WINNEMUCCA - Carson High wrestler Loren Wooldridge knew the second time around with Fallon's Tommy Diaz would be an uphill battle.
Just one week ago, Diaz defeated Wooldridge at the Northern 4A Region Tournament. This time, a more confident Diaz easily scored a 17-4 major decision Saturday afternoon to win the 152-pound weight division at the NIAA State Wrestling Championships, presented by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Wooldridge said he figured Diaz would be pumped up for their state title match at the Winnemucca Events Center.
Diaz controlled the bout from beginning to end in scoring the 13-point win. Just when Wooldridge thought he could slow down Diaz's momentum, the Fallon senior would roll Wooldridge on his back trying for a pin.
"Tommy has the best hips in the state," Wooldridge said, explaining how Diaz uses his quickness to move around his opponent. "When he shoots his hips, he puts me on my back. He's strong,"
Wooldridge said his main goal was not to suffer a pin in the championship round.
The Spartans easily won the team title and captured six first place wins. Cimarron-Memorial amassed 193.50 points to runnel-up Las Vegas' 100.50. Fallon took third with 84 pots followed Galena (48) and Cheyenne (36). Carson, which finished second at the regional tournament last weekend, tied for seventh with Silverado with 34 points.
Travis Lamborn picked up a third place medal at 160-pounds for the Senators.
Leading Las Vegas High's Zack Hocker 4-0 in the second round, Lamborn rolled Hocker on his back and pinned him at 1:54 in the consolation finals.
"Travis caught him," said Carson coach Tom McCarthy. "He got two pins to finish the year."
Lamborn had advanced to the consolation championship with a second round pin over Galena's Nick Williams. Earlier, Lamborn lost in the semifinals 20-4 against Cimarron-Memorial's BobbyMusser, who pinned his other two opponents en route to winning the gold medal.
"Travis got his confidence back and set the Vegas guy up," McCarthy explained.
Lamborn also captured third-place at state last year, but at the 140-pound division.
McCarthy said it was remarkable for Lamborn to climb three wight classes and still be competitive.
Even though Galena won four titles at least week's regional tournament, the Grizzlies had only a pair or runners-up in Joey Milegich (145) and Cole Dowty (171) and a third place finisher in Joe Sanford (135).
Cimarron-Memorial's nationally ranked Chase Pami aggressively pursued Milegich and pinned him at 2:34 in the second round.
By the end of the first round, Pami had built a 9-2 lead. After scoring three more points, Pami rolled Milegich into a cradle move and pinned him.
Dowty also lost to a wrestler from Cimarron-Memorial. Jacob Atwood never trailed Dowty in their bout and eventually claimed a 12-5 decision.
Sanford scored a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Silverado's Mark Sinnott at 135 pounds.
Galena coach Wes Danta said he was proud of his wrestlers and the way the team came in fourth.
"I'm pleased with the fourth place finish. We don't have a lot of kids out, but those that are out are tough," he said.
Douglas got a fourth-place performance from 112-pounder Devin Barker (112).
Senior Brad Johnson (140) went 1-2 - losing 2-1 in the first round and 4-3 in the consolation semifinals.
3A
Steven Gutierrez and and Ryan Gilmore both won titles to lead Yerington to a third place finish during the NIAA 3A state competition, also held at the Winnemucca Events Center.
Gutierrez won the state title at 145 pounds while Gilmore took first at 215 pounds. Yerington had 110 points to finish behind Lowry (166) and Spring Creek (174.5). Gilmore ended his season with a 58-1 record.
In all, the Lions had six wrestlers place at state: Tim Skroch, third, 140; Sean Watson, fourth, 171, Tony Edwards, fourth, 189; and Tommy Gutierrez, second, heavyweight.
Dayton had four wrestlers who placed: Jeremy Stanfield, 171, second; Chris Thompson, 125, fourth; Travis Wade, 103, second; Sam Armstrong, fourth, heavyweight. Fernley had one wrestler who placed as Kevin Martinez took second at 112.
On the 2A level, Silver Stage's Eric Kinney took second at 140 and Ian Wood was fourth at 145. Rite of Passage's Rene Vasquez won the state title at 152.
