EPHRATA — A hard-fought season in the Central Washington Athletic Conference came to a close Saturday at the 2A district tournament, where the Ephrata Tigers qualified 16 wrestlers from among the boys and girls teams for the Mat Classic.  

Boys 

The Ephrata boys ended up qualifying six boys into state after a hard-fought weekend at the district tournament in Toppenish. 

“We actually had a couple of pleasant surprises. We had a couple kids get through, and I wasn’t quite sure they were going to get through the tournament,” said Tigers Boys Head Coach Joe Knox. “We ended up qualifying six guys to the tournament along with two alternates, so a pretty good showing overall for our guys.” 

The Tigers had two district champions on the boys' side with 165-lb freshman Colt Staples and 215-lb senior Peyton Woods. 

Staples battled it out through his bracket until he made the final match against Prosser’s Clay Steven Crow. Knox said the match swayed back and forth between the two wrestlers until Staples pulled ahead at the very end to win with a pin, taking first in the 165-lb bracket. 

“That was really cool and I was super happy for Colt,” said the coach. “To do that as a freshman is pretty remarkable.” 

The fight in the 215-lb division was tough, but Woods kept strong and won his first two matches by a match decision. In the final bout against Prosser’s Korbyn Hopwood, Woods came ahead to win by technical fall to take first.  

“(Woods) tossed the kid a couple times in a lat drop and just wrestled as free as I’ve ever seen him wrestle,” said Knox. “He just kind of let it rip and it was so much fun to watch.” 

Along with Staples and Woods, 157-lb Adrian Negrete and 106-lb Louden Leenhouts both qualified for state when they took third in their brackets. The final two qualifiers were 150-lb Carter Garcia and 215-lb Darren Hernandez, who both took fifth. 

Knox said the focus for the Tigers moving forward is to not spend too much time focused on the state bracket and work on the things that are within their control.  

“You can control your preparation, you can control how you wrestle when you actually get on the mat. You can control all of those things you’re training for prior to us getting to Tacoma,” said Knox. 

Girls 

The Tigers girls qualified a large group of girls for Mat Classic during Saturday’s district tournament in Grandview over the weekend.  

“It went well, the girls wrestled tough and we got 10 through and one alternate. (That’s) one more than last year, so it was a good weekend,” said Tigers Girls Head Coach Raul Tejeda.  

Tigers senior Adylene Sanchez became the 2A district champion in the 155-lb bracket to qualify into state. Tejeda said Sanchez put in the work throughout her whole career with the Tigers. 

“She just keeps getting better and mentally I think she’s right where she needs to be for this weekend,” said the coach. 

The senior class of Tigers wrestlers who qualified was strong this year. Along with Sanchez were six other seniors: Natalin Abundiz, Alex Estrada Rangel, Kashlynn Cobb, Kallee Rayn Castillo, Tessa Hausken and Carolina Monico.  

The road to state was tough for the team, but as the girls fought through the season, they became more prepared mentally and physically for the final competition ahead. Tejeda said the seniors on the team played a major role in the success throughout the year. 

“That senior class just puts in the work and sets a good example for the upcoming season,” he said. 

With qualifiers ranging from freshmen to seniors this year, there are a variety of different feelings from each of the wrestlers. The coach said the senior leadership will be key in helping the younger players stay sharp for the upcoming tournament. 

Preparation for the state is not going to be much different than preparing for any other competition, said Tejeda. He is going to have the team circling back around to make adjustments and have everybody in top shape for Tacoma. 

“I think the biggest thing is just going to keep everybody nice, safe and healthy,” said the coach. “We would like them to go feeling 100% and then mentally tough.” 

    The Ephrata girls state qualifiers gather together for a group photo following the district competition in Grandview over the weekend.
  

    Ephrata senior Peyton Woods looks for an opening against an opponent during a home meet earlier this season. Woods took first in the 215-lb bracket at districts
  

    Natalin Abundiz, a senior from the Tigers, eyes her opponent during a previous tournament this season. The senior qualified for the 115-lb bracket for state after finishing fifth in districts.