Chiawana rallies to nip Kamiakin in MCC dual

Rey Aranda had never had the weight of the world on his shoulders like he did Tuesday night, but the Chiawana freshman, with nerves of steel, went out and won the match of his life.

With the Riverhawks trailing 30-27 heading in the final match, Aranda put his faith in his skills and recorded a 14-4 major decision over Rece Quintana at 138 pounds to give Chiawana a 31-30 victory over the Kamiakin Braves in a thrilling Mid-Columbia Conference match in Pasco.

“Rey went out and took care of business,” Chiawana coach Jack Anderson said. “This is what you train for year around — this moment. For a freshman to take on that pressure was big. This was the most exciting dual I have ever been a part of as a coach or an athlete. Nights like tonight is why I love this sport.”

Kamiakin coach Jordan Anderson couldn’t agree more with his older brother.

“It was tough. Everyone went out there and fought, but they were better today,” Jordan Anderson said. “These are the matches you want to be a part of. These are the matches that help wrestling grow.”

The Riverhawks victory also brought the Battle of Bridge trophy back to Chiawana. The trophy goes to the Anderson brother whose team wins the annual MCC dual between the schools. Kamiakin won for the first time last year. Chiawana holds a 4-1 advantage.

The Braves (3-1 MCC) took a 21-6 lead midway through the match after Tristan Barnett’s 10-7 victory over Ian Campbell at 220 pounds.

The Riverhawks (5-0 MCC) would go on to win the next three matches by pin to take a 24-21 lead with four matches remaining.

Kamiakin’s Austin Almaguer picked up a 6-1 victory over Morgan McFee at 120 to even the score, only to have Kobe Santoyo beat Jesus Ramos 9-4 to put Chiawana out front 27-24.

“Morgan McFee went up against a state placer and didn’t give up a pin,” Jack Anderson said. “Not giving up those points in a dual like this is huge. This was a total team effort.”

Just when things were going Chiawana’s way, Kamiakin freshman Joey Chavez turned the tables.

Trailing 2-0 after the first round with Nathan Bengen at 132 pounds, Chavez put Bengen on his back and registered the pin at 3:07 to give the Braves a 30-27 lead with one match remaining.

“That’s one of his moves; he hits that a lot,” Jordan Anderson said of Chavez’s move to take down Bengen.

Even though the Braves were up by three points, they knew they had to win the final match. A tie would give the Riverhawks the win, with an unsportsmanlike call against Kamiakin earlier in the match being the deciding factor.

Aranda never gave Quintana a chance. Aranda led 2-0 after the first round, 6-2 after the second and dominated the third.

“It feels great to help the team out,” Aranda said. “It felt good to have that pressure. I just treated it like a normal match.”

Chiawana and Kamiakin warmed up for their epic dual with victories over the Kennewick Lions, who wrestled without Emilio (152) and Alex Ramos (145), who were nursing minor injuries suffered in a tournament over the weekend.

The Riverhawks beat the Lions 75-3. Kennewick’s Braxton Brower picked up a 10-6 win over Quentin Mattson at 170 pounds.

The Braves shut out the Lions 79-0, taking advantage of five forfeits.

“We are junior and sophomore heavy,” Lions coach Dwane Sittler said. “We have some good kids and are wrestling hard, but we are taking our lumps. This is a busy week for us, just like everyone. We are doing what we can do.”

The Lions will wrestle at Richland on Wednesday, and will host Walla Walla on Thursday.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Chiawana rallies to nip Kamiakin in MCC dual."