Event Details for 2009-2010 Varsity Wrestling

Date:02/13/10
Opponent:Eastern Regional Tournament
Location:West Valley High School (Yakima, WA)
Type:Regionals
Score: Hanford: CLICK FOR - Eastern Regional Tournament: RESULTS

 Experience was a highly variable commodity for Sunnyside’s wrestling team on Saturday.

Sophomore Nathan Gonzalez had plenty and senior Jose Barajas had none, but the teammates at opposite ends of the weight spectrum earned the same result — a championship at the Class 3A Region IV tournament at West Valley High School.

Gonzalez, a state runner-up as a freshman, had his much-anticipated showdown with top-ranked Joseph Bratz of Glacier Peak and the confrontation of unbeatens turned out to be short. In a stunning dismantling, Gonzalez charged ahead 8-1 and then pinned Bratz in the second period of the 103-pound final.

Barajas, who entered his final year with no postseason matches, firmly established himself as the 285-pound state favorite with a 9-3 victory over North Central’s Steven Taylor, who was top ranked at the end of the regular season.

West Valley’s Kevin Madson gave the home crew a finalist with a second-place finish at 215 pounds.

It was a cutthroat day of action in a loaded regional, which included the Northwest League from District 1, and state berths in the top four were difficult to come by.

The Grizzlies, however, managed to advance five of their eight regional entries to Mat Classic next week in Tacoma and West Valley qualified two.

Of those, Gonzalez was the most impressive of the day with his quick fall over Bratz, who brought in a 29-0 record. Gonzalez made a statement early with a takedown and 2-point near fall in the first 30 seconds.

“I always try to think of one match at a time, but I’ve definitely been looking forward to this one for a while,” said Gonzalez, who pushed his record to 34-0. “I think a lot of people figured I would get beat, and that fired me up.

“I wanted to be aggressive right off and not give him any opportunity to score,” he added. “That first move — that made me even more confident and I just took it from there.”

Knee injuries have been the culprit leading to the demise of Barajas’ last two postseasons, but a solid season of football as Sunnyside’s starting center and defensive tackle have made him a different animal.

“Those skills have really paid off — good balance and low center of gravity,” Barajas said. “I started the season with something to prove and I’ve done it. Now I’m the top-ranked guy and I’m OK with that. I’m ready for next week.”

Barajas edged Taylor last week in the sub-regional final 2-1, but on Saturday he upped the tempo and carried a 4-0 lead into the final period before pulling away. Taylor placed third at state last year.

Heavyweight teammate Adam Peters will join Barajas at state having placed third, and Sunnyside’s Gerardo Villalobos (112) and Danny Almeida (215) also earned the trip with fourth-place finishes.

Madson reached the 215 final with a 4-3 win over Sedro-Woolley’s Joe Janicki and then ran into Everett’s Alec Bird, who confirmed his top ranking in 3A with a third-period pin for the title.

Madson will be joined at state by fellow senior Dylan Foster, who placed fourth at 189.

Team scores: Shadle Park 142, North Central 122, Everett 120, East Valley 105, Sunnyside 98.5, Sedro-Woolley 90, Ferndale 83, Mt. Spokane 62, Hanford 52, Glacier Peak 51.5, Rogers 42, Lynnwood 39, Mt. Vernon 37, West Valley 35, Meadowdale 19.5, Shorecrest 13.

Championship finals

103: Nathan Gonzalez (Su) p. Joseph Bratz (GP), 3:26. 112: Vang Lor (Rog) d. Zach Calkins (Lynn), 7-1. 119: Jared Berlinger (NC) d. Josh St. Marie (GP), 13-7. 125: Nathan Brown (NC) p. Wyatt McGuire (MS), 1:39. 130: Darren Bunke (SP) d. Joel Palabrica (Ever), 8-4. 135: Caleb Gifford (Han) d. Derek Entz (SP), 6-1. 140: Aaron Brown (EV) p. Jack Johnson (Fern), 4:34. 145: Brenden Tarr (SP) p. Matt Owens (Han), 1:23. 152: Joe Barrington (MV) d. Connor Brame (Fern), 4-3. 160: Jerry Contreras (Ever) md. Kole Nuehs (SP), 14-4. 171: Derek Garcia (SW) d. Ben Carter (NC), 5-0. 189: Dylan Lemery (SP) d. Anthony Whitmarsh (NC), 3-0. 215: Alec Bird (Ever) p. Kevin Madson (WV), 4:52. 285: Jose Barajas (Su) d. Steven Taylor (NC), 9-3.

