MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake boys and girls wrestling teams qualified a combined seven wrestlers for this year’s Mat Classic, with the Maverick boys sending five and the girls sending two to Tacoma.

Of those seven wrestlers, five are returning to the Tacoma Dome and three reached the podium in past seasons.

“This is the accumulation of everything they’ve worked so hard for, and that’s the reason why they’re going,” Moses Lake girls wrestling coach David Peralez said. “How much time they spend doing the extra stuff; not just practice, but they’re doing something outside of the room that is preparing them.”

The Maverick boys will send sophomore Ian Garza (106), junior Drayden Gaither (126) and senior Dayton Regan (150) – who all wrestled at the 2023 Mat Classic — as well as freshmen Duane Zamora (120) and Trenton Vasquez (132).

“The experience of them wrestling there, it’s going to really help them out a lot,” Moses Lake boys wrestling Coach Jose Tanguma said. “They know the atmosphere at the Tacoma Dome is different, so they’re already used to that now so we should see a better performance.”

Regan won a regional title at last weekend’s 4A Region 4 tournament in Yakima, while Zamora and Vasquez finished as the runner-ups in their weight classes.

“I’m glad with the five that we got in,” Tanguma said. “We had three finalists, so that’s going to put in good seeds for those guys at the state tournament.”

Tanguma credited the defense of Moses Lake’s five state qualifiers as a factor in them reaching the state tournament.

“It’s the work that they’ve been putting in in the room, working on our technique and stopping the takedowns,” Tanguma said. “We’ve been getting a lot of defensive takedowns during those matches to help those guys get in the finals.”

Regan is Moses Lake’s lone returning state placer, having taken fourth in the 4A Boys 152-pound class a year ago.

“That’s his main goal right there, to be a state champ,” Tanguma said. “He’s excited to get back in the Tacoma Dome and make one last run.”

A year after winning a state title in the inaugural Girls 3A/4A Mat Classic, the Maverick girls wrestling team will send two to this year’s state tournament; senior Ashley Naranjo and sophomore Reese Prescott.

Both wrestlers reached the finals in their respective weight classes last season, with Naranjo winning her second straight title and Prescott taking second.

Naranjo has amassed a 107-0 record throughout her high school career and now has a chance to become the third Moses Lake wrestler to win three state championships in their career.

“She’s taking advantage of every minute of her practice time, getting as many repetitions in such a short amount of time because she knows that’s how she’s going to wrestle,” Peralez said. “She knows how our opponents are going to wrestle her, especially with the target on her back as being one of the elite wrestlers.”

The senior pinned all three of her opponents at last weekend’s Girls 3A/4A Region 4 tournament in Sunnyside, while Prescott pinned two opponents and won by a 9-0 major decision in the semifinals. For the two to get back to this year’s finals at the Mat Classic, it’ll come back to using the foundation that got them there.

“They just have to wrestle to what’s brought them to this point, and they just have to wrestle their style,” Peralez said. 

While Moses Lake has a much younger team than the one that hoisted the state championship trophy a year ago, Peralez noted the importance of how Prescott and Naranjo can serve as an example for Maverick wrestlers in the coming years.

“They’re flowing from one move to the next and chaining things together,” Peralez said. “They’re taking what’s there and not forcing anything. It’s been huge for some of these first-year wrestlers and some of the freshmen to see what it looks like when someone has spent a lot of time working on the little stuff.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Moses Lake sophomore Ian Garza, right, is one of three Maverick boys wrestlers returning to the Mat Classic this week.
  

    Moses Lake sophomore Reese Prescott, top, reached the 120-pound finals at last season’s Mat Classic in Tacoma.
  

    Moses Lake freshman Trenton Vasquez, right, is one of two Maverick freshmen heading to their first state tournament.