OTHELLO — After a strong showing in the Mat Classic tournament, the Othello Huskies girls squad finished second as a team in the 2A bracket and had five wrestlers reach the podium. With 11 of the 15 wrestlers who competed in Tacoma returning next season, Head Coach Sammy Rocha feels confident the Huskies will be back.   

“In the end, placing second in the state of Washington, I can't hang my head on that,” Rocha said. “It's kind of enlightening, because going into the offseason, we know we're good enough to win this tournament eventually, and that's going to be our goal. We got a strong core coming back that's going to definitely help us be a strong contender.”  

Addie Russell, Angie Monday, Brooklyn Hillman, Grayce Mendez and Janissa Barrera all placed in the state tournament for the Huskies. After sending 15 wrestlers to compete in Tacoma, Rocha and the Huskies were optimistic they could compete with Toppenish, who ultimately finished in first place. However, the Wildcats were able to pull ahead by the end of the weekend. Despite that, Othello showed a lot of promise for the future, the coach said.   

“We worked pretty hard to catch them, but they just had too much power. Fortunately for us, they're graduating almost all of them.  We're bringing back a majority of our girls,” he said.   

Monday, Mendez and Barrera each placed third in their respective classes, while Hillman placed sixth. Rounding out the placers, Russell, a freshman, came just short of a state title in the 140-lb class.   

After earning a technical fall victory in the first round and two pinfalls, Russell found herself facing Carly Anderson from North Kitsap in the state finals. After suffering a takedown, Russell scored a reversal in the first period. However, an escape and takedown by Anderson gave her a 7-2 lead going into the second period.   

From there, Russell remained competitive, even scoring another reversal, but Anderson continued to score more until she earned a pinfall victory in the third period. Rocha said it was not a surprise to see her have so much success this season as she remains committed to the sport throughout the year.   

“She wrestles in the offseason. She does a lot of freestyle, and coming into the season we knew Addie was good. Now it's just a matter of, ‘Okay, let's figure out how situational wrestling works for Addie.’ And that's kind of how she grew,” Rocha said.   

Coming into high school, she has an extensive history on the mat, according to the coach. As she heads into the offseason, Rocha is confident that Russell will continue to improve and not be shaken by the results of state finals. Instead, use it as motivation.   

Rocha emphasized a championship mentality that drove the team throughout the season. Every wrestler on the roster wants to be a champion, he said. Every time they step into the wrestling room, he described it like a coliseum of gladiators working to make each other better.   

“We've been preaching, ‘We're going to win state championship, we're going to win it,’” Rocha said. “We're in that room, and we all have the same mindset. We all just want to win, and very rarely do you see a weak link in our room of somebody who's just not working hard, somebody who's not doing the extra work. We have 30 girls in that room who want to become state champions.”  

With 11 state wrestlers returning next season for the Huskies, Rocha is confident his team will build off this year. He has noticed his wrestlers are already eager to get back on the mat and start working toward next year's Mat Classic.   

“They're really excited. They're already asking about certain wrestling camps, and they're already asking about practices. That hardly happens where you're going to get 10 to 15 people to go, ‘Hey coach, let's get back on it,’” he said.   

When he looks back on this season, his favorite memory won’t be a particular match or dual, he said. Instead, it will be the moments in between. The energetic practices, the long bus rides where everyone talked about life and the overall camaraderie they built this year.   

“This is one of those groups where I wish the season didn't end,” Rocha said. We're all one big family who had a great time together. No specific tournament in mind, just a lot of memories that took place behind the scenes, on the buses after practice, and just kind of talking about life... those are the moments that I'm going to cherish.”  

    Grayce Mendez, left, locks up with her opponent during her match in the Mat Classic tournament. Mendez placed third in the 110-lb class.
  

    Othello Girls Wrestling Head Coach Sammy Rocha calls out moves to Addie Russell during her state finals match in the Mat Classic tournament.