These Chiawana grads had outstanding sports weeks + Top wrestlers to watch this season

Jeff Morrow
·6 min read

Chiawana graduates have been having a great week.

Start with Talia von Oelhoffen, who plays for the Oregon State University women’s basketball team.

The Beavers are off to a 10-0 start and just beat Texas Tech 77-65 at the Maui Classic.

More impressively, von Oelhoffen scored her 1,000th career point in the tournament, and she did it in front of about 20 family members.

Not bad for being just a junior.

Meanwhile, Kobe Singleton has had a great season at Liberty University in Virginia.

Singleton was named to the first team of the Conference USA all-conference football squad.

Singleton — a 5-11, 185-pound cornerback for the 13-0 Flames — had 35 tackles, 4 interceptions, a fumble recovery and 12 pass breakups this season.

The Flames will take on the University of Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Both von Oelhoffen and Singleton started their prep careers at Tri-Cities Prep before transferring to Chiawana.

Prep basketball

A quick roundup on what’s been going on in the 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference basketball wars: Grandview’s boys are off to a rousing 8-1 start (2-0 in conference play). The Greyhounds are ranked No. 2 in the first Associated Press boys basketball poll that came out this week, trailing only West Valley of Spokane.

Prosser’s boys have already reached the halfway point of their season with a 6-4 record. A couple of the Mustangs’ losses come at the hands of a Miami team, as well as 1A power Annie Wright, in this past week’s Hardwood Invite in Portland. Prosser junior Koby McClure was named honorable mention in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Prosser’s girls are proving to be one of the better 2A teams in the state. The Mustangs are off to a 9-0 start — with wins over 3A Kennewick and 1A Warden, both very good teams. Prosser, which is ranked No. 3 in the first AP state poll, takes on No. 1 Ellensburg (5-0) at home on Jan. 2

2A CWAC BOYS

Grandview 2-0 CWAC, 8-1 overall

East Valley-Yakima 2-1, 7-1

Prosser 2-1, 6-4

Selah 1-1, 3-4

Othello 0-1, 4-3

Ephrata 0-1, 4-5

Ellensburg 0-2, 1-4

Dec. 18 — Annie Wright 75, Prosser 61; Columbia-Burbank 85, Selah 71; Las Vegas Coronado 59, Ephrata 41.

Dec. 19 — East Valley-Yakima 74, Hanford 64; Ephrata 68, Las Vegas Chaparral 53; Othello 74, Naches Valley 60; Prosser 58, Tigard, Ore., 37.

Dec. 20 — Ephrata 61, John Muir, Calif., 50; Prosser 72, La Salle 50

Dec. 21 — Ephrata vs. Gresham Union at Tarkanian Classic, Las Vegas, 12 p.m.; Kiona-Benton at East Valley-Yakima, 5:30 p.m.; Toutle Lake vs. Ellensburg, CWU, 1 p.m.

Dec. 22 — Othello at North Central, Spokane, 5:30 p.m.

2A CWAC GIRLS

Prosser 3-0 CWAC, 9-0 overall

Ellensburg 2-0, 5-0

Selah 1-1, 5-3

Grandview 1-1, 3-7

Ephrata 0-1, 8-1

Othello 0-1, 1-6

East Valley-Yakima 0-3, 2-7

Dec. 18 — Ephrata 63, Las Vegas Silverado 47; West Valley-Yakima 76, Grandview 46

Dec. 19 — Ephrata 41, Las Vegas Coral 28; Hanford 44, East Valley-Yakima 36; Naches Valley 59, Othello 42; Prosser 71, Wapato 46; Selah 79, Columbia-Burbank 32.

Dec. 20 — Ephrata 34, Palo Verde 31; Prosser 74, Warden 60

Dec. 21 — Ephrata vs. Las Vegas Columbia at Tarkanian Classic, Las Vegas, 1:30 p.m.; Kiona-Benton at East Valley-Yakima, 4 p.m.; Chehalis WF West at Ellensburg, 7 p.m.; Sunnyside Christian at Selah, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 22 — Mt Si at Ellensburg, 7 p.m.; Othello at North Central, Spokane, 7 p.m.

Prep wrestling

My top area boys wrestlers to start the season:

  • Evan Benitez, senior, Grandview — Last year, as a junior, he led the Greyhounds with a second-place finish at 126 pounds in the 2A state tournament.

  • Isaac Campos, senior, Othello — He finished second at the 2A state tournament in February at 113 pounds.

  • Carlos Cervantes, junior, Hermiston — Fell just short of a 3A state title, placing second at 106 pounds.

  • Jacob Chapa, senior, Southridge — Won a 3A state championship last February at 113 pounds.

  • Daeton Johnson, junior, Chiawana — the defending 4A state champion at 126 pounds.

  • Jayden Jusso, senior, Sunnyside — placed second in 4A state last season.

  • Eli Perkes, senior, Hanford — placed second at 170 pounds in the 4A state tournament last season.

  • Jaysen Rodriguez, junior, Hermiston — Outstanding cross country and track star too; finished third at 3A state at 132 pounds.

  • Lane Hedrick, senior, Chiawana — Standout football player should wreak some havoc at 285 pounds in the 4A ranks.

  • Mason Russell, sophomore, Othello — As a freshman, Russell finished third at 120 pounds in the 2A state tourney.

  • Julian Sanchez, senior, Grandview — Finished third at the 2A state tourney in February at 138 pounds.

  • Adrian Shima, junior, Chiawana — As a sophomore in 2022-23, he finished fourth in the 4A state tourney.

  • Jordan Tobias, senior, Chiawana — all-MCC last season, Tobias finished third in the 4A state tourney at 138 pounds.

  • Christopher Villanueva, junior, Sunnyside — he placed fourth at 145 pounds at the 4A state tournament last season.

  • Caden Wilson, senior, Hanford — finished third in 4A at 160 pounds in February at Tacoma Dome.

My top area girls wrestlers to start the season:

  • Sharon Arroyo, sophomore, Royal — As a freshman last season, she made waves by placing fifth at 100 pounds in the small-school state tournament in Tacoma.

  • Kyndra Casias, senior, Richland — She got better as the season went on, and placed fifth at 140 pounds for the Bombers at the 3A/4A state tournament.

  • Delilah Chavez, senior, Sunnyside — Placed sixth at 135 pounds in the 3A/4A state tournament in February.

  • Jada Hernandez, senior, Warden — Made her mark in February by finishing fourth at 115 pounds in the small-school tournament.

  • Brianalee Martinez, senior, Warden — Finished fourth at 110 pounds in the 1B/2B/1A/2A state tourney in Tacoma back in February.

  • Ihanna Perez, senior, Grandview — Capped a great junior season in 2022-23 with a second-place finish at the 1B/2B/1A/2A state tournament in Tacoma.

  • Elisa Sanchez, junior, Pasco — finished second at 105 pounds in the 3A/4A state tournament last season.

  • Tutaitaga Sepeni, junior, Hermiston — Emerged in the post-season, finishing sixth at the 3A/4A state tourney in the 235-pound division.

  • Elia Velazquez, senior, Othello — Led a strong Huskies contingent to state, finishing fourth at 190 pounds in the small-school tournament in February.

  • Emma Villa, senior, Royal — Placed third at 170 pounds in the small-school state tournament.

  • Kylie Whitaker, sophomore, Walla Walla — She placed third at the 3A/4A state event in Tacoma at 120 pounds.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.