MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (2-0) are off to a strong start to their season after defeating the West Valley Rams 54-24 Tuesday. Head Coach Jose Tanguma said he was glad to see his wrestlers make improvements.    

“(They) are developing pretty well for the season. We got a bunch of pins and that's one of the main talks we had with the (them), like we got to be able to go out there and finish our opponent quickly. A lot of the kids ended up doing that,” Tanguma said.    

The Mavericks jumped out to an early 24-0 lead that allowed them to take a strong hold of the momentum. Tanguma said this allowed them to set the tone. The Rams earned four wins, all of which were pinfalls. However, it was not enough as Moses Lake continued to build their lead and eventually secure the overall win.    

“It sets the momentum of the match. The (wrestlers) get fired up. They see their teammates doing well; they're fired up to go out there and wrestle and do the same thing,” Coach said.  

Pinfall victories by Darien Prescott, Ian Garza Owen Martel and a forfeit win for Jose Villafana allowed the Mavericks to take a commanding 24-0 lead over the Rams. Tanguma complimented Garza’s performance. He pointed to his mat control to earn points for them before earning the pinfall.   

“He went out there and took control of the match right away, got a quick takedown, and after that, he was just getting some near falls and a couple more takedowns. He just took control of the match and just controlled the whole pace the whole time until you got the pin,” he said.   

West Valley got on the board after a pinfall win. However, Zachy Villasenor earned a pinfall win, and Duane Zamora earned a competitive win via a 5-3 decision to help them increase their lead.    

Zamora’s match came against another ranked wrestler Orlando Garcia, which presented him a tough challenge early in the season. Tanguma was pleased to see him rise to the occasion against a tough opponent like Garcia.   

“Duane is currently ranked sixth in the state, and his opponent was ranked tenth in the state, and they had a good match. Duane was a more aggressive wrestler to get the take down and win the match,” Tanguma said.  

West Valley earned two more pinfall victories and a forfeit to climb to 24 points, but Moses Lake kept stacking pinfalls of their own to secure the 54-24 match win. Tanguma said some of the Rams’ wins could be attributed to differing experience levels.   

A few of those losses were freshman wrestlers facing upper classmen or wrestlers with more experience on the mat. While wins are what they always strive for, Tanguma was more focused on getting these wrestlers valuable mat experience. As long as they are learning from these moments, that’s what is important, he said.   

“I've talked to our freshman class, ‘You guys are going to get put onto the spot to fill some weights where you guys need to step up.’ I know they're struggling right now, but the main picture is the postseason. I tell them to take every match as a lesson, you're just going to keep getting better,” he said.   

As they move further into the season, Tanguma is solely focused on his wrestlers improving each match. No matter the outcome, if they can take a learning experience from it, their work will pay off in the long run.   

This weekend they head to North Idaho College for a two-day tournament. Tanguma said it is one of the tougher competitions in the Pacific Northwest and will be a valuable experience for his wrestlers.   

“The atmosphere of this tournament is amazing. You're going to see a lot of great matches and battles out there and just take the freshman kids out there to experience this. When they're seniors, they’ll know what to expect from this tournament, and they'll succeed when they're older,” Coach said.   

From there, they will have a small break due to the holiday. Tanguma said this time of the season is the most important for them as they spend more time working on technique, one on one coaching and team bonding.   

This time period serves as a turning point into finishing the rest of the season strong. Coach said his goal is to have his wrestler's performance peak as the postseason begins. After their break, they travel to compete against Eastmont on Dec. 30 at 9 a.m. 

As school starts back up in January, the intensity is going to pick up, he said.   

“We're at the pace where now our practices are going to be more intense. It's going to be longer match times that we do just to get our conditioning up. The way we set up our practice schedule is we're setting them up to start peaking exactly during postseason,” Tanguma said.   

MATCH RESULTS  

106: Darien Prescott (Moses Lake) over Oscar Penaloza (West Valley), Fall 2:14  

113: Jose Villafana (Moses Lake), Forfeit  

120: Ian Garza (Moses Lake) over Lucas Dove-Montes (West Valley), Fall 4:32  

126: Owen Martel (Moses Lake) over Martin Barragan (West Valley), Fall 3:19  

132: Paul Smith (West Valley) over Samuel Janke (Moses Lake), Fall 3:45  

138: Zachy Villasenor (Moses Lake) over Erza Gonzalez (West Valley)  

144: Duane Zamora (Moses Lake) over Orlando Garcia (West Valley), Decision 5-3  

150: Jacob Pomeroy (West Valley) over Ryan Martinez (Moses Lake), Fall 1:45  

157: Ian Anderson (Moses Lake) over Emil Engler (West Valley), Decision 8-2  

165: Grant Bright (West Valley) over River Hutchinson (Moses Lake), Fall 4:51  

175: Connor Brosnahan (Moses Lake) over Thaidyn Erickson (West Valley), Fall 5:01  

190: Kalub Lamb (West Valley), Forfeit   

215: Eli Anderson (Moses Lake) over Santos Kaneta (West Valley), Fall 1:40  

285: Cristian Ramos (Moses Lake) over Brody Jacobs (West Valley), Fall 3:45 

    The Mavs’ Duane Zamora, top, controls his opponent on the mat during their match against Eastmont. Zamora was victorious via a 5-3 decision.
  

    The Mavs’ Zachy Villasenor, right, grapples with his Eastmont opponent earlier this season. Head Coach Jose Tanguma said his wrestlers improved in their match against West Valley Wednesday.
  

    The Mavs’ River Hutchinson, right, goes to grapple with his opponent. Head Coach Jose Tanguma said he wants his wrestlers to start peaking in the postseason.