Third-fourth place

103: Jessie Lopez (Ever) d. Chris Douglas (Rog), 4-1. 112: Jaren Novakovich (EV) d. Gerardo Villalobos (Su), 7-4. 119: Rodson Ubungen (Lynn) md. Tim Taigen (MS), 15-7. 125: Jack Forrest (Ever) d. Alex Rockstrom (EV), 7-3. 130: Mitchell Bocook (NC) d. Brady Mast (SW), 7-0. 135: Sean Biltoft (EV) d. Tyler Howell (SW), 7-1. 140: Jordan Watts (MV) d. Andrew Parada (Mea), 4-1. 145: Derek VanWyhe (GP) d. Evan Paeth (Ever), 5-0. 152: Adam Price (SP) d. Austin Pea (MS), 5-0. 160: Pedro Mungarro (Fern) d. Joe Traverso (Han), 8-4. 171: Taylor Whetzel (MS) inj. def. Danny Lopez (Ever). 189: Tristan Greig (Fern) md. Dylan Foster (WV), 19-6. 215: Joe Janicki (SW) p. Danny Almeida (Su), 4:24. 285: Adam Peters (Su) p. Koenrad Swartz (SW), 5:11.

Fifth-sixth place

103: Tony Lee (EV) p. Terrence McKinney (SP), 1:26. 112: Casey Ourada (EV) p. Isaac Robinson (Fern), 1:22. 119: Caleb Burger (SP) p. Pavel Okara (MV), 2:12. 125: Kyle Morgan (SW) p. David Vidales (Su), 3:00. 130: Emmanuel Tejeda (Su) d. Boyce Johnson (SW), 14-10. 135: Kody Liles (Fern) d. David Sanchez (Mea), 8-5. 140: Thomas Harris (SP) d. Mike Sundheim (Rog), 6-4. 145: Shaun Nelson (Fern) inj. def. Ryan Carlson (Fern). 152: Cody Bruland (WV) d. Drew Arbanasin (Scr), 8-4. 160: Sam Rykken (NC) p. Matt Mastronardi (EV), 4:06. 171: Luke Miller (SP) d. Alejandro Loeza (Scr), 10-6. 189: Brayden Jacobson (Ever) d. Jesus Calderon (Lynn), 2-0. 215: Joey Meade (EV) d. Seth Heckel (MS), 3-1. 285: Aaron Christiansen (EV) p. Ian Bolstad (Scr), :37.

OTHER WRESTLING NEWS - FEBRUARY 13, 2010

It was a bloody Saturday afternoon at Richland High, and it had little to do with busted noses or split lips.

Indeed, there were plenty of the latter at the Eastern Washington 4A regional wrestling tournament. But the deepest wounds came from wrestlers who would otherwise being gearing up for a trip to the Tacoma Dome and instead saw their seasons come to a close.

University High of Spokane ran away with the team crown, with four individual champions and 10 state qualifiers to finish 40 points ahead of defending champion Moses Lake.

But the big news was the reduction in state berths from the traditional four to three in each weight, which means the fourth-place finishers -- nine from the Mid-Columbia -- have only an outside shot to make it to state as alternates.

"That really bummed me out," said Richland junior Dustin Utecht, who watched three of his teammates lose in third-fourth matches before he finished second at 130 pounds.

How tough was the tournament? With 42 state berths up for grabs and 33 returning state veterans, something had to give -- eight of those returners will not be heading back to the dome this season.

