Kamiakin the team to beat in Mid-Columbia Conference wrestling

State wrestling champions Riley Gurr (113 pounds) and Nick Little (285) are gone, but the Kamiakin Braves are soldiering on.

Little was lost to graduation, and Gurr’s family moved to Montana, leaving a gaping hole in the lower weights that Gurr dominated for two years.

Braves coach Jordan Anderson knows another Riley Gurr will not appear out of the woodwork, but he said he has a good, young team that so far has opened the eyes of its competitors.

“We aren’t too worried,” said Anderson, whose team was ranked 12th in the latest Class 3A poll by Washington Wrestling Report. “We know what we are capable of. The rankings are one guy’s opinion. We know what we can do when we step on the mat.”

Kamiakin placed second at the Bob Mars Invite, 12th at Inland Empire, first at the Mac-Hi Invite and third at the recent Hanford Winter Cup, where sophomores Austin Almaguer (120), Sione Halo (160) and Jacob Olson (170) won titles.

The Braves, who won the Mid-Columbia Conference title last season, will get pushed by Southridge and Chiawana this season. Southridge is ranked fifth in the 3A poll, while Chiawana is shaking out to be the top 4A team in the conference.

“We are a loaded league,” Anderson said. “Chiawana and Southridge are both tough teams. Chiawana beat Southridge at Best of the West. It all depends on how we match up with them. We’ve only wrestled Pasco (56-12 victory). All of the rest of our duals are in the next three weeks.”

Almaguer (14-1 record) has three tournament titles and was second at Inland Empire after a 5-4 loss to Trent Baun of Colville.

“Being able to have Riley as a partner last year, his work ethic has transferred to this year,” Anderson said of Almaguer. “He is the hardest worker in the room. He goes at a pace no one can match. He has brought in so much leadership, even as a sophomore. He has done an awesome job this year.”

Halo (15-1), who started the season at 170, has dropped to 160 his past four matches — all wins. Halo’s lone loss also was at Inland Empire, where he finished third.

“He’s a gamer,” Anderson said. “He didn’t place at state last year, so they (state rankers) don’t know what he is capable of. We are looking for him to make some noise at the Gut Check (in Bremerton) this weekend. He is putting in the work to get where he needs to be.”

Olson (11-3) is the wild card. He broke his leg in Week 2 last year and missed the rest of the season.

This season, he was second at Bob Mars and won the Winter Cup title at 170. In his second match at the Winter Cup, he pinned Southridge’s Zayid Al-Ghani in the second round. Al-Ghani was fifth at state last year at 170.

“We hope he keeps flying under the radar,” Anderson said of Olson.

Southridge coach Steve Isley said Olson was more than the Suns bargained for.

“That kid from Kamiakin is pretty good,” Isley said. “Better than what we thought.”

The Braves will get a boost to their lineup next week when senior Zach Borisch returns to the mat.

Borisch, who quarterbacked the Braves to the 3A state football title, will start the season at 182.

“He took a little time off after football,” Anderson said. “He was at 170 last year, but football teams are looking at him and want him to get a little bigger.”

The key to the remainder of the season, according to Anderson, is for teams to stay healthy. With the MCC 3A teams joining the Wesco North and South for regionals, they can’t afford not to go in at full strength.

“We are no longer with the GSL (Greater Spokane League),” Anderson said. “We get state champion Arlington and Edmonds-Woodway. It’s a loaded region.”

The Suns have their fair share of top-flight guys this season.

Sophomore Mikael Failor, who wrestled at 145 at the Winter Cup, will drop down to 138, where he is ranked second. He placed fourth at state last year at 120 pounds.

Seniors Taylor Ambrose (220) and Riley Lopez (182) and sophomore Marco Mendoza (113) have been solid to start the season. Rookie Eric Stayrook (195), a junior, has surprised a lot of people, including Isley and his staff.

“He is doing great,” Isley said. “He has a huge upside because he is so new. There is no one in the state who is as athletic as he is at this weight. He has speed and power. For him to wrestle that well at Winter Cup (fourth), we were happy with that.”

Also making a name for himself this winter is junior Mark Meier at 160.

“He has been the biggest surprise,” Isley said. “He only has two losses. He’s put in a lot of time. He wrestled like 60 freestyle matches in the offseason. To get to the finals at Winter Cup, he redeemed a couple of losses to JJ Rodriguez of Sunnyside and Brock Higgins of Hanford.”

Kennewick’s Alex Ramos (152) and Emilio Ramos (160) are highly ranked in their divisions and should be in the mix for another trip to state.

4A

Chiawana lost three state placers from last year’s team but has seen junior Kevin Llamas (106), freshman Robby Vaughn (113) and seniors Nathan Bengen (132) and Clayton Silvers (195) step up to the plate.

All four went undefeated at last weekend’s Northwest Duals in Albany, Ore., and are among some of the top-ranked guys in their weight classes.

“We have some good kids,” Riverhawks coach Jack Anderson said. “We have some young kids who have been wrestling since they were 5 years old. They have carried us on the mat. We are excited to be able to keep them around for a few years.”

Freshmen Tyson Stover (138), Riley Cissne (145) and Tate Elliot (285) have been making waves for Chiawana, and classmate Rey Aranda (132) is set to return after sitting out with an injury.

“We have a solid group of freshmen and seniors,” Anderson said. “We have a solid group of kids.”

Pasco has a couple of key wrestlers in the lightweights — freshmen Nathaniel Tovar at 106 and Isaiah Gonzalez at 113. Meanwhile, Richland returns senior Isaac Lovato (182) and sophomore Patrick Workman (145, currently injured).

“Richland, Hanford, Walla Walla and Pasco are well coached, and their kids come to wrestle,” Anderson said. “Isaiah Gonzalez, I think he could be better than Timmy (Martinez, two-time state champ at Pasco) when he was a freshman.”

Just like the 3A ranks, the MCC 4A teams will see a whole new group of teams at regionals. The GSL will remain, but the Big Nine is gone. The Greater St. Helens League joins the postseason party, bringing along top-ranked teams Union, Camas and Battle Ground.

“Sunnyside and Moses Lake are always tough,” Anderson said. “We are happy to leave them, (but) then you find out you are with Union and Camas. And Mead is really tough this year.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2017 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Kamiakin the team to beat in Mid-Columbia Conference wrestling."