Kamiakin, Chiawana place 5 wrestlers in semis at Inland Empire

The Kamiakin Braves have five wrestlers in Saturday’s semifinals at the Inland Empire Classic at Central Valley High School in Spokane.

Austin Haywood (113 pounds), Xavier Zavala (120), Sione Halo (160), Jacob Olson (182), Luke Eskelsen (220) all are looking to advance to the finals with a win.

Kamiakin is fourth in the team standings (89 points) going into Saturday’s matches. Mead leads the field with 119.5 points, while Moses Lake (115.5) is second and University (90) is third.

Chiawana sophomores Riley Cissne (152) and Tyson Stover (160) advanced to the semifinals, as did Kobe Santoyo (126), J.J. Rodriguez (285) and Josh Alvarez (285).

Pasco has four men in the semifinals — Nate Tovar and Eric Correa at 106, Isaiah Gonzalez at 138 and Davion Pruitt at 285.

Hanford’s Hayden Henry (182) and Jonathan Burt (220) are bucking for spots in championship matches, as are Kennewick’s Emilio Ramos (170) and Richland’s Patrick Workman (152).

Cissne will wrestle Workman in the semifinals. Cissne advanced with a pin and a technical fall, while Workman beat Walla Walla’s Edwin Romero 7-1 in the quarterfinals.

Gonzalez reached the semis after a 7-6 ultimate tiebreaker decision over Kyler Anstrom of University. He also pinned Andrew Kemp of Walla Walla in 1:36 in his first match.

Zavala is the semis with a 52-second pin of Coeur d’Alene’s Hunter Schueller. He also pinned Colville’s Kaleb Morris in 30 second in his first match.

Santoyo advanced after posting a 2-1 decision over Jacob Krous of Coeur d’Alene. He also pinned Walla Walla’s Camrin Henzel in 1:10 earlier in the day.

Ramos will wrestle in the 170-pound semifinals against Moses Lake’s Hunter Cruz. Ramos recorded a pair of pins to advance.

Henry beat Pasco’s Avery Burrows 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and will face Olson in the semifinals. Olson pinned his first opponent in 30 seconds, then won by injury default in the quarters.

Three of the semifinalist at 285 are the from the Mid-Columbia Conference. Josh Alvarez and Rodriguez are in opposite sides of the bracket. Alvarez will take on Pruitt in the semifinals, in what could be a preview of things to come in their MCC dual Jan. 20.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Kamiakin, Chiawana place 5 wrestlers in semis at Inland Empire."