3 Tri-Cities teams headed to wrestling regionals after winning district titles
Chiawana dominated the Mid-Columbia Conference 4A district boys wrestling tournament last Saturday at Richland High School, scoring 431 team points en route to the title.
Host Richland was second with 278.
Among the highlights were eight Riverhawks earning district titles.
Leading the way were Chiawana senior Lane Hedrick at 285 pounds. Hedrick, now at 35-5 on the season, pinned all three of his opponents.
Teammate Landon Bolson, a junior, also pinned his three opponents to win at 215 pounds. Bolson is now 20-12 on the season.
Other Riverhawks who were champs are junior Daeton Johnson (138), senior Anthony Pina (106), junior Adrian Shima (120), senior Jordan Tobias (144), senior Hunter Taylor (157), and senior Mason Tovar (165).
Johnson, a defending state champion, has a 31-5 record this season; while Tobias is at 30-6.
Hanford added three district champs, led by senior Caden Wilson. The standout is 40-3 this season and pinned all three of his opponents on Saturday.
Joining him are junior Asa Knutson (190) and sophomore Hunter Duncan (113). Knutson is now 32-6, while Duncan pinned all three of his opponents.
Meanwhile, Richland had two district champs in junior Donovan Gallegos at 150 pounds, and sophomore Xavier Salinas at 132.
Gallegos pinned all four opponents he faced to raise his record to 31-8.
Kamiakin had one district champion in Juan Hoffman at 126 pounds. The Braves senior pinned all three of his opponents and is now 30-5 this season.
The top three placers in each weight class advance to the 4A regional tournament, set for Saturday, Feb. 10 at Davis High School in Yakima.
Chiawana is sending 17 wrestlers to the regional tournament. Class 4A powerhouse Sunnyside is sending 20.
The fourth-place finisher in each weight bracket will take on the fifth-place finisher from the Big Nine Conference in a pigtail match to get into the tournament proper.
3A boys
Hermiston’s Benjamin Larson and Jaysen Rodriguez led their team to the title on Saturday at the 3A boys district wrestling tournament at Southridge High School.
The Bulldogs — who won the Mid-Columbia Conference regular-season title, scored 428.5 points to earn the district team title.
Southridge placed second with 283.
Hermiston collected eight weight-class championships, starting with Benjamin Larson at 165 pounds. He is now 32-6 this season.
Rodriguez, a junior, earned the 126-pound title and is now 32-7.
Other Bulldogs to take titles were junior Dominic Echeverria (285 pounds); senior Daniel Garza (144); freshman Aidan Larson (120 pounds and now 25-2); sophomore Hayden Larson (150); junior Isaac Ramirez Ruiz (132); and senior Maximus Ugarte (215).
The 3A regional tournament now moves to University High in Spokane. Hermiston will send 20 wrestlers to the regional.
Kennewick had four district champions: sophomore Hunter Brower (175 pounds); senior Jaden Lopez (190 pounds with a 27-4 record); senior Abraham Lopez-Lagunas (113), and junior Abraham Noriega (106).
Southridge junior Benjamin Redmond earned a title at 138 pounds.
Walla Walla senior Carter O’Dell grabbed a title at 157 pounds. His record is now 38-5.
Regionals starts at 5 p.m. Friday, and then at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
4A-3A girls
The Richland girls wrestling team continued their dominant ways last Friday by taking the team title at the 4A-3A sub-regional tournament at Hanford High School.
The Bombers, who won the Mid-Columbia Conference regular-season title, scored 280 points in the tournament.
Hermiston finished second with 240.
Richland had three individual champions: senior Kyndra Casias at 145 pounds, sophomore Yaneece Sanchez at 190, and Savannah Thorpe at 110.
Thorpe was especially impressive, winning four matches (three by pins) en route to her title and raising her record to 32-11 this season.
The other titles were dispersed among the other MCC teams.
Hermiston and Southridge each had two champs. For Hermiston, it was 235-pound senior Lindsey Perkins and 140-pound freshman Carly Rangel-Tucker.
Southridge’s champs were junior Lexi Gideon at 125 pounds, and sophomore Desirae Juarez at 135. Gideon improves to 35-6, while Juarez is 26-6.
Other champions were Hanford senior Dayna Enderlin at 155 pounds, Kennewick junior Jaylee Lopez at 170, Pasco junior Elisa Sanchez at 115, and Walla Walla sophomore Kylie Whitaker at 130.
Whitaker is especially impressive with a 29-1 record.
The top five placers in this tournament will advance to the 3A-4A regional tournament set for Saturday, Feb. 10, at Sunnyside High School. Action begins at 11 a.m.
2A boys
Othello ran away with the 2A CWAC boys district wrestling tournament last Friday at the Yakima SunDome.
The Huskies, on the strength of six individual champions, scored 412 points. Ephrata was second with 249.
Leading the way for the Huskies were junior Jeremiah Flores at 150 pounds, as well as junior Mason Perez at 285.
Other Othello champs were senior Anthony Abundiz (132 pounds), senior Isaac Campos (113), sophomore Mason Russell (126), and junior Anthony Solorio (215).
Prosser junior Julian Joel Torres pinned all three of his opponents en route to the 120-pound title. Teammate Alex Anderson, a senior, won the 175-pound title for the Mustangs.
Grandview senior Julian Sanchez won a title at 144.
The 2A regionals is now at Ellensburg, and will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
1A boys
Connell’s Jackson Forsyth and Daniel Ramos, as well as Kiona-Benton’s Keevan Gifford, had outstanding days to win individual titles at the 1A SCAC East district wrestling tournament last Friday in Yakima.
Forsyth, a senior, had two pins to win the 215 title, and he’s now 19-4 on the season.
The sophomore Ramos also had two pins in winning at 144 pounds.
Gifford is a senior at Ki-Be, He had two pins en route to taking the 157-pound crown. Gifford is now 39-6 on the season.
Royal won the team title on the strength of six weight champions, scoring 332.5 points. Connell was second at 249.
Thomas Antonio (120), Carlos Barajas (132), Aram Garnick (175), Dennis Hernandez (113), Antonio Narciso (106), and Shea Stevenson (150) all earned titles.
College Place had four champions: junior Target Casey at 138 pounds; junior Parker Hodgen (190); junior Emiliano Ibarra-Mendez, Jr., (285); and senior Ethan Parker (165).
Connell freshman Elian Serra advanced at 126 pounds (like Royal’s Narciso did at 106) because he was the only wrestler in the division.
The 1A regional tournament heads to Connell on Saturday, Feb. 10. The tournament begins at 10 a.m.
1B/2B boys
Warden had two district champions in the B tournament last Friday in the Yakima SunDome.
Senior Omar Pruneda won the 215-pound title, while teammate Junior Santiago, a junior, earned the 138-pound crown.
Columbia-Burbank senior Carter Katz grabbed the 113-pound title.
The B regional tournament starts at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 10, at Tonasket.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
