13 Tri-City area wrestlers to keep an eye on heading into the playoffs

The regular season is over.

Now the postseason begins for high school wrestling.

Three weeks of tough, win-or-go-home competition that separates the contenders from the pretenders.

And the Mid-Columbia is loaded with some pretty talented competitors, who will take various roads over these next few weekends, hopeful to end their journeys all at the same place: the Tacoma Dome, where then state championships will be Feb. 21-22.

Here are 13 of the region’s top wrestlers who could do some damage in the next three weeks of tournament competition:

▪ Tyson Stover, sr., Chiawana, Class 4A 182 pounds. One of three Riverhawks state champs in 2019, Stover is looking to repeat at this weight.

▪ Isaiah Anderson, soph, Chiawana, Class 4A 195 pounds. The son of head coach Jack Anderson is, like Stover, the top-ranked wrestler at his weight class in the state. As a freshman, he won the state title in 2019.

▪ Robby Vaughn, sr., Chiawana, Class 4A 145 pounds. If anyone wanted a state title as bad as this senior, they need to step forward. One of the Riverhawks’ leaders, Vaughn has made it to the state tournament all three years as a freshman through junior, placing second each time in Tacoma.

▪ Darion Johnson, soph, Chiawana, Class 4A 152 pounds. Last year, as a freshman, Johnson took the 120-pound state 4A title – one of three Riverhawks who were state champions. Now wrestling five weight classes up, no one expects anything less from him than a top performance at 152.

▪ Joey Chavez, sr., Kamiakin, Class 3A 152 pounds. He’s the top-ranked guy in Class 3A at his weight. He didn’t compete at state last year, but he did place third as a sophomore in 2018.

▪ Isaiah Gonzalez, sr., Pasco, Class 4A 160 pounds. This Bulldogs senior won a state title as a freshman at 113 pounds in 2017, and he’s gradually moved up weight classes these past few years. He placed third at 132 pounds in 2018, then third at 138 in 2019. He’s the favorite in his weight class this year.

▪ Taylor Wilson, jr., Hanford, Girls 100 pounds. The Falcons’ star has won state titles in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She’s expecting to make it a three-peat.

▪ Emily Mendez, sr., Othello, Girls 105 pounds. Mendez has gotten better each season, placing sixth as a freshman in 2017, fourth as a sophomore in 2018, and second as a junior in 2019.

▪ Johnathan Magana, sr., Connell, Class 1A 120 pounds. The Eagles’ standout has just missed a state title in his first three years, going second, third and second at state. He’s looking for that first state title.

▪ Andrew Macias, jr., Sunnyside, Class 4A 126 pounds. He’s been dominating the regular-season tournaments in his weight class at some pretty prestigious tournaments. He also finished second at 126 pounds last year as a sophomore.

▪ Arturo Solorio, jr., Othello, Class 2A 145 pounds. He’s the top-ranked guy in his 2A weight classification, gone 27-9 so far this season, and finished third at the state tournament last year as a soph.

▪ Logan Candanoza, sr., Prosser, Class 2A 170 pounds. The star football player has improved each of the past few years, taking fourth in 2018 as a sophomore, then third as a junior in 2019.

▪ Isaiah Perez, sr., Othello, Class 2A 285 pounds. The BYU football commit, is looking to three-peat; he won 2A state championships at 285 in both 2018 and 2019. He currently sits with a 21-0 record.

Wrestling outlook

• The five Class 4A Mid-Columbia Conference schools — Chiawana, Hanford, Pasco, Richland and Walla Walla — will compete in the MCC Championship starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at Pasco High School.

Those who qualify for regionals head to Spokane on Feb. 14-15 at Mead.

• The four remaining 3A MCC schools — Hermiston, Kamiakin, Kennewick and Southridge — send their wrestlers to Rogers of Spokane this Friday and Saturday for district competition.

Top qualifiers will return to Rogers the following weekend for regionals.

• The CWAC teams get together this Friday and Saturday at Ellensburg for the 2A district tournament, with the top wrestlers advancing Feb. 21-22 to 2A regionals at East Valley of Spokane.

• The SCAC East teams get together on Saturday at Warden High School to determine seeding for the following weekend’s 1A regional tournament, set for Granger High.

• The MCC girls look like they’re headed to Liberty High in Spangle for the district tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Top qualifiers from that tournament then head to Othello for regionals Feb. 21-22.

EWAC basketball

The 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference is the first area basketball conference to open post-season play.

That happens on Saturday, with all games being played at Granger High School.

The top four teams from the East meet the top four from the West in both boys and girls hoops.

Here is Saturday’s schedule:

White Swan boys vs. DeSales (main gym), 1 p.m.; Kittitas boys vs. Liberty Christian boys (main gym), 2:30 p.m.; DeSales girls vs. White Swan (auxiliary gym), 4:30 p.m.; Columbia-Burbank boys vs. Tri-Cities Prep (main gym), 4:30 p.m.; Walla Walla Valley Academy boys vs. Mabton/Lyle (auxiliary gym), 6 p.m.; Columbia-Burbank girls vs. Kittitas/Lyle (main gym), 6 p.m.; Tri-Cities Prep girls vs. Dayton/Waitsburg (auxiliary gym), 8 p.m.; Mabton girls vs. Walla Walla Valley Academy (main gym), 8 p.m.

The tournament picks up again Tuesday at Granger, with both winners bracket and loser-out contests.