Grapplers take fourth at Calif. tournament

Although the roster has thinned out, the Fallon wrestling team keeps coming up big.

The Greenwave grappled their way to a fourth-place finish at the Natmoas dual tournament in Sacramento on Saturday.

Fallon squeaked by Antelope (Calif.), 49-42, slipped past Pioneer (Calif.), 34-30, dropped Reed, 40-22, and lost to Liberty (Calif.), 54-28, and Woodland (Calif.), 48-30.

“The kids wrestled fairly sharp, so I was encouraged,” Fallon coach Mitch Overlie said. “A lot of these kids got a lot better. Hopefully, we’ll get back there.”

Fallon wrestled without grapplers at 120, 170, 182 and 220 pounds and Nathan Heck (160), who wrestled up several weight classes, missed the final two matches after suffering an ankle injury. Despite the depleted roster, Overlie was pleased with the effort of his club.

Coming into the tournament, Overlie stressed to his club positioning.

“On our feet, we pushed the pace and I got a lot of compliments on hustle points,” he said. “We weren’t getting out-hustled by other teams, and that shows are conditioning is OK.”

The bottom position, however, is still a work in progress. Overlie said several wrestlers showed signs of improvement from the bottom.

“It’s a slow process, but I think we learned a lot this weekend,” he added. “On top, we are getting pins, but some of those are handed to us. I want to see us pin their top guys. I’m encouraged with our hustle and working the entire six minutes.”

Overlie’s reservations about the tournament, though, were of the unknown. The Wave had not faced any of the California or Division I Nevada schools, but Fallon was able to hold their own.

Trae Workman (152) and Clay Amezquita (126) each blew through the competition as each record 5-0 records. Workman tallied four pins and Amezquita had three.

Sam Goings (145) recorded a 4-1 record with four pins, while Robert White (138) and Ricky Rogers (heavyweight) each went 4-1 with three pins.

Heck, meanwhile, went 3-0 before his injury with one pin, and Anthony Sabatino went 3-2 with two pins.

“The competition at the varsity level was not as quite as serious at some levels,” Overlie said. “However, each team had one, two or three good kids. I have to build a team and we are missing several weight classes. Until that, we consider ourselves a great dual team.”

In addition to facing fresh faces, Overlie said he was able to make several contacts in hopes of luring them to Fallon’s annual Earl Wilkens/Lee Riggins Memorial Tournament next year.