A trio of Mid-Columbia wrestlers won titles Saturday at the Pacific Northwest Classic at University High in Spokane, including two from the Tri-Cities.
Chiawana's Chris Monte-longo claimed the 106-pound crown wiht a 12-2 win over Aaron Klauder of Deer Park, concluding a strong weekend at the weight for the first time this season. Montelongo, a junior, placed sixth at 4A state last year at 103 and figures to be on a short list of favorites for the 106 title this season.
Richland senior Josh Andrew took the title at 120 with an 8-4 win over University's Keaton Vallance in the final. Andrew scored a 6-1 win in the semifinals over Chiawana's P.J. Murillo, who went on to place third.
Othello provided the area's other champion, as two-time 2A state runner-up Joey Gomez rolled through the bracket at 220. His 44-second pin of Wenatchee's Kyle Lesmeister in the final was his third first-round stop in as many matches.
Chiawana finished fourth in the team standings with 133 points. Glacier of Montana easily took the team title with 194 points. Southridge finished seventh (112), two spots ahead of Othello (97).
Kevin Del-Angel paced Southridge with his third-place finish at 170. He pinned Hanford's Joe Traverso in the placing match after both lost in semifinals. Chiawana's Austin Silvers finished fifth at the weight.
Connor Rosane (160), Julio Aleman (220) and Matt Gibson (285) all finished fourth for the Suns.
Hanford posted a pair of third-place finishes, including Casey Enderlin at 182.
Enderlin lost 6-3 in the second round to eventual champ Justin Miller of Shadle Park. Along his way through the consolation bracket, he defeated unattatched teammate Ben Tyman 4-1 and C.J. Edrington of Chiawana 5-0. Edrington went on to place fifth, pinning Othello's Stephen Villarreal in the placing match.
Falcons teammate Will Bishop was third at 195, a 9-2 win in the placing match capping an impressive showing.
For Chiawana, Brandon Gonzalez placed fourth at 132, losing in three overtimes in the placing match after winning in three OTs in his previous bout.
Boss Garcia finished fourth at 145, like Gonzalez losing in the second round but coming back.
Othello scored most of its points in three of the first four weights. The Huskies had double placers at 106 and 113, with AJ Garza taking second and Alec Espinoza third at 113. Only Garza's points counted in the team standings, with Espinoza wrestling unattached. Lucas Garza was fourth at 126.
At University, Spokane
Team scores--Glacier 194, University 144.5, Deer Park 140.5, Chiawana 133, Shadle Park 125, Mt. Spokane 123.5, Southridge 112, Flathead 99.5, Othello 97, Lewis & Clark 77, Wenatchee 68, Lake City 63, Hanford 54.5, Lakeside 41, North Central 41, Ferris 32, Pigdogs 29, Richland 26.
106--Chris Montelongo (Chi) m.d. Aaron Klauder (DP) 12-2; 3, Anthony Barrera (Oth); 5, Isaiah Barrera (Oth). 113--Kiegen Schauer (MtSp) d. AJ Garza (Oth) 7-3; 3, Alec Expinoza (Oth); 5, Jacob Garcia (Chi). 120--Josh Andrew (Rich) d. Keaton Vallance (UHi) 8-4; 3, P.J. Murillo (Chi); 5, Damien Gooldy (SR). 126--Terrance McKinney (SP) p. Alek Mitchell (Glc) :38; 4, Lucas Garza (Oth). 132--Cole Harris (DP) d. Izeec Quintanilla (NC) 4-1; 4, Brandon Gonzalez (Chi). 138--Joe Grable (DP) d. Ryan Gabel (UHi) 8-2. 145--Cooper Sipe (Glc) d. Tanner Orndorff (UHi) 4-2; 4, Boss Garcia (Chi). 152--Billy goforth (MtSp) d. Dakota Schnall (LkCty) 4-0; 6, Kory Miller (SR). 160--Shane St. Onge (Glc) d. Dylan Miller (DP) 3-2; 4, Connor Rosane (SR). 170--Larry Francis (Flhd) d. Riley Pisk (Glc) 3-1; 3-4, Kevin Del-Angel (SR) p. Joe Traverso (Han) 1:35; 5, Austin Silvers (Chi). 182--Justin Miller (SP) d. Jamie Miesler (MtSp) 4-2; 3, Casey Enderlin (Han); 5-6, CJ Edrington (Chi) p. Stephen Villarreal (Oth) 2:53. 195--Cameron Babcock (SP) d. Lane Armstrong (Glc) 8-3; 3, Will Bishop (Han). 220--Joey Gomez (Oth) p. Kyle Lesmeister (Wen) :44; 4, Julio Aleman (SR). 285--Mack Sutherland (Glc) d. Kyle Cosby (UHi) 3-2 3 OT; 4, Matt Gibson (SR).
Rollie Lane: Hermiston claimed four titles and finished third in the team standings at the prestigious tournament in Boise: Issac Aguilar at 113, Tyler Berger at 132, Joey Delgado at 138 and Abraham Rodriguez at 152.
Delgado won 17-5 over Melba's Jared Johnshoy in the championship, with his toughest match coming in a tight 4-1 win in the semifinals.
Rodriguez needed overtime to post a 6-4 win over top seed Tyler Booth of Post Falls in their final. Berger, who won his title with a 9-6 victory over Centennial's Hayden Tuma, opened the championship bracket with a 9-4 victory over Pasco's Robert Mendoza.
Aguilar was unseeded at 113 but had no trouble in his bracket with 6-, 10- and 5-point wins. Hermiston got a third-place finish from Lupe Delgado at 145.
Pasco finished with one placer: Timmy Martinez took sixth at 120 pounds. After opening with a 13-0 win over Stetson Iverson of Hermiston, Martinez lost 9-2 to eventual champ Michael Cook of Kuna and ended with pair of close losses.
"That's only the second time we've had someone place in this tournament," said Pasco coach Jay Covington. "It's a pretty feisty tournament."
"I'm proud of the kid," Covington added. "He's a freshman, and he got in there and did a heck of a job."
The Bulldogs had five kids wrestle in the championship bracket of the two-day tournament. Wrestlers have to survive a round-robin Day 1, with the top two advancing to a 16-man bracket. Their first match from there is loser-out, with only the top six placing.
Along with Martinez and Mendoza, Pasco also had Deondre Sparks (138), Jackson Fromm (145) and Anthony McKittrick (152) reach the 16-man bracket. Both Sparks and Fromm lost close matches, while McKittrick fell 15-2 to Booth, the runner-up to Rodriguez.
