As January wrestling continues to gather steam, all roads led to Spring Creek last weekend as the Kiwanis Invitational was the place to be.
Twenty teams from Nevada, Idaho and Oregon converged to battle on the mats. After all the action ended, the Longhorns were sitting in 10th place as a team with 98 points.
Caldwell won the team title with 228.50 points, while Spring Creek was second at 209.50. Minico (199) was third and Churchill County (184) and Mountain Home (177) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
“We battled all weekend, at the end we were only a few points away from moving up a few more spots,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “Right now, we are still focused on cleaning up technique, once that’s taken care of everything else will fall into place.”
All of the wrestlers the Longhorns entered into the tournament won matches. Jeff Oakes claimed the tournament title in his weight class at 182 pounds with four dominating wins. Oakes was on the mat for just over three minutes in his first two matches as he pinned Minico’s Kody Vail and Lowry’s Joe Peterson.
The senior advanced to the final with a pin over Zach Martin of North Valleys and in the title bout, Oakes beat Spring Creek’s Masin Goodell 7-2.
Andrew Cox posted a 4-1 record and finished in second place at 132 pounds. Cox breezed through his first three opponents, pinning Pershing County’s Sean Gottschalk, Minico’s Juan-Pablo Ramirez and Twin Falls’ Omar Laris.
He inched out a 9-7 decision in the semifinals over Spring Creek’s Anthony Chavez. He lost to Brandon Gonzalez of Caldwell in the final by a 18-9 decision.
Cameron Thompson (106) went 3-2 over the two days, ending up in fifth place. Thompson won his first three matches to reach the semifinals, before suffering his first loss.
Tristin Cordingley (195) went 4-2, DeAndre Powell (120), Bobby Kester (126), Daegen McClary (138), Mason Chopp (152), Jake Legarza (106) and Cooper Burkhart (285) all posted 3-2 records.
Brandon Stallard (126), Christian Nevarez (138) and Fernando Carrillo (152) rounded out the point total as they each recorded a victory for the Longhorns.
“We experienced a good deal of success this weekend,” Domagala said. “This is a tough tournament and our kids more than held their own against all competition.”
The Longhorns are on the road again this weekend as they travel west to Fernley to compete in the annual Vaquero Classic. Battle Mountain be at home on Friday, Jan. 29, starting at 4 p.m. The Division III/IV North League Duals will be held in Battle Mountain on Feb. 5-6.
