Fallon's Sam Goings avenges two earlier losses by defeating Ukiah's (Calif.) Joey Gradek by injury default after leading 7-1 late in the second period of the fifth-place match of the Sierra Nevada Classic on Tuesday at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center.
Injuries are taking a toll on the Fallon wrestling team.
Two standout grapplers fell victim Monday and Tuesday at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno.
Defending state champion David Hughes (172 pounds) suffered a knee injury, while Jack Swisher (138) hurt his shoulder. Both withdrew from the tournament after promising starts and will miss today and Saturday’s tournament in Idaho.
Regarding Swisher’s injury, Fallon coach Louie Mori said he was sick at the Reno Tournament of Champions but was hopeful the the shoulder injury will keep him out for a short time. He was unsure of the severity for both Hughes and Swisher.
Of Hughes, Mori said: “He was finally getting into great wrestling shape.”
Despite the injuries, Sam Goings continued his impressive season with a fifth-place finish at 160. He won his first round match by pin and followed up with major decision victory.
Goings added another win but was pinned in second period in semifinals by Lorenzo De La Riva of Folsom (Calif.), and lost in consolation semifinals by pin but took fifth after an injury to his opponent.
Regarding Goings’ run, he lost to the runner-up of the tournament in his fourth match of the tournament and then fell victim to a bad officiating break. Mori said his shoulders weren’t completely on the mat during the near fall before being ruled pinned.
Mori, though, was pleased how Goings responded with the fifth-place win.
“It’s always better to end the tournament with a win than a loss,” Mori added. “Coming back with a win here puts him back where he should have been.”
Hughes, meanwhile, won his first three bouts by pin, while Swisher nabbed a pair of wins in the first two rounds before being injured.
Nevertheless, Fallon had a strong showing and place 36th with 58 points. Del Oro (Calif.) won the event with 228.
“We wrestled real well,” Mori said. “We had six in the final round on Monday. Sam taking fifth place is awesome. (The SNC) is the last real big tournament.”
Jordan Schultz was solid at 145 with a 3-2 record. He won his first match by pin, lost by pin and followed with a pair of pins in the consolation bracket.
Schultz had four of Fallon’s 10 pins in the tournament, although he lost a tough bout in the consolation round 9-6 to be eliminated.
Louie Mori Jr. added two more wins for the Greenwave at 152. He won his first two matches by pin and 8-7, but was pinned in both consolation bouts.
Wyatt Hampton tallied one victory by pin, but lost 6-0 and 3-1 in his final two bouts. Mason Smith (106) and Anthony Ramirez (120) each went 0-2.
LVN Assistant Sports Editor Thomas Ranson contributed to this report.
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