Richland girls earn first state team wrestling title with seven podium places

When Richland clinched the 4A girls wrestling team title last Friday night at Mat Classic XXXVI in the Tacoma Dome, Bombers head coach John Nicacio immediately thought of one person: Andrea Yamamoto.

Yamamoto — known as Andrea Carstens back in her days as a Bomber in the late 1980s — was the first girl to ever wrestle in high school in the Tri-Cities.

“I messaged her after we won,” said Nicacio. “I told her we won for her. She has been tremendous for USA Wrestling.”

The Bombers became the first Tri-City school to win the girls state team title, scoring 180 points. That was ahead of runner-up Sumner’s 158.5.

“This one is really special,” said Nicacio, who was still on Cloud Nine a few days after the title. “Richland High School tends to be known for its hoops and football teams.”

And Richland’s wrestlers earned this without an individual state champion — a rare occurrence in high school wrestling.

But what Nicacio’s team did do was place seven of its members on the podium.

Led by three girls — senior Savannah Dufault (110 pounds), junior Savannah Thorpe at 115, and freshman Alexis Allen at 120 — Richland scored a lot of points with second-place finishes.

Two more Bombers — senior Portia Harker at 155, and junior Yaneece Sanchez at 190 — placed third in their weight classes. Sophomore Kiana Kawai would finish fourth at 145, and senior Skadi Carman finished seventh at 100.

For Nicacio, he felt he had the squad that could get that team title.

“The last three years, we have been 22-2 in MCC (Mid-Columbia Conference) dual meets,” said Nicacio. “We were tri-champs this year with Hermiston and Chiawana. But we finished third at Kelso earlier this season out of 103 teams completing. We were coming in to (state) ranked second. We just had to stay focused.”

Nicacio felt the squad — 35 members turned out this season — had put in the work.

“In offseason training, they were there for 6 a.m. weights,” he said. “The pace they set at practice was tremendous. You just look at practice. That’s where state titles are earned. They all practiced moves hundreds of times.”

It resulted in some impressive records. Dufault finished with a 42-6 record. Thorpe went 40-9. And the freshman Allen? 36-8.

Sunnyside junior Danica Torres won a championship at 105 pounds and finished her season with a 40-7 record.

While no MCC individual won a state title, there were still some impressive performances.

Pasco sophomore Berkley McCullough placed second at 135 pounds, finishing with a 38-5 record.

Chiawana junior Matty Figueroa snared a third at 120, finishing with a 33-10 mark.

Sunnyside’s Kaylin Maltos also earned a third-place finish at 100 pounds.

Sunnyside ended up placing fifth in the team standings with 148.5 points, while Chiawana was ninth at 121.5, and Pasco finished 14th with 83.

Nicacio admitted that winning state was what would have made him happy going into the tournament.

“But really I just wanted them to realize their potential,” he said.

4A boys

Hanford senior Asa Knutson finished his prep career by winning the 190-pound title, beating Mead’s Logan Ullah by a major decision of 14-3 in the championship match.

Knutson finished the season with a 38-4 record.

Sunnyside had two second-place finishes, with Samuel Valencia (120 pounds) and Christopher Villanueva (150) — both seniors — losing in their title matches.

For Villanueva, he ended the season with a 45-1 record.

Three other area wrestlers — Chiawana senior Daeton Johnson (144), Richland junior Xavier Salinas (138) and Sunnyside junior Mesiah Valdez (126) — all placed third.

Johnson ended the season with a 44-5 record.

Tahoma won the team title with 226 points, while Chiawana finished third with 115, and Sunnyside fifth with 111. Richland placed 16th as a team with 73, while Kamiakin finished 18th with 66.

3A boys

Hermiston, led by senior Jaysen Rodriguez, placed second in its tournament by scoring 242.5 points.

Only White River was better, taking the team title with 252 points.

Rodriguez, sidelined much of the season, won the 138-pound crown to finish the season at 13-0.

