On Senior Night, it was only fitting that a four-year veteran closed out the Carson High wrestling team's 42-18 victory against Douglas to clinch the Sierra League dual meet championship on Wednesday night.
Meet Kevin Riggin.
The Senators already had their team victory locked up, but Riggin supplied an exclamation point with a strong performance to defeat Cameron Ames 7-1 in the final match of the evening before a crowd of more than 800 at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
"This was a very nice win," said Riggin, who wrestled with a face mask because of an eye injury he sustained two weeks ago at the Clayton Valley Invitational in the Bay Area. "They were saying how close it was going to be, but we wanted to defend our titles and we wanted to prove to everybody that we are the best.
"This was a confidence-builder and everything for zone," he added, referring to the Northern 4A Tournament on Feb. 4-5 at Galena High.
Carson finished the league dual meet season with a 6-0 record to defend its championship, while Douglas finished 5-1.
"In my four years, it always came down to us being undefeated, so this was big," said senior heavyweight Jason Klug. "We wanted to finish off the season good and build some momentum for zone."
Klug defeated Douglas junior Matt Castro 12-0 during a stretch when Carson won six of seven matches.
Sophomore Nick Ceglia gave Douglas a 6-0 lead when he pinned Aaron Jolcover in 1:17 in the 135-pound match to start the evening.
In a featured 140-pound match, Carson's Ahron Osheroff posted a 7-4 victory against sophomore Ryan Pruitt. An early takedown put Pruitt (16-3 this season) on top 2-0. But Osheroff scored a reversal at the end of first period to pull even, then got a reversal to start the second to take a 4-2 lead. Pruitt's reversal at the end of the second period tied the score 4-4. Osheroff (28-7) took the lead for good when he shook loose for an escape with 1:49 remaining, followed by a takedown 30 seconds later to make it 7-4.
The 145-pound match was more of the same, as Douglas senior Johnson used a late comeback to edge Micah Whitcome 3-2 in double overtime. Johnson scored one point on an escape with three seconds left in regulation and then rode out Whitcome in the 30-second sudden death overtime period to win.
For Johnson, this marked the first action in more than two weeks because he accompanied the Douglas Marching Band to Washington D.C. for the Inauguration Parade. A three-time state tournament qualifier, Johnson was ready for this bout.
"I'm always excited to wrestle Micah," Johnson said. "This is the third time we've faced each other and every one has come right down to the wire. Both of our matches last year were decided by one point."
In this case, a little desperation at the end paid off for a student/athlete who has received a nomination to the Air Force Academy.
"I looked up at the clock and only saw a couple of seconds were left, I told myself, 'I've got to do something,' so I just went for it," Johnson said.
Next, Carson's Loren Wooldridge defeated sophomore Jake Williams 9-2, then Travis Lamborn picked up a forfeit win to give the Senators a 12-9 lead.
Jonas Schenzel extended the lead to 18-9 when he pinned Kevin Rogers with eight seconds left in the first period. The pin gave Schenzel a team-high 14th of the season.
Douglas got back to within 18-15 on Sean Molina's second period pin of Matt Howell. Carson 215-pounder David Cadwallader pinned Lake Terrell in the second period, then Klug won and freshman Todd Banko defeated Ryan Olsen 12-2 at 103 pounds to give Carson back-to-back major decisions and a 32-15 advantage.
In the 112-pound match, Douglas sophomore Devon Barker got an early takedown on his way to a 4-3 win over Owen Craugh.
The Senators clinched their team victory at 119 pounds when Robbie Bozin edged Brian Kaplan 4-2. Kaplan cut the deficit to 3-2 on a reversal with less than a minute to go, but Bozin was able to avoid a near fall on the move and picked up an escape to extend the final margin to two points.
At 125 pounds, Carson sophomore Kyle Banko outscored freshman Tony Ferris 17-9 in a battle between young stars.
Then, in the evening finale, Riggin started with a takedown and near fall in the opening minute for a 5-0 lead. He added another takedown to build his lead to 7-1 at the end of one period.
"Kevin has come a long way the last four years," Carson coach Tim McCarthy said. "He had it kind of rough when he was a freshman, but he's been solid all year. He's been flying under the radar, but he's going to a legitimate threat in that weight class (at the Northern 4A Tournament)."
The Douglas Tigers, who only had one senior on the mat Wednesday night, also plan to be back.
"We're young, but these kids work their butts off every single day, and I'm proud to say I'm part of this team," Johnson said. "We didn't win tonight, but we always look forward to the next time. We learn every time we go on the mat, and the more we learn, the better we're going to be."
Notes: The preliminary action included 10 exhibition matches between the Carson Bulldogs and Douglas Wildcats youth programs. The results include: 105 pounds - Cody Spates (D) p. Ricky McDonald 1:16; 75 - Eddie Kollar (D) p. Pat Craugh 1:04; 75 - Matthew Barrett (C) p. Seth Trivitt 1:55; 70 - Jordan Luhrs (C) d. Sullivan Cauley 4-0; 65 - Willy McDonald (C) p. Dillon Spates 2:33; 65 - Robert Grant (D) d. Cole McCarthy 10-7; 60 - Nolan Shine (C) p. Sara Meierdierck :56; 55 - Jacob Werth (D) p. Brady O'Keefe 4:17; 45 - Bryce Moyle (C) d. Bryce Capra 10-8; 105 - Ricky McDonald (C) d. Mike Sepulveda 6-0. Fallon emerged as a 53-17 victor at home against Elko in a showdown for the High Desert League dual meet championship on Wednesday night.
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1220.
