It was yet another successful business trip for the Battle Mountain High School wrestling team, who claimed the NIAA 2A State Championship this past Saturday at The Meadows School.
The Longhorns claimed its 20th title overall, the most overall in the state of Nevada. Lowry is second with 16.
The wrestlers received a police escort for the final few miles into town upon the return trip from Las Vegas on Sunday.
Sean Scherer at 106 pounds, Liam Bundrock at 120 and Zach Duggan at 182 pounds won individual championships.
Battle Mountain won with 146 points, easily out-distancing Lincoln County at 106.
Yerington was third at 87 and Pahranagat Valley (86.5 and Wells (85) rounded out the top five.
“The kids were focused on this all week,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “They had great practices and prepared for what they had to do. We led this tournament from the very first match and didn’t let anyone get close.”
After not having a match at the regional championships the week before, Scherer dominated throughout.
He won his opening match by forfeit and needed just 43 seconds to pin White Pine’s Ivan Newman in the semifinal.
Scherer cruised in the final, pinning Lincoln County’s Isaac Young in the second period.
“Sean wasn’t challenged this weekend,” said the coach. “We focused more on him being clean with his technique than anything his opponents did.”
Bundrock pinned his way through the tournament to claim his title. Bundrock opened with a first-period pin over The Meadows’ Michael Galin.
He reached the final with a pin over Orrin Knudsen of Eureka and overcame a slow start in the final to beat Tonopah’s Mitchell Miller.
“His finals opponent came out strong,” Domagala said. “Liam was a bit tight to start with that match, I think he was a bit nervous in the beginning and he fell into a hole. He kept battling to close the score and finally pinned his opponent in the second period.”
Duggan won all three of his matches by pin and avenged a loss in the regional final from the week before. Duggan used first-period pins over Eric Reid and Gage Calton to reach the finals against Lucas Peavey of Wells who beat Duggan in Lovelock
It was a different story in Las Vegas, as he pinned Peavey in the third period.
“Zach put together his best weekend of the season at the right time,” added the coach. “After a bit of a slow start in his first match he completely destroyed the competition. He capped it with a win in the finals against the kid that beat him in the zone finals last week.”
Cruz Jimenez at 106 pounds, Scott Wall at 160 pounds and Brice Domagala at 195 pounds each placed second.
Jimenez had a first-round bye and then pinned Jacob Hagfeldt of Pahranagat Valley in the first period. Jimenez lost his title match to Casetin Gubler of White Pine by a 13-7 decision.
Cruz wrestled a good tournament,” Domagala said. “He was attacking the whole time. He got caught in one hold in the finals and gave up some big points otherwise there’s a good chance he wins that match.”
Wall opened the day with a pin over West Wendover’s Anthony Collazo in the second period and advanced to the finals with a 5-4 decision over Pahranagat Valley’s Alec Thornton. Wall dropped his finals bout to Yerington’s Jonah Ericksen.
“Scott had a breakout tournament as he progressed to the finals,” Domagala said. “He beat the third and fourth place kids on his way to the finals. We’ve been waiting for Scott to get that signature win that you need to really advance in this sport and he picked up two of them this weekend.”
Domagala was on the mat for just 34 seconds on the quarterfinals and he advanced to the finals on the strength of a third-period pin against Bryson Perkins of Lincoln County.
In the finals, Domagala led is match but Jacob Griffin of Pahranagat Valley 4-3.
“Brice wrestled a solid and consistent tournament,” added the coach.” He battled from a 5-0 deficit in his semifinal round to take an 11-5 lead before getting the pin. In the finals he jumped out to an early lead but unfortunately dropped a close decision. He has worked extremely hard and finished his wrestling career with a strong performance.
James Spealman at 132 pounds and Asher Bundrock at 170 each placed third.
“James had a great ending to his first year of wrestling” Domagala said. “He started with a senior from Lincoln County and completely dominated the match. In the semis he wrestled an experienced kid that became the eventual state champ. James wrestled him so well. He came back and won his next match 7-0 to get in to a placing spot. There he beat the same kid he had first round. James has improved so much over the course of the season. He is grasping the sport so well. His potential is unlimited.
“Asher has been on an upward swing most season,” said the coach. “He has been consistently placing at tournaments all year and this weekend was one of his best performances. He had a couple of solid wins and then showed his toughness as he scored in the final few seconds of his third-place match to get the win.”
Andy Wall at 145 pounds wrestled two very tough matches and the coach said he was competitive and gained valuable experience that will help him get on the podium in the future.
Dalton Shake at 220 pounds was seconds away from getting in to place as he rolled up his opponent as time expired in the period. "Otherwise, he would have medaled. The growth this young man has shown over the years has been remarkable and we will miss him next year," the coach said.
“This was a great group of kids to work with all season,” Domagala said. “They just kept working to improve and they sure picked the right time to peak. I’m very proud of each and every one of them.”
