MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks boys wrestling team took a loss at home Wednesday against Eisenhower. The competition was close, but Moses Lake came just short with the final team score being 42-32. 

“I knew this match was going to be very tough for us, Eisenhower’s a tough team and I’ve been watching them throughout the beginning of the season,” said Mavs Head Coach Jose Tanguma. “I knew that today was going to be for the league title.” 

Matches started at the 157-lb weight class where Eisenhower went on to take the lead with a few key pins. The Mavs fought hard throughout the heavy weights, but the opposition had a steep advantage by the end of the 285-lb match.  

Moses Lake began to make a comeback in the lightweight matches, taking a four-match run from the 106-lb to the 126-lb matches. The meet came down to the 150-lb match between Mavs wrestler Xzavier Rodriguez and Eisenhower’s Roman Castillo, but Castillo took the win via pinfall, and Moses Lake took a team loss. 

“Eisenhower showed up today, we didn’t, but I’m proud of (the Mavs),” said Tanguma. “They put in a lot of hard work.” 

The Mavs are going back to the drawing board and beginning their preparations for the postseason district tournament, said the coach. A big lesson from Wednesday’s matchup that will be key in the postseason is they can’t allow their opponent to gain the lead through pins. 

Wednesday’s meet will stand as motivation for Moses Lake as they look toward postseason competition as they shift from being defensive to being more aggressive on the mat. Tanguma said this has been a good season with great improvement and that Wednesday’s loss is just a good lesson learned for the Mavs at the halfway point in the season. 

“It’s going to be motivation for us; it’s going to leave something burning inside of us that we’re going to need to let it out at district,” he said. “Eisenhower, they did get the win, but they just woke up a beast.” 

The Mavs’ next matchup will be on the road Tuesday to face the Othello Huskies at 7 p.m. 

Results: 

106: Jose Villafana (MLHS) over Rivaldo Lopez (EISN), 4-0 

113: Ian Garza (MLHS) over Juan Olivera (EISN), 6-0 

120: Vincent Hunt (MLHS) over Jasen Dobbie (EISN), 18-2 

126: Bryan Naranjo (MLHS) over Yandel Barajas (EISN), 8-2 

132: Alfonso Barajas (EISN) over Samuel Janke (MLHS), 12-4 

138: Jarek Dobbie (EISN) over Zach Villasenor (MLHS), 3-0 

144: Duane Zamora (MLHS) over Isaiah Garcia (EISN), 4-0 

150: Roman Castillo (EISN) over Xzavier Rodriguez (MLHS), 3-0, pin 

157: Frank Redfield (EISN) over Ian Anderson (MLHS), pin 

165: Conner Brosnahan (MLHS) over Adalberto Navarro (EISN), pin 

175: Jordan Ward (EISN) over Azaiha Cruz (MLHS), 10-1 

215: Eli Anderson (MLHS) over Antonio Castillo (EISN), 7-0 

285: Aaron Chavez (EISN) over Ryder Janke (MLHS), 3-0 

    Connor Brosnahan from the Mavs pins Adalberto Navarro from Eisenhower in the 165-lb match at home Wednesday evening.
  

    MLHS’s Vincent Hunt gets a lock on Eisenhower’s Jasen Dobbie to secure a victory in the 120-lb match Wednesday.
  

    Sam Janke from Moses Lake and Alfonso Barajas from Eisenhower grapple on to each other as they work to wear each other out in Wednesday's 132-lb match.