Wrestling: Douglas takes 44th at SNC, prepares for home tourney

Going up against some of the top wrestling programs in the Western United States this week, Douglas High finished among the top half of the field at the Asics Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno.

Douglas took 44th out of 97 teams at the prestigious event with 62.5 team points, coming in 10th out of the teams entered from Northern Nevada.. Buchanan High School out of California won the tournament with a team score of 185.

Spanish Springs was the top Nevada team, taking fifth with 128.5 points.

The Tigers' top performer for the tournament was Michael Sepulveda, who took sixth in the 130-pound bracket. He went 5-3 over two days, recording one pin, earning two technical falls and coming up with a major decision.

Sepulveda opened the touranment with an 18-3 technical fall over an opponent from North Medford, Ore. He strung together three consecutive wins, beating Skyler Prislac of Crater, Ore., 10-7, Brennan Ridling of Sprague, Ore., 14-4 and Jon Anderson of Illinois Valley, Ore., 16-1.

He followed those wins with a pin of Rocky Mountain, Idaho's George Crawford in 4:34. He lost in the semifinals 10-4 to Steven Widmer of Central Catholic, Calif., and then suffered a pair of defeats in the consolation bracket.

Wes Peterson went 5-2 in the 119-pound bracket, recording a pair of pins and a technical fall. His highlight came in the consolation bracket as he defeated Damonte Ranch standout Garrett Manoukian 7-6.

Peterson wrestled his way into the championship bracket with a 15-0 technical fall over an opponent from Palo Alto, Calif., and then advanced with an 11-10 decision over Jose Macias of Edison, Calif.

He was pinned in the following round but came back to post a pair of pins of his own in the consolation bracket.

Cody Spates went 3-2 in the 140-pound bracket, pinning Eddie Meza of Sheldon, Calif., and Loran Pace of Reno before losing 2-1 to Winters' Chris Calderon to exit the championship bracket.

He came back to score a 14-5 major decision over an opponent from California's Del Oro High School before exiting the tournament on a 5-2 loss.

Dillon Spates carried a No. 5 seed into the 125-pound bracket and scored a pair of victories over Redmond, Oregon's Levi Brinkley (3-2) and Rodriguez, California's Jesse Manriquez (6-1). He lost 7-2 to Christian Gascon of Castro Valley, Calif., and was pinned in the consolation bracket to take his tournament exit.

Heavyweight Patrick Miller also went 2-2 in the tournament, pinning Hug's Josh Confair and an opponent from Clayton Valley, Calif.

Zach Falanga had a pin to open the 215-pound bracket but lost to Jake Hill of Davis, Calif., in the second round and lost 6-2 in the consolation bracket.

Ryan Paiz (189 pounds) and Sean Merritt (135) also wrestled for the Tigers in the tournament, but did not advance.

After Spanish Springs, Lowry was 10th, Reno was 13th, Spring Creek was 19th, Manogue 25th, Carson 36th, Fernley 37th and Fallon 39th. After Douglas, Reed was 62nd, Yerington was 63rd, Battle Mountain 67th, North Valleys 80th, Wooster 82nd, Hug 88th, Incline 90th, Galena 92nd and McQueen 93rd.

Douglas will host the annual Carson Valley Lions' Club Invitational Saturday with wrestling scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

Approximately 20 teams are expected to compete, with some of the top Northern Nevada programs in attendance, as well as some competitive California teams like Alhambra.

The championship round should begin around 4 or 5 p.m. at the Douglas High School gymnasium.