OTHELLO — The Huskies closed out the regular season with a dominant dual win Thursday night, defeating Prosser 71-12 on their home mat.  

“We’re starting to see us improve — even today we were seeing moves that we were practicing for weeks, and we’re finally starting to see them come into fruition,” Othello head coach Sammy Rocha said. “They’re starting to believe, and I think that’s why we’re getting this energy as far as confidence is concerned.” 

Of the 10 matches wrestled Thursday night, Othello won seven of them by fall. Senior Diamond Van Cleve, junior Angela Monday, sophomore Karla Guzman, senior Guadalupe Zuniga-Castro, junior Alejandria Espindola, sophomore Grayce Mendez and junior Victoria DeLeon all pinned their competition in the win.  

Rocha noted a drill the Huskies use in practice, where wrestlers have less than 10 seconds to adjust to different moves to pin a wrestler on their back.  

“Our girls, when they put people on their back, we’re pretty certain that we’re going to get that pin because we put them in that situation all the time,” Rocha said.  

Othello won the first three matches of the night by fall to take an 18-0 lead in the dual, capped off by Guzman’s first-round pin at 155 pounds. 

“I thought I was going to wrestle someone else, so it caught me by surprise,” Guzman said. “It didn’t even hit me that I was going to wrestle until I hit that line.” 

In a highlight night for the Huskies, Rocha noted three wrestlers as standouts; Monday at 145 pounds, sophomore Lucy Gilbert at 170 pounds and Espindola at 235 pounds. 

Monday pinned her opponent midway through the second round. 

“(She’s) looked really good for this last month,” Rocha said.  

While Gilbert didn’t get the pin in her matchup, the Othello sophomore won with a 19-4 technical fall at 170 pounds. 

“She’s another one who’s just gotten better and better,” Rocha said.  

Espindola, recently coming back from an injury, pinned her opponent in less than a minute. 

“She’s been hurt most of the year, so to get that confidence in her eyes knowing that it’s not that painful anymore, that’s going to make the biggest difference,” Rocha said.  

Being the last home dual of the regular season, Othello’s seniors were honored prior to the dual beginning. 

“I think sometimes seniors go through these peaks and valleys, and it’s nice for them to have a team that’s pretty successful,” Rocha said. “A team that there’s a lot of energy.” 

“We were lit up because of senior night, so we were all excited,” Guzman said. “I’m happy for the seniors.” 

The Huskies will travel to Toppenish next week for the Central Washington Athletic Conference district tournament. The two-day tournament begins Friday at 5 p.m. 

Othello finished second to the Wildcats in the league standings, posting a 7-1 record in dual meets this winter.  

“From here on out, we don’t need to change anything,” Rocha said. “We have our identity, and we’re just going to repeat that identity as many times and as hard as we can. That way on Friday, it comes easy.” 

    Othello junior Angela Monday, top, seeks to pin her opponent at 145 pounds in Thursday’s dual against the Mustangs.
  

    Othello junior Alejandria Espindola, top, looks toward the official while attempting to pin her opponent.
  

    Othello sophomore Grayce Mendez, top, was one of seven Huskies to win by fall Thursday against Prosser.