Wrestling: Chiawana has 2 champions, will send 8 to Mat Classic; Pasco wins 1 title

Clayton Silvers celebrated his 18th birthday in fine fashion Saturday, rallying from a 7-0 deficit to win the 195-pound Class 4A regional title at Hanford High School.

Silvers beat Caleb Thomas of University 8-7 to win his first regional title.

“I knew if I pushed the pace and could get his head, I could take him down,” said Silvers, who turned 18 on Friday. “I knew I had more gas, more drive than he did. There was a little panic when it was 7-0, but everything I worked so hard to do to be here clicked. I had to trust myself.”

The Riverhawks, who also got a title from senior Nathan Bengen at 126 pounds, finished third in the team standings with 218.5 points, five behind second-place Union but well behind first-place Mead.

“I’m very proud,” said Chiawana coach Jack Anderson, will take eight to Mat Classic next weekend in Tacoma. “They really stepped it up this weekend and competed exceptionally well. They will make some noise at state this year. Not many in the state thought we were this good, but we like being under the radar.”

Pasco’s Isaiah Gonzalez provided the area’s other regional championship with a third-period pin of Chiawana’s Morgan McFee for the title at 113.

Mead ran away with the team title, rolling up 301.5 points. The Panthers had 17 wrestlers place in the top six and will take 10 to state.

“The regional tournament is always so intense and tough,” Mead coach Phil McLean said. “Titles are hard to come by. My team doesn’t have a lot of superstars, but we have solid kids and good depth.”

Silvers trailed 7-2 after two rounds, then Thomas let him up to start the third to make it 7-3. Silvers then took Thomas down and earned three back points for a one-point lead. He was able to control Thomas the rest of the match to seal the win.

“I had never wrestled him before so I didn’t know what the expect,” Silvers said. “I stayed calm and trusted my training.”

It was the first regional title for Silvers, who has bragging rights over older brothers Austin and Kameron, who never earned regional gold.

Bengen cruised through his half of the regional bracket, picking up two pins and a major decision to reach the finals. He beat Max Clark of University 3-2 for his first regional title.

“I wrestled him twice last year and today,” said Bengen, who ran his record to 3-0 against Clark. “He’s gotten a lot better. I just tried to wrestle a conservative match and not let him score any points.”

Joining Silvers and Bengen at state are freshmen Robby Vaughn (second at 106), Rey Aranda (second at 132), Tyson Stover (second at 138) and Riley Cissne (fourth at 145).

“They are amazing,” Bengen said of his freshmen teammates. “My freshman year I didn’t even make it out of district. They are killing it. Riley had one of the toughest brackets and he got through.”

Chiawana junior Josh Alvarez, a first-year wrestler, finished third at 285, drawing praise from his coach.

“He’s come a long way,” Anderson said. “He’s a good, strong athlete. This is exciting,”

Gonzalez pinned his way through the bracket, including a stop of McFee in 5:29 in the 113 final.

“I’ve always wanted to have this opportunity,” said Gonzalez, who is 3-0 against McFee this season. “This is really exciting. Morgan is always trying to get at you, so I had make sure I was on my game.”

Joining Gonzalez at state will be Avery Burrows, who was third at 170, and Davion Pruitt, who picked up a fourth-place finish at 285.

Richland will send Isaac Lovato to state. He finished fourth at 182.

3A Regionals

After it took the Kamiakin Braves 9 1/2 hours to get to Everett for the regional tournament, they decided to make the long drive worth their effort.

Austin Almaguer (120), Sione Halo (160), Tanner Bushman (113) and Jesus Ramos (126) won individual titles, and the Braves won the team title with 259.5 points.

Kamiakin will take 13 to Mat Classic next weekend in Tacoma.

“It was awesome,” Kamiakin coach Jordan Anderson said. “Two of our JV guys are going to state. We came over with the attitude that if we wrestled to our potential, no one could beat us.”

Southridge finished second in the team race with 215 points, had three champions and will send nine to state.

The Suns got titles from Marco Mendoza (106), Zayid Al-Ghani (170) and Taylor Ambrose (220).

Kennewick wasn’t in the running for a team title but had one champion in Emilio Ramos (152) and will send two to state.

“It was a proud moment for the city of Kennewick,” Anderson said. “After Friday, the Kennewick schools had over 50 wins and four losses. We came over with a chip on our shoulders. We only got two guys per weight class. All the Kennewick schools were rooting for each other. It was great to be a part of. We were all united. It was fun.”

Not fun for the Wesco teams. The three Kennewick schools brought a combined 28 wrestlers and scooped up 24 of the 56 state berths.

“Other coaches were coming up to us saying, ‘We didn’t think you were that tough,’ ” Anderson said.

With a 13-man contingent, the Braves would like to try and improve on last year’s fifth-place state finish.

“It’s tough. You never know what other teams will have,” Anderson said. “We have to compete at our level and hope the chips fall our way. We hope to bring home some hardware.”

2A Regionals

Reese Jones led a trio of champions for Othello, which advanced seven to state from the 2A Region IV tournament at Ellensburg High School.

Jones beat Quintin Stansbury of West Valley-Spokane 6-0 to win the 170-pound title, while TJ Martinez posted a 4-2 overtime decision to beat Andrew Carney of Ellensburg for the 195-pound title.

At 220 pounds, Othello freshman Isaiah Perez pinned Cheney senior Josh Baker in 1:33 to win his first regional title.

Also making the trip to Mat Classic for the Huskies are Collin Freeman (2nd, 152), Ben Garza (4th, 120), DJ Guzman (4th, 195) and Chemi Cantu (3rd, 285).

Grandview’s Cesar Galvan punched his ticket to state by finishing fourth at 113 pounds.

Locals dominate girls regional wrestling tourney

Hanford’s Libby Graham and Pasco’s Natalie Hall gave the Tri-Cities a pair of champions at Saturday’s girls regional wrestling tournament at Wahluke High in Mattawa.

Local wrestlers dominated the field, with Othello, Sunnyside, Warden, Kiona-Benton and Hanford sweeping the top five spots. Area teams also accounted for eight of the 14 champions.

Graham won at 145 pounds with a second-period pin, while Hall stopped her 155 opponent in the first round.

Kiona-Benton’s Elsa Gonzalez won the 140 title, pinning Othello’s Kaylee Martinez in the final. River View’s Dempsi Talkington claimed the 135 crown with a 15-4 major decision over Ki-Be’s Maria Enriquez.

Othello’s Nikki Velazquez won the title at 130; Grandview’s Mayu Molina at 120 with a pin of Prosser’s Janet Orozco; and Warden’s Aaliyah Escamilla at 100 with a 5-1 decision of Grandview’s Maria Reyes.

Sunnyside won a pair of titles with Aylin Bautista at 170 and Stephanie Blankenship at 105 (pin of Warden’s Angelica Velas).

Hanford’s Taylor Robbins (125), Grandview’s Viktorya Torres (110) and Mabton’s Sandra Urbina (190) were runners-up.

The top four in each weight advance to Mat Classic, which starts Friday in Tacoma.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Wrestling: Chiawana has 2 champions, will send 8 to Mat Classic; Pasco wins 1 title."