State wrestling: MCC teams have 7 chasing gold after rough Day 1

Nothing went as planned Friday at Mat Classic for the Mid-Columbia teams.

Kamiakin, which put 10 through to the quarterfinals, had just three move into the semifinals.

Chiawana had five in the quarterfinals, and just two are in the final four.

Southridge put five in the quarterfinals, with just Zayid Al-Ghani still alive for gold.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Kamiakin coach Jordan Anderson said. “We knew we had some tough matches in the second round, and they didn’t go our way. Wrestling is an individual sport, but we are a family, and when someone loses, it brings you down. We have 11 still alive. We need to ride that momentum.”

The Braves, who had a slim lead over Kelso (34.5-31) for first place after the first round of the Class 3A tournament, were third by the end of the quarterfinals with 52.5 points. Kelso jumped into the lead with 77 points.

The biggest loss for the Braves was sophomore Austin Almaguer at 120 pounds.

Almaguer, who was third last year at 106, opened the day with a 16-0 technical fall over Riley Wynn of Peninsula. He suffered a 7-5 loss to Bryce Miller of Kelson.

“We knew that was a tough match,” Anderson said. “Austin beat him at Dream Duals, but that kid got the best of him today.

Rece Quintana (138), Sione Halo (160) and Zach Borisch (182) all will wrestle in the semifinals.

Quintana pinned Jon McMillan of Hudson’s Bay in 5:21, while Halo posted an 11-0 major decision over Duncan Heger of Eastside Catholic.

“I was in the mindset that if you want to be No. 1, you have to beat No. 1,” Halo said. “I’m pretty happy, but I have to remember that I have two more.”

Borisch earned a 12-6 decision over Tre Phillips of Rogers-Spokane. Borisch led 6-0 after the second round and 8-0 in the third before Phillips got on the board.

Kamiakin’s Cyle DeLeon had quite a battle in the 152-pound quarterfinals with Dew Rogers of Shadle Park.

Rogers, who won Alaska state titles for North Pole High School in 2015 (138) and 2016 (145), beat DeLeon 5-2.

Kamiakin’s lone girl, Asia Borisch, pinned No. 1 seed Marissa Montano of Union in 1:57 in her opening match, but got pinned in the quarterfinals by Nadia Medvinsky of Redmond in 4:35.

Al-Ghani pinned his first opponent in 1:24, then beat Zach Threlfall of Kelso 9-2 in the quarterfinals.

“This is exciting,” Al-Ghani said. “This is my last chance to win a title. The first two matches were good, but I know I have two more. I’ve felt comfortable out there. In the first, I worked on my offense. In the second, I wrestled my match and took him to deep waters.”

Kennewick’s Emilio Ramos (152) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 victory over Noah Saenz of Ferndale, then dropped a 7-2 decision to Bryan Wais of North Central to fall into the consolation bracket.

Pasco’s Isaiah Gonzalez (113) and Avery Burrows (170) made it to the 4A quarterfinals, but only Gonzalez reached the semis.

Gonzalez, a freshman, posted a 4-0 decision over Yusef Nelson of Auburn Riverside to advance. Two of his points came off stalling calls against Nelson.

“It was a strategic match,” Gonzalez said. “It was a good match, down to the wire.”

Gonzalez, who has been coming to watch Mat Classic since he was a little boy, said it’s fun to finally get on the mat.

“I’ve wanted to have this opportunity since I was young,” Gonzalez said.

Chiawana has freshman Robby Vaughn (106) and senior Nate Bengen (126) in Saturday’s semifinals.

Vaughn posted a 5-3 decision over Aizayah Yacapin of Curtis in the quarters, while Bengen beat Austin Cleland of Sumner 13-8.

“This is pretty awesome,” Bengen said. “I have never been this far before. This is a great environment. Either you get shell shocked or you feed off of it.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 8:27 PM with the headline "State wrestling: MCC teams have 7 chasing gold after rough Day 1."