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More than most sports, wrestling is all about the postseason.
Few people, even the wrestlers themselves, remember from year to year which team won league titles though more often than not at the 4A level, its Moses Lake. But they know when theres a state placer standing on the other side of the mat.
Still, there is some regular-season business to finish up before the march to Mat Classic begins next week. And several duals tonight and Saturday will determine a trio of team titles.
In the CBBN, Moses Lake (5-0) and Sunnyside (4-1) square off tonight in Moses Lake to determine if the Chiefs will hold the Columbia Division title themselves or share it with the Grizzlies and the Wenatchee Panthers (4-1), who need to win at Kennewick to keep alive their hopes for a tie.
The Cascade title already is in the hands of West Valley, which at 6-0 is out of reach of Hanford and Richland, both 3-2 in league duals.
The CWAC title likely will be split between Ellensburg, Selah and Toppenish, each of whom is 7-1 and has split matches with the other two. All three wrap up the regular season tonight Selah has the toughest matchup with Othello (6-2).
Perhaps the most interesting dual comes in the SCAC East, where the leagues wrestling titans, Royal and Warden, will meet Saturday in Warden.
Both teams are unbeaten Warden wrestles Columbia (Burbank) tonight and could have as many as 14 state veterans and eight placers in their combined lineups.
From the better late than never category, Southridges Ely Garza got in two matches Tuesday against Kennewick one varsity, one JV to raise his season total to four and open the door to the CBBN 4A district tournament.
The two-time state placer, who finished third at 112 pounds last year as a sophomore, was rated among the best at the weight all year despite being ineligible most of the season.
Its not the best scenario, obviously, Southridge coach Dave Brown said of the Garza missing most of the season. Brown added that Garza will wrestle at 119 in the postseason.
The subdistrict tournament for CBBN 4A JV wrestlers is Saturday at Pasco, with 3A and 4A seeding meetings to follow for the subregional and district tournaments the following week.
The 3As will not have a JV tourney. Instead, the three CBBN teams and five Greater Spokane League schools will each have two berths into 16-man subregional brackets.
In the past, that tournament has been almost an automatic berth into state, with the wrestling-challenged Metro League coming over for regionals.
This year, however, the regional opponents will come from District 1, including Sedro-Woolley, which had its run of six straight 3A state titles halted last season.
