A small team nearly took home the top prize in last week’s middle school state wrestling tournament in Lovelock.
Churchill County Middle School’s seventh-grade team finished second and the eighth-graders took fourth as Dan Shaw’s program crowned four champions during the tournament.
“I am happy with our team this year. We came up short with our smaller team but we showed heart, determination and skill,” said Shaw, who was assisted by Bryan Shishido and had help from high school wrestlers Marcel Poracky and Wyatt Hatch. “They put time in each day and pushed themselves to be their best and learn at each match.”
For the seventh-grade, Jeremiah Prinz (90 pounds), Steven Moon (120) and Bailey Thompson (135) each took first with Moon also winning the outstanding wrestler award with all victories coming by pinfall. No match went longer than 35 seconds.
“Steven has great determination and promising potential as a future wrestler,” Shaw said. “Bailey shows up every day with his best and is ready to learn. He worked hard to earn first place and he wrestled smart.”
Thane Hatch (95) and Isiah Diaz (115) took second, Troy Shelton (125) finished third, and Colin Shishido (70) and Caden McKnight (105) were fourth. Diaz avenged an early-season loss to win in the semifinals.
For the eighth grade, Lucas Prinz (100) was the lone champ as he won all matches by pinfall. Isabella Leal (95), Todd Calvert (100), Cesar Tamayo (125), Luke Sorensen (130) and Tyler Austin (135) each took third, and Kailey Poracky (140) finished fourth. Both Calvert and Tamayo were first-year wrestlers and Poracky wrestled similar to older brother Marcel, who won state last month for the high school team.
“I look forward to seeing our eighth graders next year move into high school wrestling and to growing our seventh-grade team for 2019,” Shaw said.
