The Winnemucca Junior High School seventh-grade wrestling team won the Tah-Neva championship held this past Saturday at Pershing County High School in Lovelock.
The Warriors scored 159.50 points to beat Churchill County by 30 points. Douglas (122), Yerington (119) and Carson (rounded) out the top five.
Coda Nichols at 70 pounds, Wade Mori (95), Frank Davis (105) and David Walker (165) won individual titles.
Nichols, who was named one of the most outstanding wrestlers, opened with an 11-0 win over Lucas Scapini of Alder Creek. Nichols pulled out a 3-2 decision over Churchill County’s Colin Sishhido in thew semifinals and beat Yerington’s Kevin Armas 4-0 in the final.
Mori cruised to the championship match with a pin over Douglas’ Tyler Kauffman and 17-2 win over Coral Academy’s Gianni Barajas. Mori knocked off Churchill County’s Thane Hatch 4-0 to win the title.
Davis wrestled twice on the day and began with an 8-0 win over Churchill County’s Kaden McKnight. Davis had little trouble in the 105-pound final, pinning Carson’s Diego Villeda in the first period.
Walker won all three of his matches by pin, starting with White Pine’s Donovan Perkins in 22 seconds. Walker finished the tournament with victories over Pershing County’s Leonard Dohl and Carson’s Kade Encinas.
“The kids wrestled pretty good,” said coach John Brooks. “They came a long way in a short season. It was a good tournament with some strong kids in it. It was god to see some kids from the other side of the state.”
Jhett Harbor (90), Damon Fetty (135) and Jeremiah Simmons place second. Brenton Baker (115), Luke Fentress (120) and Shaun Cramer (125) were fourth.
WJHS eighth-graders place second
The Winnemucca eighth-graders were beaten out for first place by three points (154-151) to Battle Mountain. Fernley (106) was third and Churchill County (82) and Douglas (65) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
“It came right down to the last match,” Brooks said. “If I look back on it, I could have moved a seventh-grader up and we might have won. It was a good fight, Battle Mountain has a strong team.”
Chris Gildone (90), David Hunter (110), Angel Huerta (115) and Ivan Contreras (120) took home individual crowns.
Gildone opened with a semifinal win over Battle Mountain’s Wesley Leloup by pin in the first period. Gildone knocked off teammate Anthony Guzman in the final by a 3-2 decision. Guzman got the final by beating White Pine’s Braxton Brewer 20-4.
Hunter earned a 4-0 win over Anthony Rodgers of Coral Academy in the 110-pound semifinals and held on to beat Battle Mountain’s Garrett Cosper 9-8 in the final.
Huerta needed just 60 seconds to pin Eagle Valley’s Jacob Frazier to advance to the championship bout. Huerta pinned Battle Mountain’s Chris Raines in the second period to win the title.
Contreras pinned Carson’s Gabe Allen in the first period in the semifinals and collected a 7-2 decision in the final over Eagle Valley’s Clint DeWitt.
Kris Logue (100), Joe Garcia )140) and Merrill Terry (175) finished second. Angel Varela (heavyweight) placed third and Jesse Hawkins (135) was fourth.
