RENO, Nev. -- It has sometimes been said, "To be the man, you've got to beat the man." Two grueling days of wrestling at the Reno Tournament of Champions virtually came down to the 170-pound final between No. 2 Cody Wiercioch (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) and Steve Cervantes (Poway, Calif.), who placed seventh at state and Reno last year.
Cody Wiercioch (Photo/Rob Preston)No. 11 Dalton Macri saw an Ironman victory reversed by No. 12 Isaiah Locsin (Live Oak, Calif.) 2-1 in the 120-pound final. While at 132 pounds, No. 16 Jed Mellen (Payson, Utah) upset No. 5 Connor Schram with a pin at the 3:14 mark.
Third place finishers for Canon-McMillan included Brendan Price (106), No. 9 Alex Campbell (220), and Angelo Broglio (285). In order for Broglio to place third, he had to win eight straight matches -- the first five of which were necessary just to place period after losing in the second championship round. The No. 6 team in the nation truly stepped up as a whole to win the team title, scoring 225.5 points. They also did it without No. 3 Solomon Chishko (145) on the mats, as the four-time Super 32 placer was out due to injury.
Second place in the standings was Poway with 221.5 points. The Titans continued their history of being unheralded heading into the Reno TOC, yet leaving the event having impressed the masses. Their lone champion was senior Tirso Lara (106), who had five pins and a major decision in the tournament; that included a pin in the final over No. 19 Joey Cisneros (Redwood, Calif.). Cervantes was the lone runner-up, Janrad Fikinges (113) finished third, Ralphy Tovar (138) and Victor Lopez (145) took fourth, while Tim Classen (220) in fifth rounded out the Titans placers.
Two other teams tied Canon-McMillan and Poway with sixth placers, which was most among any team in the tournament -- Pomona, Colo. and No. 17 Broken Arrow, Okla. Pomona finished fourth in the standings with 158.5 points, while Broken Arrow was ninth with 142. Pomona was led by Travis Torres, who took second at 113, and Lucas Vagher, who was fourth at 126; two other wrestlers finished fifth and seventh respectively. Broken Arrow went 0-6 in the medal round, with Marcus Simmons (120) and Carlos Taylor (285) taking fourth, a single wrestler in sixth, and three more in eighth.
Third place in the team standings went to No. 50 Maple Mountain, Utah, who had five placers and 173.5 points. This was in spite of their best wrestler, No. 8 Grant LaMont taking seventh at 152 pounds with two totally head-scratching losses. Kimball Bastian (160) led the way with a second place finish, Jon Wixom (195) took third, Kieffer Taylor (170) was fourth, while freshman Taylor LaMont (113) finished in fifth.
The lone teams with multiple champions in this year's tournament -- Green Valley, Nev., and Centennial, Idaho -- took fifth and sixth place respectively. Led by titles from Sean Cannon (113) and Ryder Newman (182), Green Valley finished with 155 points when a sixth and eighth place finish were added into the equation. Centennial had 152 points, anchored by titles from No. 4 Hayden Tuma (138) and Jon-Jay Chavez (145), though with only one additional placer in fifth.
For the tournament, Tuma earned five falls and a 7-4 decision victory; this included a second period fall over state runner-up Paul Fox (Gilroy, Calif.) in the championship match. While Chavez had an impressive 5-1 victory in the final over No. 16 Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy, Calif.), one match after Villarreal upended defending champion No. 19 Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.) by a 3-2 decision.
Additional champions were Michael Knoblauch (Clovis West, Calif.) at 126 pounds, No. 12 Shayne Tucker (Bella Vista, Calif.) at 152, No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif.) at 160, Jeremy Sweany (Vacaville, Calif.) at 195, No. 4 Spencer Empey (Reed, Nev.) at 220, and Zac Dawe (Pleasant Grove, Utah) at 285.
Martinez had an impressive tournament with three falls, a technical fall, and 11-5 decision leading to his 12-3 major decision over Kimball Bastian in the final. Empey had five pins and a 17-0 technical fall on the way to his title, this included a first period pin over Cody Anderson (Lowry, Nev.) in the final; Anderson had five pins prior to the final, including one against No. 9 Alex Campbell (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) in the semifinal round. Dawe had five pins and a 13-7 decision in the semifinals on the way to his title.
Team Standings (Top Ten):
1. No. 6 Canon-McMillan, Pa. 225.5
2. Poway, Calif. 221.5
3. No. 50 Maple Mountain, Utah 173.5
4. Pomona, Colo. 158.5
5. Green Valley, Nev. 155
6. Centennial, Idaho 152
7. Easton, Pa. 151.5
8. No. 43 Vacaville, Calif. 142.5
9. No. 17 Broken Arrow, Okla. 142
10. Box Elder, Utah 139
Others:
12. No. 42 Bakersfield, Calif. 117.5
21. No. 45 Shenendehowa, N.Y. 83
Finals Results:
106: Tirso Lara (Poway, Calif.) pinned No. 19 Joey Cisneros (Redwood, Calif.), 3:24
113: Sean Cannon (Green Valley, Nev.) dec. Travis Torres (Pomona, Colo.), 3-0
120: No. 12 Isaiah Locsin (Live Oak, Calif.) dec. No. 11 Dalton Macri (Canon-McMillan, Pa.), 2-1
126: Michael Knoblauch (Clovis West, Calif.) dec. Matt Findlay (Alta, Utah), 12-8
132: No. 16 Jed Mellen (Payson, Utah) pinned No. 5 Connor Schram (Canon-McMillan, Pa.), 3:14
138: No. 4 Hayden Tuma (Centennial, Idaho) pinned Paul Fox (Gilroy, Calif.), 3:49
145: Jon-Jay Chavez (Centennial, Idaho) dec. No. 16 Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy, Calif.), 5-1
152: No. 12 Shayne Tucker (Bella Vista, Calif.) dec. Reed Van Anrooy (Roseburg, Ore.), 3-2
160: No. 2 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif.) maj. dec. Kimball Bastian (Maple Mountain, Utah), 12-3
170: No. 2 Cody Wiercioch (Canon-McMillan, Pa.) dec. Steve Cervantes (Poway, Calif.), 3-1 SV
182: Ryder Newman (Green Valley, Nev.) dec. Kyle Pope (Bakersfield, Calif.), 18-14
195: Jeremy Sweany (Vacaville, Calif.) dec. John Morin (Hillsboro, Ore.), 6-4
220: No. 4 Spencer Empey (Reed, Nev.) pinned Cole Andersen (Lowry, Nev.), 1:48
285: Zac Dawe (Pleasant Grove, Utah) pinned Brandon Dominguez (Hood River, Ore.), 1:17
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