rams from being shut out.

Thursday’s brief dual will surely be different tonight when Moses Lake welcomes sixth-ranked Lake Stevens. Just last weekend, the Chiefs placed fifth at the Viking Invite — only a half point behind host Lake Stevens. Couple that with a 37-32 loss in Lake Stevens last year and Moses Lake isn’t lacking for motivation against its cross-state rival.

“I’m looking forward to coming out here and battling and coming out on top,” Garza said. “That’s what we train for. But when looking at their lineup they have a tough dual team, they have a great dual team.”

Tonight’s dual begins at 6 p.m.