MINDEN -- Churchill County outlasted Centennial in a Nevada North-South showdown to capture the 28th annual Carson Valley Lions Club Invitational wrestling tournament championship Saturday at Douglas High School.
The Greenwave from Fallon, No. 1 in the Northern Nevada Top 5 rankings, built an early lead during the 20-team tournament and went on to win the championship by a 202-174 margin over Centennial, one of the top teams in Las Vegas.
Wooster finished third with 122 points, followed by North Fremont (Ashton, Idaho) with 110.5, Reno 106 and the host Douglas Tigers 103. Douglas was the two-time defending tournament champion.
"We didn't have a very good tournament," Douglas coach Mike Gamberg said. "We wrestled great up to the semifinals. We had nine kids in the semifinals, but only two won, and out of all that, we only had three place. You're not going to win very many tournaments like that."
The only Carson Country individual champion was Yerington's Derek Wellock in the 171-pound weight class. Wellock pinned three straight opponents to reach the finals, where he posted a 4-2 victory against previously unbeaten Tyrel Clark of North Fremont.
Not bad considering the senior didn't know what to expect coming into the day.
"I was a little nervous coming in because I have been sick," said Wellock, who improved his season record to 24-4. "I wasn't sure how my endurance would be."
His endurance appeared to be no problem in the semifinals when he pinned Churchill's Jeremy Lewis in a meeting between top-ranked Northern Nevada 171-pounders.
"That's the first time I've ever pinned him," Wellock said. "All of our matches have already been real close."
Douglas had two silver medalists in the tournament: Louie Gabriel in the 140-pound class and Dan Molina at 189 pounds.
Gabriel dropped a 13-2 decision to Centennial's undefeated Brynt Craig (22-0) and Molina lost a 5-2 verdict to Reno's Joe Sturgis.
