Fallon's David Hughes, with sign, stands atop the podium after winning the 170-pound class at the Carson Valley Lions Invitational on Saturday in Minden.
Gold, silver and bronze isn’t a bad showing for the Fallon wrestling team.
Senior David Hughes captured first place, Sam Goings was second and the Greenwave placed third at the Carson Valley Lions Invitational in Minden on Saturday.
Lowry won the team title with 216.5 points followed by McQueen (167) and Fallon (112).
Hughes (170 pounds), a 2014 state champion and state runner-up in 2012 and ’13, (18-3 this season), pinned three straight opponents in the 170-pound bracket. He only needed one takedown and 57 seconds to pin South Tahoe junior Andrew Herrera, who placed fourth at state in 2014 (18-4 this season), in the title bout.
Hughes had defaulted out of the Sierra Nevada Classic at the end of December as a precaution after experiencing tightening in the knee he injured last season.
He also missed the Rollie Lane Invitational in Idaho on Jan. 9-10 due to the injury. However, Hughes came back strong to add another title to his resume.
“He’s been wrestling really well,” Fallon coach Louie Mori said. “He had 10 matches to get fourth at the (Reno) TOC (at 182 pounds), but then it sort of tightened up (at the Sierra Nevada Classic). He’s been stretching it out real good and he’s doing all right now.”
Goings, meanwhile, fell in the final to a familiar opponent, Yerington’s Reese Neville.
Neville, a two-time Division III state champion (22-4 season record, 140-16 career), won the 160-pound weight class with a 6-4 decision over Goings (29-7), a state champion in 2014 and state runner-up in 2013. Neville has won each of the three meetings this season.
Goings went up 1-0 with an escape early in the second period, but Neville answered with a takedown for a 2-1 lead, only to see Goings to tie the score at 2 with another escape.
Neville took the lead for good with a takedown inside the final 10 seconds of the period and extended the margin to 5-2 with an escape early in the third. Goings scored a takedown midway through the final period to pull within 5-4, but with time running out, he gave up one point and allowed Neville to escape in order to shoot for one more takedown.
The Greenwave junior nearly got it when he shot for a leg in the final 15 seconds, however, he was unable to gain control as Neville held off the attempt on the edge of the circle.
“This was by far the best match they’ve had yet,” Mori said. “As good as they are, it seems like they run into each other every time we go to the same tournament. It’s always competitive, but since we’re in different divisions (I-A and III), it’s good (rivalry). Those are just fun matches to watch.”
Mori said the smaller one-day tournament came at a good time on the schedule.
“This was perfect for us. We’d been to TOC, Sierra Nevada Classic and Rollie Lane the last three weeks … for David and Sam, you’re talking about 20 matches against high level competition.”
Also for Fallon Terry White placed fourth at 106 pounds. White was 3-2 for the day including an 18-8 major decision over No. 2 seeded Kindel Isham of Douglas in the quarterfinals.
Dylan McAfee placed third at 120 pounds and pinned Ryan Adams of Douglas in the consolation finals. McAfee was 5-1.
Jordan Schultz placed third at 145 pounds and pinned Tim Trainor of North Valleys in the consolation finals. Schultz was 4-1 on the day and his record for the season is now 17-9.
Heavyweight Garrett Snooks went 3-2 and reached the consolation bracket semifinals where he was pinned by Chris Karchella of Lowry.
Fallon returns to action Friday and Saturday in Spring Creek at the Kiwanis Invitational.
Steve Puterski contributed to this report.