As the old quote goes, “Iron sharpens iron,” and it comes as no surprise that the Battle Mountain High School wrestling team began the Christmas Break seeking out the best competition high school wrestling has to offer.
The Longhorns made the trip to Reno on Dec, 18-19 to participate in the Reno Tournament of Champions, billed as “The Toughest Tournament in the USA.”
As a team, the Longhorns finished 31st out of 105 teams from all over the country.
“We were looking for a higher team finish, but in tournaments like this you just wrestle,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “I thought the boys wrestled tough all weekend. We come to tournaments like these to see where we’re at, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Leading the way for the Longhorns was Jeff Oakes. The 182-pounder went 5-0 over the two-day span and captured the tournament title. Oakes was seeded third as the tournament began. He drew a bye in the first round, then followed it up with two falls over opponents from Arizona and New Mexico to finish out the first day.
The second day saw Oakes pick up a 10-4 win over a wrestler from Oregon in the quarterfinals. Next, he earned a 4-0 semifinal win against a Chico, Calif., wrestler and capped the final day off with a 5-2 win in the championship round over a wrestler from Lemoore, Calif., who was the defending California state champ.
“Jeff wrestled real well,” Domagala said. “He was never really challenged in his matches, even in the last two with the score close, he completely controlled the matches all the way through. This was a huge tournament for him, and one that he deserved to win.” Along with the tournament title, Oakes earned All-American honors.
Cameron Thompson, Andrew Cox and Cooper Burkhart all came within one match of placing as they posted 4-2 records at the event. Matt Rochester went 3-2, while Bobby Kester and Zach Heese each were 2-2. Also wrestling were Jake Legarza and Mason Chopp.
“Wrestling in events like this only help build each of the kids up. These big events and large venues prepare the kids for the state tournament, and that is the ultimate goal,” said the coach.
The Longhorn wrestlers will make another trek to Reno this week to compete in the Sierra Nevada Classic, a large western regional tournament.
The tournament began Tuesday and concludes today (Wednesday) at the Livestock Events Center.
