The Selah High wrestling team was on fire this season, going undefeated in league dual meets before earning seven individual titles at the CWAC championship tournament on June 9 in Grandview.

The Vikings advanced 12 to the district finals and also picked up five third-place finishes on their way to the unofficial league title (no team scores were kept). 

Even better for coach Ken Mozingo is the fact that all but one of his starters is returning next year as the program looks to reach its goal of a top-three state finish.

“We finished fourth last year, and we had the talent to be top three this year,” the longtime head coach said. “But we will be ready for next year. They have pretty lofty goals for themselves, and they want to take it all.”

Marcos Gonzalez, the second-place district finisher at 120 pounds, is the only senior on the roster, meaning 13 of the 14 weight classes should be in good hands going into 2021-22.

This year’s CWAC champs were Mason Martin (113), Moon Thompson (126), Jesse Salinas (145), Ethan Garza (152), Judah Yates (160), Jerry Schmidt (182) and Mikey Ray (285). 

Taking runner-up honors were Nathan Shipley (106), Gonzalez (120), Josh Holmes (170), Jashawn Singh (220) and Titan Nelson (285). Third-place finishes went to Sammy Gonzalez (132), Cade Robertson (170), Damion Horjon (182), Daniel Herrera (195) and Tyler Gotchalk (220). Memo Mooney was fourth at 138 pounds.

The highlight of the district tournament came in the 145-pound final when Salinas edged Ellensburg senior and 2020 state runner-up Christian Davis 5-3. Salinas was the  state runner-up at 132 pounds last year.

With another successful season behind them, the Vikings plan to get right back to work next month when they travel to some competitive dual camps. Mozingo said the wrestlers can expect 20 to 25 matches over three or four days.

“The prep work starts now,” the coach said. “We’ve been talking about it a lot, and these guys are ready to put in the work this summer to get where we want to be.”

Mozingo added that he was glad the athletes got to hit the mat after so much uncertainty over the past year and a half.

“It was great for the boys to get together and compete,” he said. “There was a lot of camaraderie and team-building that happened, and that’s only going to help us next year.”