Led by regional champions Jose Barrera and Julian Romero, the Toppenish Wildcat’s advanced nine grapplers to the state Tournament in Tacoma this weekend.  112 Lb Barrera (112)  and Romero (125) dominated their weight classes as they ran their season records to 31-5, and 28-3.
After defeating Colville’s Josh Hamilto 12-1 and the quarterfinals and pinning Deer Park’s Jesse Molina in the Semis, Barrera won by injury default over Selah’s Nikko Rodriguez in the finals.
Romero survived a tense 3-2 battle in the semi-finals with East Valley’s Conner Hopkins.  He then pinned Othello’s Matt Jordan at 4:25 in the championship match.
Armando Hernandez (103), Raphael Osorio (140) and Luis Rodriguez (285) placed third for the Cats.
“Ralph and Luis are both seniors and they wrestled great this week,” said Top Hi coach John L Cerna.  “Luis lost his first match, then sucked it up and won four straight in the consolations. That was huge for him. Ralph has come on strong at the right time, just as we thought he would. We always tell our kids that if they stick with it and work hard, we can practically assure them they will make it to state before they finish with our program.”
Freshman Carlos Hernandez lost to his older brother, Armando, a junior, in their placing match and finished fourth.  Aaron Arredondo (119), Adan Chavez (135) and  Andres Chavez (171) each finished fifth to round out the Toppenish medalists who will participate at the state championships.
“All of  those guys wrestled well and every team point is important,” said Cerna.
The Wildcats racked up 169 team points to finish in third place behind Othello with 178.5 points and defending state 2AA champs Deer Park with 210.5 points. 
“We thought we could have 10 wrestlers advance to state, and we ended up with nine, so we’re pretty pleased,” said Cerna.  “We hope to improve on last year’s fifth place finish when we scored 70 team points.  We feel we have a stronger team this year.”
Wapato:
Wapato’s Eduardo Torres, the lone Wolf to compete at the Class 2A regional event in Spokane just missed a state berth, losing to Ethan Groom of Prosser 5-4 in the fifth-sixth consolation round. Torres’ solo performance accounted for 18.5 team points. Torres will serve as a alternate in the 140-weight class.

Zillah wins regional
tournament title, advances nine to Mat Classic

Led by repeat champions Chris Castillo, Skylor Davis and Kane Koerner, the Zillah Leopards wrestling team captured the regional wrestling tournament at home on Saturday at Zillah High School. Zillah compiled 190 1/2 points to win the Class A Region III event, followed by Warden with 180 points; Royal was third with 154.5, just edging Granger, who finished fourth with 152 points.
Granger’s Pete Almaguer claimed the 285-pound regional title and raised his season record to 30-1, after pinning John Myers of Zillah in the title match.
The top four competitors in each weight division advance to the Class 1A Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.
Zillah:
Castillo ran his undefeated record to 26-0 after beating J.D. Ring of Naches Valley, 8-2 in the 152-pound championship match. Davis pinned David Gonzales of Kiona-Benton to claim the 125-pound title. Koerner scored a 8-3 decision over Justin Kincade of Royal on his way to the 189-pound title win.
Also advancing to the Mat Classic state tournament for Zillah:
* Cortes Hernandez (119) placed third after beating Tucker Simonton of Burbank, 9-5.
* Sergio Sanchez (140) finished fourth after being pinned by Sam Suarez of Warden.
*  Rodney Treece (145) finished second after being pinned by Zac Reisenauer of Burbank in the title match.
* Kyle Kluever (171) defeated Jake Thomas of Royal, 5-2 to earn third place.
* Nathaniel Deardorff (215) picked up second place, after losing to Nato Orozco of Connell, 5-2.
* John Meyers (285) finished second after losing to Pete Almaguer of Granger.
Not advancing to state competition, but competing in the regional fifth-sixth consolation bracket were:
Fifth place: Jess Gonzales (103), Josh Aho (285).
Sixth place: Jacob Rosas (112), John Arrellano (130) and Joe Jensen (160).
Granger:
* Joshua Salcedo (103) place third, after pinning Misael Lopez of Connell.
* Jonathan Salcedo (112) placed second, losing to J. P. Martinez of Warden, 15-11 in the title match.
* Joe Salcedo (125) place third after scoring a major decision over teammate Adrian Guerrero, 13-4.
* Adrian Guerrero (125) claimed fourth, with the loss to Salcedo.
* Carlos Deleon (130) finished third with a 8-6 win over Roberto Palencia of Kiona-Benton.
* Abel Morales (145) placed fourth after being pinned by Omar Gomez of Royal.
* Matthew Macias (160) finished second to Braydon Ross of Goldendale, 8-5.
Not advancing to state, but finishing in the fifth-sixth consolation at regionals were:
Fifth: Adrian Barajas (112), Ernesto Martinez (140)
Sixth: Caleb Resendez (135)