MLHS girls place sixth after first day at Mat Classic
NANCE BESTON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
TACOMA – The Moses Lake High School girls wrestling team competed at the Tacoma Dome with 11 wrestlers competing across several weight classes. The girls, at around 7 p.m. Thursday, were in sixth place with 95.5 points. However, several matches are still ahead.
The day kicked off with freshman Kayla Gonzalez in the 100-pound bracket starting her day with a victory, pinning Lillian Adams from Graham-Kapowsin in just 1:56. She followed this up with another win over Alyse Gudde from Arlington, who she defeated in a fall at 5:58.
However, Gonzalez faced a setback in the quarterfinals against Kaylia Maltos from Sunnyside, where she was met with a technical fall, ending her chance in the championship run. Her efforts still earned the team eight points.
Freshman Trinity Town also represented Moses Lake in the 100 category. Town started strong, pinning Belyini Pascasio-Umana from Mariner in only 27 seconds. Unfortunately, Town was eliminated in the second round when she lost to Kaylia Maltos by fall at 3:28.
Town rebounded in the consolation rounds by defeating Brigitte Timoteo with a fall in 1:00. She ultimately fell short against Alyse Gudde from Arlington with a fall at 2:04 though, concluding her tournament with seven team points.
Freshman Adelaide Alonso, competing in the 105 class, faced her teammate Grace Martinez in the first round and succumbed to a major decision with a score of 12-2.
“I lost my first match, but I am going to keep telling myself to come back harder,” Alonso said.
Alonso made a comeback in the consolation bracket with wins over Niina Namihisa of Kennedy Catholic with a fall at 4:38 and Keiva Mateo with a fall at 4:12. However, Alonso was eliminated by Azalea Fetters from Curtis in a quick fall at 0:25 in her fourth match.
“State is awesome,” Alonso said. “It’s crazy cause I am a freshman, and it is cool that I am here.”
Alonso scored six team points.
Mavs senior Grace Martinez competed in the Girls 4A 105 bracket. After her victory over Alonso, she faced Jasmine Cha from Camas, where she lost by decision. Martinez rallied in consolation, defeating Neelai Perez from Lake Washington by technical fall with a final score of 21-4 and pinning Lorelei Brown from Battle Ground with a fall at 3:51. She scored 8.5 team points.
Sophomore Kamilah Martinez, 110, had a successful start with an early pin over Gianna Valina from Eastlake with a fall in 0:47 before losing to Jillian Werner from Stadium in a match that ended in another fall at 0:48. She bounced back in the consolation rounds, winning two matches by fall with one at 1:45 and the other at 1:35. Martinez scored ten team points.
Junior Hayden Linscott Morris achieved a technical fall over Chloe Herrick from Sumner, 15-0 and scored a fall against Makenzie Shupe at 5:32 before facing Elisa Sanchez, where she was eliminated by fall in 1:08.
“It's going really well,” Morris said. “I'm loving the experience. Loving to see my teammates doing what we love. I feel like I came and brought it. I want to be here this weekend, and I want to take it all.”
Morris scored 7.5 team points.
Freshman Anahi Garcia in the Girls 4A 140 class won her first match by fall against Emilia Roemer with a fall in 1:19 but lost to Rubylove Koch from Curtis by fall at 0:52 in the quarterfinals. Her performance contributed to seven team points.
“I wasn't expecting to make it to state,” Garcia said. "It's just a good experience to come here as a freshman. It's crazy.”
Sophomore Emma Thompson, 155, won her first match against Dara Brooling from Lake Washington with a fall in 0:54. Unfortunately, she lost her next matches, bringing her tournament to an end with four team points.
Junior Naomi Cruz secured a victory in her opening match against Carmen Ramos from Rogers Puyallup with a fall in 4:42 but faced defeat against Selena Mares-Castro, and subsequently lost a consolation match, finishing with 7.0 team points.
“I think it's going pretty well so far, saying the fact that it's my first time,” Cruz said. “I think we're all doing pretty well, several of us have suffered a few losses, but we're all in it together.”
Freshman Izzabella Fredley, 190, experienced similar highs and lows, starting with a fall over Yanellie Torres from Sunnyside at 1:42 but losing her following match against Josephine Cruz from Bethel. However, she returned and beat Cecilia Roupp from Lincoln Seattle with a fall at 1:40. She ended the day with a loss against Ruby Cordoba from Auburn with a fall in 2:42. Cruz ended with a final team contribution of seven points.
“I just kept reminding myself to be confident and go be aggressive,” Fredley said.
Senior Katelyn Rodriguez, 235, achieved a sixth-place finish in the Girls 4A 235 class, defeating Lailah Washington of Curtis and Khloe Ponce of Sumner by falls before securing her ranking. She scored a total of 15 team points.
As the first day concluded, the head coach David Peralez expressed confidence in the team’s performance.
“I’m always super confident in the team,” he said. “Their confidence levels are only going to improve as they stay in the tournament.”
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