PREPS: Garcia, McCarthy medal at state wrestling

SPARKS - Carson High's Nico Garcia and Cole McCarthy capped impressive seasons by earning medals at the NIAA 4A State Wrestling Championships Saturday at Spanish Springs.

Garcia, a junior, finished second in the 160-pound weight class, while McCarthy, a sophomore 125-pounder, finished fourth.

The highest finish in the area was turned in by Douglas High's Dillon Spates, who won the 130-pound title. Spates came in as the Northern 4A champ.

The Senators also were successful off the mat over the weekend, winning the state 4A academic title with a 3.27 GPA.

Garcia was knocked off by fellow junior Steven Elicegui from Wooster, the defending state champ.

The two met in last week's regional finals. Elicegui got an early takedown against Garcia and never trailed en route to an 11-3 win.

"He wrestled OK," coach Tim McCarthy said. "To beat Elicegui, you have to do better than OK.

"Nico had some shots early in the match, but wasn't able to finish. He had a chance on a couple of takedowns."

Cole McCarthy was 1-1 after two matches on Friday. He came out Saturday and pinned Galena's Nick Oliver in 1 minute 37 seconds, and followed that up with a pin of Cimmaron Memorial's Chris Colwell 43 seconds into the match.

Those two wins earned him a spot in the consolation finals where he ran up against Ruben Rodriguez of Arbor View for the second time in the tournament. Rodriguez pinned McCarthy five seconds before the second round ended.

"He did a good job, nursing a sore back and all," said the elder McCarthy of his son. "He was able to grit it out and ended up with a medal. To medal as a sophomore is a nice accomplishment."

Spates reached the finals by pinning Green Valley's Richard Razo in 54 seconds in his first match and followed that up with a third-round pin of Palo Verde's Rob Buckhannon. That set up a rematch from last week's regional final against McQueen's Jeff Lobos.

Spates knocked off Lobos for the second time in seven days, winning 8-3.

The news wasn't so good for Carson's two other entrants - senior Patrick Craugh (112) and freshman Kyle Sharp (103).

Craugh lost his opener 13-4 on Friday, but bounced back on Saturday with a pin of McQueen's Nephi Otuafi in the second round. Craugh was eliminated in the next round, losing 7-0 to Palo Verde's Jordon Hart.

"There were two good Southern kids in that weight, and Patrick ran into both of them," McCarthy said. "I'm disappointed for Patrick. He made a big turnaround this season, and you can't take that away from him."

Sharp, who lost his opener 7-1 on Friday, was pinned in the first round by Mason Tacket of Valley on Saturday.

"For a freshman to get to state is big," McCarthy said. "He had a great season."

Despite losing Craugh, the future looks good for Carson. McCarthy has a lot of returnees and will have a great opportunity for a fourth consecutive Sierra League championship. If he can develop some talent at the heavier weights, the Senators could be a threat to win a regional championship.