Bulldogs teammate Aidan Larson earned a second-place finish at 132 pounds. The sophomore finished the season with a 47-5 record.

Three other Hermiston wrestlers placed third in their weight classes: senior Dominic Echeverria at 285 pounds, and freshmen Jayden Martinez (126) and Brayden Medelez (120).

Kennewick senior Abraham Noriega suffered his first loss of the season in the 113-pound championship, losing to Silas freshman Adrian Windsor. Windsor finished the season at 40-0, while Noriega ended up 41-1.

Southridge senior Quinton Ellison placed second at 150 pounds to finish at 41-13.

Kennewick placed sixth in the team standings with 149.5 points.

3A girls

Walla Walla junior Kylie Whitaker was the lone Mid-Columbia champion, taking the 135-pound title and finishing with a 42-1 record.

Kennewick senior Jaylee Lopez completed her career with a second-place finish at 170 pounds. Lopez finished with a 37-4 record.

Kelso won the team title with 217.5 points, while Hermiston placed third with 172.5 points.

The Bulldogs had two third-place finishers in Iaunny Ruiz at 100 pounds and Tutaitaga Sepeni at 235.

Kennewick’s Jaslene Gonzalez (140) and Southridge’s Desirae Juarez (135) also placed third in their weight classes.

Kennewick finished seventh in the team standings with 134 points, while Southridge was 11th at 104.5, and Walla Walla 16th at 85.

2A boys

Othello senior Anthony Solorio defeated Lakewood’s Jimmy Conklin in the 215-pound final to win a state title.

Solorio ended up with a 36-13 record.

Two of his teammates earned second-place finishes: junior Camilo Mendez III finished with a 34-11 record at 150 pounds; while senior Mason Perez placed second at 285 pounds. Perez ends the season with a 35-2 record.

The Huskies placed third in the team title race with 178.5

However, Orting ran away with the crown, scoring an astounding 434 points.

2A girls

Othello made a spirited run at Toppenish for the team title, but the Wildcats had too much firepower, taking the crown with 273.5 points.

The Huskies placed second with 221.5 points.

Leading the way for Othello was junior Alejandria Espindola, who won the 235-pound title and finishing with a 12-2 record.

Sophomore Grayce Mendez helped the Huskies with a second-place finish at 110 pounds. Mendez had a 23-4 record.

Two other Huskies placed third: Bella Garza at 105, and Angela Monday at 140.

Grandview had two third-place finishers in Heidy Larios Verduzco at 115, and Sofia Tovar at 190,

Grandview placed ninth as a team with 100 points, while Prosser scored 68.5 points to place 16th.

1A boys

Two area wrestlers placed third in the tournament.

Connell junior Eliuth Serra placed third in the 132-pound division to finish 35-19.

At 157 pounds, Royal junior Shea Stevenson defeated teammate and sophomore Cael Orth by an 8-6 score to finish third. Stevenson has a 44-9 record, while Orth finished at 43-12.

Royal placed ninth as a team with 104 points. Wapato earned the team title with 300.5 points.

1B/2B/1A girls

Granger just edged Royal 184-181.5 to earn the team title.

The lone region state champ was Kiona-Benton sophomore Aubrey Newberry, who beat Nina Siribun of Raymond/South Bend 6-4 in the 235-pound title match.

Newberry finished the season with a 31-6 record. The Bears finished 23rd in the team standings with 48.5 points.

Senior Lauren Jenks led the Royal onslaught, placing second at 135 to end the year with a 28-5 record.

Three other Knights grabbed third-place finishes: Sharon Arroyo at 100 pounds, Isabelle Barajas at 110, and Madisen Christensen at 170.

Connell’s Madison Magana placed third at 105.

1B/2B boys

Tonasket won the team title with 276.5 points.

Warden, led by Michael Gonzalez’s fifth-place finish at 138 pounds, finished 13th as a team with 91 points.