The Battle Mountain High School wrestling team did something this past weekend they’ve been doing since 2014 — win the Northern 2A Regional Championship.
The team race saw Battle Mountain on top of the scoreboard, outdistancing second place Pershing County and Yerington by a score of 259-200.5.
“We were able to score a lot of bonus points today and that is why we ran away with the tournament,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala.
As the wrestlers of the Northern 2A came together last Saturday in Lovelock to battle it out for state tournament berths, the boys in green sent notice that they were not quite done with their season of domination.
When the regional tournament came to an end, the list of entries to the NIAA State Championships were finalized, 14 Longhorns had earned their way onto the brackets.
“The kids put together a good weekend,” added the coach. “They started fast and just kept it going all day,” added Coach Domagala.
Six Longhorns claimed individual titles as Cameron Thompson (113) pounds), Jose Guizar (120), Jordan Gonzalez (126), Fabian Castaneda (152), Daegan McClary (160) and Tristin Cordingley (195) won gold medals.
Thompson won both his matches by pin, including the final where he beat Yerington’s Thorne Milligan in 96 seconds. Guizar was on the mat for three matches and none of his went past the second period. He pinned Yerington’s Brock Bader to win the title.
Gonzalez won his first matches by pin and needed an 11-5 decision over Pershing County’s Ricky Reitz to win at 126 pounds. Castaneda had little trouble on the day, winning all three matched by pin. He pinned Yerington’s Justin Barns in the second period to win his title.
McClary needed just two matches to win at 160 pounds. He pinned Wells’ Luke Escamilla in the semifinals and earned an 8-2 win over Yerington’s Ryan Barns in the championship. Cordingley was dominant as well, pinning Independence’s Jose Huerta and Pershing County’s Marcus Glanton for the title
Declan McClary (106), Jake Legarza (132), DeAndre Powell (138), Bobby Kester (145), Kris Hall (170) and Mason Chopp (182) finished in the runner-up spot.
Lyle Whitten (220) and Tyler Rochester (285) finished in fourth place, while Michael Malone (126) came home in sixth position. Kohl Bellm (120) also wrestled and won a huge first round match before having to injury default out of the tournament.
The Longhorns have one more weekend left as they travel to Las Vegas this weekend for the NIAA State Tournament. Wrestling is scheduled to begin on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Orleans Arena.
