As December begins, so does the season for the Battle Mountain High School wrestling team. Using the early season to get as much mat time as possible, the team split up and headed out in opposite directions.
Coach Torrey Vezina took a young crew to the annual Hug Invitational in Reno. The tournament saw 12 teams in action and the Longhorns entered a group of four into the event and that group made the other teams sit up and take notice.
Senior Tyler Rochester was wrestling in the heavyweight division and captured his first tournament championship with a dominating performance.
Freshman Julio Torres finished in second place in his first wrestling tournament ever. Asher Bundrock and Scott Wall claimed some big wins but came up just short of placing.
“These kids wrestled hard all weekend. This tournament is a great learning experience. I liked what I saw, but I know they’re just getting started and will improve greatly over the season,” said coach Vezina.
The other contingent of Longhorn wrestlers made the trek to Boise, Idaho, for the annual Bucks Bags Duals Tournament.
“This tournament is a great way to start the season. We see some of the best teams in the large school divisions in Idaho, and get a lot of matches. Right now it’s just about competing and experience,” said BMHS head coach Mitch Coach Domagala.
Battle Mountain showed a great mix of experience and new comers as they battled with the teams from the Potato State.
Leading the way was a pair of undefeated wrestlers in two-time defending state champion Jose Guizar (6-0) and freshman Sean Scherer (6-0).
Right behind them were two-time state runner-up Declan McClary (5-1), returning state placer Lyle Whitten (5-1), and senior Thomas Amezcua (5-1).
Freshman Stone Whitlock had an impressive tournament and posted a 4-2 record, while two-time reigning state champion, Jordan Gonzalez was 4-3. Sophomore Dalton Shake recorded an emotional pin for his first high school win and Brice Domagala was 1-1 before withdrawing due to injury.
Team-wise saw the Longhorns finish with a 1-5 record.
“We were missing some weights and forfeited 36 points in every dual,” Domagala said. “We lost two duals by eight points each, and one by nine points. The important thing, and what we focused on this weekend, was winning the matches we were in. In every dual, we won more than we lost so that is encouraging for the season.”
The Longhorns hosted Elko on Tuesday and then travel to Lovelock on Saturday for the annual Mustang Invitational Tournament.
“We had a good first weekend,” added Domagala. “The kids did a lot of things well, they wrestled hard, had positive attitudes and gave everything they had each time out. We have a number of things to work on, but not a bad start to the season.”
