MOSES LAKE — On Thursday, the Mavericks boys and girls wrestling were each victorious over the Eastmont Wildcats. The Boys won 47-36, while the girls won 77-3 to start their season off strong with a league win.   

“It's early in the season, but to be able to come out and have success, and pretty much every match was, was a big win for us, especially being a mostly young team,” girls head coach Tony Lee said. “Those are ones we definitely circle on the calendar. We want to make sure we're having success at our league duels.”  

Girls

The girls team were dominant in their matchup against Eastmont, only losing one match. Lee said they knew Hayden Morris’ match was going to be tough since she and her opponent were state competitor's last season.   

For Morris, it was her first match of the season, which presented its own challenges, Lee said. It was competitive for multiple rounds with a few stoppages sprinkled throughout. Ultimately, Eastmont earned enough points for the victory.   

“She wrestled hard, wrestled well, there's definitely some things we can work on and turn that match around,” he said. “It's early in the season. I'm not going to be mad at a tight match not going our way, as long as we're putting in effort, which she did. I think she's going to build on that and have plenty of success moving forward.”  

Meczi Johnson, Emma Thompson, Alana Wilson, Alyssa Armendariz, Trinity Town and Naomi Cruz all earned victories over their opponents to contribute to their overall win. Earning a league win early in the season provides the Mavericks with a momentum boost as they prepare for more stiff competition later this season. Lee also noted that his team leans toward the younger side.   

“A lot of the teams we saw this last week at the Eastmont tournament, we're going to see again this next weekend,” Lee said. “So we can't really get big heads about it. We still got to have that same mindset that we're going to go in there and wrestle the best of our ability and still wrestle hard and not try to change things up too much when you don't need to.”  

As they push forward into the season, Lee said their goals will adapt as they continue to learn more about their own capabilities.   

“They already proved a lot that first tournament,” Lee said. “I think they surprised themselves a little bit, and we saw a different level of intensity coming out of them this week in practice, once they saw their own potential and growth already, just from buying into to the culture where we're trying to establish.”   

Boys

The boys' match against the Wildcats followed up after the girls and quickly proved to be a back-and-forth competition. The boys head coach, Jose Tanguma, said he knew the Wildcats were going to be tough to beat Thursday.   

“Our freshman (Vincent) Hunt at 126, we moved him up a weight class, and he came out and got us a pin and secured the win for us," Tanguma said. “He's a tough kid, and he's one of those kids where, if you take him into deep water, he's going to fight his way back and get a win for you.”  

After the first four matches, the Mavericks trailed 11-12 but stayed in it thanks to wins by Duane Zamora and Ian Anderson. River Hutchinson earned a pinfall to put the Mavericks ahead 17-12. The Wildcats responded with two match wins, one of which was a forfeit by Moses Lake. The Mavs trailed 17-24.   

Eli Anderson earned a pinfall win in 28 seconds to cut the deficit to 23-24.   

“Eli's one of those kids; he won't show his emotions. For him, it's just another day at the job. He went out there and just did his work,” Tanguma said.   

After dropping another match, the Mavericks went on a streak of pinfall victories and logged two forfeits by Eastmont to take a 47-30 lead. In that stretch of wins, Ian Garza earned his 100th win in his high school career, pinning his opponent after five minutes. Tanguma said Garza’s dedication in the offseason has helped him reach this milestone.   

“He's always coming into open mats and wanting to improve, and he knows that this is his last year to be on top of the podium, so he's putting extra work after practice with a couple other wrestlers. He knows what's on the line this year. It's his senior year, and he wants to leave it all on the mat,” he said.   

As they move ahead, Tanguma said the Mavericks are focused on learning from each match or tournament they compete in.   

“We saw the good things we were doing on the mat, and we saw some bad things as coaches (we’ll) get together and work on the bad things, how we can correct it and improve. That's the way we're going to take each duel, we're learning and looking to improve,” Tanguma said.   

Both teams return to the mat Wednesday on the road when they face West Valley. The girls start at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m. 

    The Mavericks girls cheer on their teammate during their match against Eastmont. The Mavericks girls were victorious 77-3 over the Wildcats.
  

    Eli Anderson, top, pins his opponent in a move called the assassin. Head Coach Jose Tanguma said it’s one of Anderson’s favorite moves.
  

    The Mavs’ Hayden Morris, right, faces off against an Eastmont wrestler. Head Coach Tony Lee said Morris fought hard against a fellow state placer from last season.
  

    A Mavericks wrestler pins his opponent to the mat during an exhibition match in a Jamboree Moses Lake hosted earlier this season.