Othello boys wrestling team wins three dual meets
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
Othello High School wrestler Forrest Roylance, top, works to pin his opponent Logan Schmidt, of East Valley High School, in a dual meet Thursday in Othello.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Othello High School wrestler Zak Rocha, right, works to take his opponent J.J. Dobie, of East Valley High School, to the mat in a dual meet Thursday in Othello.
Andy DeLeon Jr., of Othello High School, takes down his opponent Lenin Leon, of East Valley High School, in a dual wrestling meet at Othello on Thursday.
Andy DeLeon Jr., of Othello High School, circles his opponent Lenin Leon, of East Valley High School, in a dual meet in Othello on Thursday.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | February 2, 2022 1:00 AM
OTHELLO — The Othello High School boys wrestling team finished the regular season Thursday with wins in two dual matches on Senior Night at OHS. And the Huskies defeated Prosser High School in a dual match Jan. 25.
Head wrestling coach Rudy Ochoa II wrote in an email it was a good way to end the regular season.
“Our boys wrestled well,” he wrote. “These wins locked us into second place in the CWAC (Central Washington Athletic Conference) behind No. 2 state ranked Selah.”
Othello defeated Prosser 58-15 Jan. 25 in Prosser, beat Grandview High School 64-15 and East Valley High School of Yakima 71-4 on Thursday.
Ochoa wrote sophomore Anthony Abundiz, wrestling at 126 pounds, and freshman Mason Perez, at 285 pounds, had good matches against Prosser. Both beat opponents who defeated them earlier in the season.
All of the senior wrestlers collected a win on Senior Night, Ochoa wrote, and he paid tribute to the class of 2022 for the way it kept going through a lot of adversity.
Wrestling and basketball were the last sports to finish the season in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to move to online classes and canceled all sports. There was a wrestling season in 2021, but it was shorter than a normal season and there was no postseason.
“I’m really proud of our seniors who have stuck it out; it’s been a challenging few years for them, but they stayed focused and persevered,” he wrote.
All the seniors who wrestled won at least one match on Senior Night.
“We were able to recognize our seniors and thank them for their commitment. They should hold their heads high with all they have accomplished,” Ochoa wrote.
The 2021-22 team finished second in the league with a 7-1 record, he wrote. Last year, the Huskies were affiliated with the Greater Spokane League and took the league title. They also received the Distinguished Team award with a 3.01 team grade point average.
The 2019-20 Huskies finished fifth at the Mat Classic and were fourth in regionals, second in the CWAC and took the Distinguished Team award with a 3.09 GPA.
The CWAC district tournament is scheduled for Saturday at Grandview High School, 1601 W. Fifth St., in Grandview.
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