Young Wave wrestling heads to regional tournament

Fielding a team of one senior and a pair of juniors, Fallon wrestling coach Trevor de Braga is hopeful that his underclassmen can rise and find a way to make it to next week’s state tournament.

“We have wrestled better and better each week, and each kid is improving,” de Braga said.

Led by lone senior, Tommy McCormick, a two-time state champ and three-time regional champ, the Greenwave competes in this weekend’s Northern 3A regional tournament at Sparks High School where the top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to next week’s state tournament at Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite. The regional tournament begins at 4 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.

McCormick will be going for his fourth regional title, following his older brother, Sean, who completed the feat last year. The three-sport star has been strong all season, placing at national tournaments and coming a match shy of wrestling for All-American status at the Reno Tournament of Champions in December.

“Tommy has been dominant against Nevada opponents and placed at nationally-ranked tournaments,” de Braga said. “He’s going in as the 1 seed and just needs to take care of business and do what he does best. I’m looking forward to him winning this weekend and going for his third state title the week after in Mesquite.”

Along with McCormick, who’s wrestling at 182 pounds, juniors Wyatt Hatch (138) and Rodrigo Flores (152) will compete this weekend. De Braga said Hatch has been on the cusp the last two years.

“He’s going to be a 3 or 4 seed this weekend and I know he’s chomping at the bit to finally get to the big stage,” de Braga said of Hatch. “He works hard and has great technique and hope this weekend he really shines.”

Sophomores Cody Shelton and Xavier Capton are both wrestling at 145 and Shelton will be the scorer and Capton the non-scorer. De Braga said Shelton has turned it up a notch in the last month and has high hopes that he will place in the top four. Capton is wrestling in his first year.

“I feel like he’s going to catch on fire at regionals. He works hard and it’s paying off. He’s right there with the top seeds in the class and I’m excited to see what he brings,” De Braga said of Shelton. “Xavier has grown a ton from Day 1. His strength is on his feet. He’s very explosive. He’s still very raw as a wrestler but getting a few wins at regionals would be great for him.”

Freshmen Jeramiah Prinz (106), Nevaeh King (120), Isiah Diaz (126), Everdmar Garcia (132), Steven Moon (138) and Josh White (160) round out the lineup for Fallon.

Prinz will wrestle unseeded because he was nursing an injury at the duals last weekend in Elko but de Braga likes his chances at qualifying for state. Moon and Diaz have good odds because of their improvement.

“Each of the freshman has the potential to be top four in their weights,” de Braga said. “The rest of the freshmen will really have to wrestle well and knock off some of the top kids in their weights, which in the sport of wrestling, anything can happen and when you get hot at the right time, great things happen.”