There simply isn't a clear-cut favorite to win the Northern 4A Regional team wrestling championship this weekend.
Ask the coaches of any of the top four teams heading in and you'll likely get four different answers.
"Honestly, it's going to come down whoever ends up with the best seeding and whoever has the best day," Douglas coach Lamont McCann said. "The seeding is probably most crucial to us.
"If we get good seeding, we should be in the mix."
This year's Tiger squad is markedly different from last year, when Douglas headed into championship week with a clear-cut favorite in the 189-pound class in senior Shane Miller.
"We don't have a standout in any one class like last year," McCann said. "We do have a good group of kids that have been consistently placing high at each of our tournaments this year.
"When you can place six or seven kids in the top three, you should do fairly well, even if you don't produce a lot of individual champions."
High Desert League champ Fallon will have to contend with the Sierra League's three-headed crown of Damonte Ranch, Douglas and Carson.
"Fallon has been kind of running things in the High Desert League, but the Sierra League is so strong through the top three," McCann said. "Like I said, on any given day, this could go to any of the four teams.
"We beat Damonte Ranch and they were as full-up as you can get in terms of their roster. Damonte turned around and beat Carson, and we lost to Carson in head-to-head to open the year.
"When we heard that Damonte beat Carson, that was a big thing for us, because it gave us a share of the league title."
Douglas has been exceptionally strong in the middleweights this season from 140 pounds to 189.
Cody Spates (130), Ryan Pruitt (152) and Tony Ferris (171) enter the tournament as No. 1 seeds out of the Sierra League while Ryan Olsen (119), Devin Barker (140),
Devin Barker has put together a 22-6 record in the 140-pound and 145-pound classes, Nick Ceglia is 17-8 in the 145 and 140-pound classes, Ryan Pruitt is 33-5 at 152 pounds, Jake Williams went 19-4 at 160 pounds, Tony Ferris went 6-1 with five pins in the 171- and 189-pound classes in Sierra League action and Sean Molina had a 33-6 record overall at 189 pounds.
Ryan Olsen has also been very strong in the 119-pound class with a 5-2 record in Sierra League action and Cody Spates (130), Nico Barker (125), Garrett Hekhuis (112), Jake Williams (160) and Sean Molina (189) will be No. 2 seeds.
Garrett Hekhuis (112), Nico Barker (125) and Nick Ceglia (145) enter as No. 3 seeds and Wes Peterson (103) took a No. 4 seed.
"Our goal is to have about six kids qualify for state," McCann said. "That would be ideal."
Wrestling starts Friday at 4 p.m. at Hug High School in Reno. The championship round is expected to start Saturday evening, also at Hug.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