Still, there was plenty for area fans to cheer about, including three champions from the Tri-Cities and five more state berths. Moses Lake won three titles and six berths, and Walla Walla garnered a state showing as well.

Southridge's Ely Garza made it 4-for-4 qualifying for regional finals, winning the 119-pound crown for a second straight year.

"State's the real goal," said Garza, who had little trouble in his 9-4 win over U-Hi's Brandon Byers and now has his eye on a fourth state medal. "This is my last year, so I definitely want to win it."

Kamiakin's Pedro Mendoza finally won his second regional title, breezing by Davis' Austin Wagner 7-1 in the 145 final. Last year, his promising junior season ended before districts began when he couldn't get medical clearance because of a cauliflower ear.

"I said forget about last year," said Mendoza, who won a regional title as a sophomore and went on to place fifth at state. "That was last year; this is this year.

"My sister-in-law told me I made (the final) look easy. It wasn't."

Mendoza will be joined at state by freshman teammate Sisto Santa Pina, who finished third at 160 behind a pair of returning state champions. However, Pina's senior brother, Giovanni Pina, couldn't bounce back from a semifinal loss at 171 and never got the chance to join his brother in Tacoma.

Chiawana's Adam Sauceda, the wrestler who edged Giovanni Pina 5-3 in the semifinals, went on to become the Riverhawks' first regional champion after a smooth 6-1 win over Wenatchee's Brian Nygard in the final.

"It feels great," said Sauceda, who was a No. 4 seed coming out of districts. "I expected to win. I never think I'm going to lose."

The first-year school qualified a second wrestler for state when Nick Garcia finished third at 130 pounds. Pasco's Cody Rush (152) and Walla Walla's Eric Eastman (189) also finished third to earn berths.

"I was kind of nervous," Rush said of wrestling in the third-fourth match. "But I knew I had to push through it. If you lose, you're done."

Moses Lake got titles from Beau Gleed at 103, Nico Moreno at 140 and Brian Chamberlain at 215, who knocked off state champion Jacob Trotter of Mead 5-3.

Region IV 3A: Caleb Gifford led a trio of Hanford wrestlers to state, winning the title at 135. Matt Owens finished second at 145 and Joe Traverso fourth at 160.

The top four in each weight qualified for state this week in Tacoma.

Bookend titles helped Sunnyside push five through, with Nathan Gonzalez and Jose Barajas winning titles at 103 and 285, respectively. Adam Peters finished third at 285, while Gerardo Villalobos (112) and Danny Almeida (215) finished fourth.

Region IV 2A: Reuben Lopez (135) and Amando Deleon (160) won individual titles to lead Othello to second place in the CWAC/Great Northern regional at West Valley in Spokane.

The Huskies finished 32 points behind Deer Park in the team race. They had three more finalists -- Matt Jordan at 125, Eddie Garza at 152 and Joey Gomez at 189 -- and qualified eight wrestlers for state.

Prosser will send three to state, including 119 champ Osmar Jaimez. Grandview qualified a pair.

SCAC regional: J.P. Martinez (112), Scott Henderson (135) and Dakota Scott (171) won individual crowns to help Warden finish second to host Zillah.

The Cougars were just 101/2 points behind the Leopards, with Royal finishing another 26 points back in third despite not having a single individual champion.

Connell's Hernan Serra claimed the title at 103, and teammate Nato Orozco repeated at 215.

Matt McCallum won the 119 championship for Kiona-Benton. And in a rematch of their triple-overtime district title match, Trevor Morrison of Columbia (Burbank) beat River View's Chance Watt 8-3 to reverse last week's loss.

Girls Eastern regional: Carter Marks' title at 152 led seven Warden girls to state and helped the Cougars win the team title in Kittitas.

Mid-Columbia teams dominated, with Sunnyside, Othello, Kiona-Benton and Connell rounding out the top five.

Among the Mid-Columbia champions was Ki-Be junior Sheridan McDonald, a two-time state champ heading back at 135.

Kennewick's Hanna Moon won the 125 crown, and Amanda Hamill gave Hanford its first girl state competitor with her runner-up finish at 152