TACOMA – Toppenish girls began their pursuit of a fifth straight championship in dominating style Friday at Mat Classic XXXVII.

The Wildcats are sending 11 of their 15 qualifiers to the quarterfinals in the Class 2A state tournament, and they also sit atop the league standings, 22.5 points ahead of CWAC rival Othello.

Sophia Torres (105 pounds) and Adalyne Montiel (110) opened their chase of historic four-peats with commanding victories after a bye.

Also advancing for Toppenish were district champs Sara Ortega (135), vying for a second straight title, Linsey Ortega (120), Jocelyn Chavez (125), Evette Esquivel (170) and Charlene Underwood (235).

The Huskies have seven wrestlers moving on to the quarterfinals, including district winners Angie Monday (130) and Addie Russell (140).

Ephrata’s Adylene Sanchez (155) scored a first-round pin as she goes for title No. 2.

On the boys side, Toppenish’s Justyce Zuniga (138) and Steve Romero (126) also launched their four-peat quests successfully. Fellow district champs Audon Clark (120) and Anthony Sifuentes (144) moved on, too. With six quarterfinalists, the Wildcats are a distant second to four-time defending champion Orting.

In third, just six points behind Toppenish is Othello, which also has six in the quarterfinals, including district champion Camilo Mendez III among them.

District runner-up Ellensburg is sixth, and 132-pound district champ Cash Eylar recorded two pins to advance.

Grandview’s Derrius Jeffrey, the district winner at 285, also notched two pins and leads three quarterfinalists for the Greyhounds.

Selah district champions D’Anthony Gacia Reyes and Mario Lamas (175) won twice.

The CWAC has 24 quarterfinalists.

CLASS 1A

Wapato, Royal top team standings

Defending 1A state champion Wapato started defense of its title using a familiar strength-in-numbers approach.

The Wolves advanced 13 of their 21 wrestlers to Saturday morning’s quarterfinals.

All four of Wapato’s district champions – Xzavier Garza (120 pounds), Christopher Garza Jr. (150), Raul Sanchez III (157) and Josiah Gutierrez (215) – rolled in the openers after a bye, each recording a pin.

Zillah, the state runner-up last February, has nine quarterfinalists, including district champions Leonel Lustre (113), Ryan Vader (144), Emmanuel Fernandez (175) and Jake Tuner (285).

In sixth is Cashmere with eight in the quarters, district winners Mack Pell (126), Marshall Pell (132), Jance Novak (165) and Grey Jacobson (190).

Royal is seventh and has five in the quarterfinals.

The SCAC accounted for 40 quarterfinalists.

In the 1A/2B/1B girls tournament, top-ranked and District 5 champion Royal sits atop the teams scores, 19.5 points ahead of defending state champion Granger.

The Knights, who were the runners-up last year, advanced 10 to the quarterfinals, including their three district champions Sophia Garza (110), Reese Prescott (115) and Heaven Parker (125) notching pins after byes.

Garza and Prescott pinned their opponents in less than a minute.

Zillah is fifth in the team standings with three quarterfinals, while Wapato is sixth with five in the quarters.

Connell is eighth, and Cashmere and Naches Valley are tied for 10th.

The SCAC has 29 wrestlers in the quarterfinals.