Omak Wrestling boys' and girls' teams performed well at Mat Classic XXXV State Championships. It was a great weekend for Pioneer wrestlers and fans. I will sum up the boys’ weekend for a quick read.
Friday morning would bring news that our alternate, Diego Garcia, would not be in the tournament, leaving the boys with four wrestlers. Regional champions Xavier Cardona, Noah Morago-Bigboy, and Darrell Nanpuya received the first-round bye, putting them into the quarter-finals. Jessie Garcia came out in dominant fashion and won his first match by fall in the third round. Jesse racked up 14 points on his opponent before he secured the pin. Placing him into the quarter-finals with the defending state champion.
In the quarter-finals, wrestling was a bit nervous for some. It felt like some of the most brutal matches were after the bye and sitting for half the day without a game. Darrell defeated a Wapato wrestler by fall in the third period. Noah defeated his opponent from Toppenish by fall in the third round. Xavier Cardona came out and lost to a Wapato wrestler by one point in one of only three losses for the team on the entire weekend. Jessie wrestled the state champion and lost by a major decision. The match was well fought by Jessie. Cardona and Jessie had to wrestle one more match to survive in the bracket and continue the next day.
In the consolation quarter-finals, both Cardona and Garcia wrestled lights out. Jessie won 4-0, and Cardona picked up bonus points with a pin against Medical Lake. Having all wrestlers make it to day two, we were sitting in 9th place as a team.
The first matches of Saturday were important for everyone. Darrell and Noah would go to the finals with a win. Jessie and Cardona would make it to the top six if they won. The team had discussed on Friday night that we would have to win out if we wanted to go home with a top 4 finish. The boys came out hot like they wanted a team trophy! Darrell’s opponent medical defaulted to him before the match started. Jessie secured a 14-2 major decision over an Elma kid. Cardona ripped into Connell and got the pin in a minute and thirteen seconds. Noah defeated the number one-ranked kid from Blaine. He won by decision 7-4. He controlled the match the entire time.
Cardona and Jessie had to stay hot and ready as their next matches rolled around quickly. The consolation semi-finals were next. Jessie came out and beat the number two-ranked kid by fall. Jessie was down by 2 points when they were both on their feet. Jessie needed a takedown to tie it. He tied up his arms for a lateral drop and executed it with a short time, 20 seconds left. Cardona scored another set of bonus points with another win by fall. He stuck the Seton Catholic kid in the third round.
The third-place matches were against opponents whom the boys had already defeated. They still went into the match with focused aggression and determination on their minds. Jessie received his first technical fall, which is a win by 15 points, over the Blaine kid with a score of 20-4. Cardona wrestled the kid he wrestled in the regional title match. He stayed focused, worked hard, and secured another victory by fall. After his disappointing quarter-final loss, Cardona pinned his way to a 3rd place finish! It takes heart to lose a match and continue fighting for your team.
Darrell’s state finals match would have him meeting up with Castle Rock. Darrell had wrestled the kid earlier in the year and was confident. He went out and took care of business. Darrell brought home his second state championship with a third-round pin. He held himself to a high standard and ran his wind sprints after the match.
Noah would wrestle a Toppenish kid in his state championship match. Noah wrestled well, but the Toppenish wrestler was too tough on top. Noah fought the first round, and it ended 0-0. Noah chose down in the second round and was turned with little time on the clock. He was unable to fight off his back and fell to the now two-time state champion from Toppenish.
With Cardona and Jessie taking home bronze medals, Noah getting silver, and Darrell winning another state championship, your Omak Pioneers brought home the 3rd place finish in 1A wrestling state championships!
Although the four were putting points up at state, it takes a team effort inside the wrestling room. All of the wrestlers, state participants or not, beat themselves up every day to get better together. They work hard in the room and hold each other to high standards. Please congratulate a wrestler if you see them.