Wave wrestlers place 3rd in Vegas

Coach Trevor de Braga’s prediction that his wrestlers would be coming home from Vegas with a handful of medals came true.

The Greenwave varsity wrestling team placed third at the Arbor View Tournament in Las Vegas, a two-day Division 1 invitational.

The Friday bracket hosted 10 teams, with Virgin Valley being the only other Division 1-A team competing besides Churchill County. Arbor View High School took the first place, while the Tucson team took second. The Wave lost one match during the weekend to Virgin Valley. De Braga said he was pleased with how his team handled the competition.

The Saturday bracket was an individual tournament whereas wrestlers were seeded based on their records from the previous day. Though the Wave wasn’t seeded as the No. 1 team, Fallon brought home five medals and a plaque for third place.

In the individual bracket, the Greenwave’s Matt Goings took fourth place on Saturday, Jack Swisher (145) took second place, and Sam Goings (170), Trae Workman (152) and Terry White (106) each took first.

“We could probably double our score with those other four guys in our lineup,” de Braga said referring to four of his players who were unable to compete due to injuries and ineligibility issues due to grades. “Those are four kids very capable of going to state and winning. I think we would be coming home with a few more gold medals if we had them with us.”

This put the Wave at a disadvantage. Each absentee in this tournament’s guidelines was equal to six points lost to each team that the Wave competed against. Several other teams came without wrestlers in certain weight classes as well, leading to some cross-out matches.

“Third place going into that preseason tournament against all those Vegas teams, we kind of proved ourselves there showing that we got what it takes,” de Braga said.

The five Fallon wrestlers who medaled after the competition, will be competing in the Wave’s lineup in this weekend’s Tournament of Champions (TOC) in Reno, along with several others from Fallon. De Braga said he is excited for the TOC, as he should be particularly because the top four teams to place in the upcoming tournament will earn All-American status recognition.

“We have half our guys who can definitely be All-Americans,” de Braga said. “Trae, Jack, Sam, the guys that I was looking for as some of the leaders this year have stepped up and have been there. We have some young guys that have been following. Matt Goings wrestled great. Terry White’s working his butt off, he looks awesome. He’s one of the heavier guys now in the 106, and he’s got the experience now so it’s going to help him a lot.”

White lost one match during the weekend at 106 pounds against Virgin Valley, 6-0, but was able to come back from it on Saturday and place after bumping up to the 113 against Virgin Valley and won.

“It’s going to be awesome,” de Braga said. “I’m looking for our guys to place. They place up to top eight even though the top four get All-American, but you’re still going to get national recognition if you place in the top eight in that tournament because most consider TOC the toughest tournament in the USA at the high school level. Teams understand that if you place there, it’s absolutely going to be something to look forward to in terms of your professional reputation.

“If you want to be a state champion and everything and you place at this national tournament, you’re going to have some opportunities to have some eyes in you, so it’s going to be great.”