Pasco bowlers have a great finish to the season

Teresa Chavez knew she had a good group of bowlers this season. But she wasn’t sure they knew it.

Until last Saturday, anyway.

The Bulldogs had a great second day in the Baker Games format, vaulting up the standings ladder to finish second as a team at the Class 4A WIAA state bowling championships at Narrows Plaza Bowl in University Place near Seattle.

“I knew, as a coach, they could do that,” Chavez said.

The Bulldogs rolled up a pin count of 7,371, which was only topped by Eastmont’s 7,477.

Teams had to bowl six games on Friday, then come back on Saturday and play 14 Baker games.

After Saturday, Pasco was sitting in fifth place out of eight teams. But the Bulldogs bowled better than anybody in the Baker Games — a format where each bowler takes their turn bowling just one frame, and the team rotates through.

“It’s tough, because you don’t get a rhythm,” said Chavez, who has coached Pasco for 13 seasons. “It’s tough mentally.”

But Bella Bach, Brandy Castaneda, Brisa Fraire, Danielle Leal and Yesenia Nunez were consistent all day. Alternates Natalie Madrigal and Bailey Stark were there too.

And although they didn’t get to bowl, they cheered their teammates on.

What made it even more special to Chavez was that only two of the Bulldogs had ever bowled before high school.

“Almost all of these girls at state bowled in junior leagues,” said Chavez. “It was funny watching our girls, as they learned about technique, oil patterns, react at how well they bowled over the course of their career.”

In the Class 4A individual event, Pasco’s Castaneda finished sixth out of 62 bowlers.

She rolled a 1,080-pin total through six games, including a 212 high. Walla Walla junior Mya Jones placed 14th with a 1,034 pin count and a 200 high game.

In the 3A tournament, Southridge’s Nicole Omlor finished fourth out of 57 competitors in the individual portion. She knocked down 1,094 pins in six games, with her best game a 210. Kennewick finished seventh out of eight in the team portion.

Wrestling roundup

Class 4A

Chiawana hosted the 4A MCC district meet last Saturday, and the Riverhawks dominated with 483 points against the other four Class 4A MCC schools.

Pasco was second with 370 points.

Chiawana will be sending 24 wrestlers to this coming weekend’s regional tournament in Camas, where they’ll meet up with wrestlers from the Greater St. Helens League and the Greater Spokane League.

The top four in each weight class will qualify for Mat Classic in the Tacoma Dome, set for Feb. 15-16.

The Riverhawks had a run of champions last Saturday in six consecutive weight classes — from 120 pounds to 152 pounds.

Those champs are freshman Darion Johnson at 120, senior Kobe Santiago at 126, junior Ernest Martinez at 132, junior Robby Vaughn at 138, sophomore Aidan Villarreal at 145, and junior Riley Cissne at 152.

Vaughn’s title was especially impressive, as he beat Pasco’s Isaiah Gonzalez, who has won a state title, 1-0 in the title match. Vaughn carries a 35-3 record, while Gonzalez is 29-3.

Chiawana junior Tyson Stover (182) and freshman Isaiah Anderson (195) also won district titles.

Pasco, which will be sending 19 wrestlers to regionals, had four district champions: Junior Nathaniel Tovar (106), sophomore Eric Correa (113), senior Jose Elija Tovar (170) and senior Davion Pruitt (285).

Hanford, which qualified 15 wrestlers for regionals, had one district champ in senior Jonathan Burt (225).

Richland had one champion in senior Patrick Workman (160). The Bombers will send five wrestlers to regionals, while Walla Walla — which had no district champions — will send seven wrestlers to Camas.

Class 3A

Kamiakin had four district champions at last Saturday’s District 8 tournament at Hermiston High.

That included senior Austin Almaguer at 132 pounds, Ben Hollenberg (220), Jacob Olson (195) and Xavier Zavala (120).

The Braves will be sending seven competitors to regionals this coming weekend in Yelm. Unlike the 4A district, this district included the four Class 3A teams from the Greater Spokane League.

Mt. Spokane dominated for the team title with 405.5 points, while Rogers (221.5) and Kamiakin (204.5) were right behind.

Southridge had one district champ in Mikael Failor at 160 pounds. The Suns will send nine wrestlers to regionals.

Hermiston sends seven to Yelm, while Kennewick qualified three. Besides this district, Yelm will also host the South Sound teams. The top four in each weight class will advance to the state tournament.

2A CWAC district

Just four Mid-Columbian wrestlers — three from Othello — won district titles in the Class 2A CWAC tournament last Saturday. Defending state champion Isaiah Perez collected three pins en route to the 285-pound title for the Huskies.

Teammates Javoni Espindola (138) and Bernie Garza Jr. (182) also won titles.

Prosser’s Kord Tuttle won the 152-pound title. Regionals take place at Ellensburg, where the Great Northern League wrestlers will do battle with the CWAC’s best for four state-tournament berths in each weight class.

Class 1A SCAC

Royal took the team title last weekend in the SCAC East district tournament, but Connell came away with the most champions.

Johnathan Magana (113 pounds), Able Morales (126), Conner Niel (195), Josiah Poulson (138) and Jekoby Tuttle (182) were all champions. Tuttle now sports a 34-5 record this season.

Meanwhile, Royal had three champs in Ryder Eilers (285), Dominic Martinez (120) and Lorenzo Myrick (160).

Second-place Warden also had three champs: Cael Cox (106), Holden Haworth (152) and Rodrigo Ozuna (145). Kiona-Benton boasted two champions in Keaton Covington (132) and Alejandro Llerenas (170), while River View had a champ in Bryson Ashley (220).

Everything moves to Royal City this weekend, where the top wrestlers from the SCAC West visit. Top four in each weight class advance to the state tournament.

Girls wrestling

This region was split into two sub-regionals, the south in Sunnyside and the north in East Wenatchee. In Sunnyside, the host Grizzlies ran away with the team title.

But Hanford came out of there with three champions: Maria Gardner (125 pounds), Grace Nelson (190) and Taylor Wilson (100). Wilson is now 32-0 this season. Kennewick’s Asselin sisters won titles. Alexia Asselin rolled to victory at 170 to improve her record to 36-4, while sister Aubreyanna Asselin won the 145-pound title and is 35-8.

At Eastmont, Othello easily won the team title, and the Huskies had two individual champions in Emily Mendez (105) and Jacky Peguero (120).

Mendez is now 41-0. Warden had two champs in Aaliyah Escamilla (100) and Lally Gonzalez (155). Both sub-regions combine this weekend in Othello, with the top four in each weight class advancing to the state tournament.

Cheer state

Meanwhile the Hanford (Purple) cheer squad picked up a first-place finish in the 4A/3A Super Large Division at the WIAA State Cheerleading Championships at Battle Ground High School last weekend.

Hanford Purple scored a 91 on its routine. It’s the fourth consecutive year the Falcons have won the state title, and they now get ready to compete in Nationals and Worlds.

The Falcons also grabbed a second-place finish in 4A Game Day Super Large division, with 81.5 points. Pasco’s cheer squad finished second in the 1A-2A-3A-4A Stomp division with an 82.

Editor’s Note: The WIAA dance and drill team information originally included in this story has been removed because it was out of date.

This story was originally published February 5, 2019 at 8:55 PM.