Fallon’s Andre Green finished 2-2 at the Sierra Nevada Classic.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
The Greenwave wrestling team crossed the halfway point of the season over the weekend when its two-time state champion led the program with a fifth-place finish at last weekend’s Sierra Nevada Classic in downtown Reno.
Fallon finished 31st out of 96 teams with 70.5 points, placing sixth-best among Northern Nevada teams, including 5A schools McQueen, Spanish Springs and Carson.
The Greenwave travel out of state this weekend when the varsity team competes at the Rollie Lane tournament in Nampa, Idaho, while the junior varsity and girls varsity wrestlers compete at the Sparks tournament. Fallon will step out of tournament competition for a dual at Fernley on Jan. 7 before ending the regular season with tournaments at Douglas and Spring Creek.
“We’ve had a very competitive schedule so far and it doesn’t get any easier these next few weeks,” Fallon coach Trevor deBraga said. “Because of our Night of Fights fundraiser, we are able to travel out of state and wrestle some great competition. If we stay at the local northern Nevada tournaments, we see the same teams each week and we don’t benefit from that.”
The league duals are Jan. 24-25 in Fernley followed by the regional tournament at Wooster on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. State is Feb. 7 and 8 in Fallon.
Junior Carson Melendy finished fifth in the 157-pound division after dropping a 7-1 decision in the championship quarterfinal. Melendy outlasted Burns’ Cannon Kemper, 7-4, in the fifth-place match to finish 6-2 in the two-day tournament.
“Carson has been the only placer the last few weeks but my team is improving and getting deep into these tournaments,” deBraga said. “Win or lose at these big tournaments, it will make each kid better and it will pay off come postseason wrestling.”
Lonnie Adams finished 4-2, including a pair of falls in the consolation rounds before dropping a 4-0 decision in his final match. Wyatt Lambert (165) finished 3-2, including an 8-7 decision win in the consolation’s fourth round before falling in his final bout.
Braylon Byrd (106), Andre Green (132), Colton Blankenship (190) each finished 2-2, while Manuel Barros (113), Manny Karaway (157) and Jason Lewis (215) each finished 1-2. Trey Bradley (120), Neil McIntrye (144) and Matthew Bird (165) were winless in two bouts.
Tommie Fitzer (135) was the team’s only entry in the girls division. She finished 1-2 with her win coming by fall in the second round.
DeBraga’s excited for the second half, which begins this weekend in Idaho and Sparks. The goal for his team is to get stronger and better by the regional tournament at the end of the month.
“I tell the kids each week that all these tournaments we go to are practice. They are practice and preparation for regionals and state,” he said. “I’m very pleased with my JV group who has been very competitive, winning tournaments and/or placing at tournaments. We have four girls this year who are working hard and being competitive at girls tournaments. The girls have their own state tournament and I’m excited to see their progress next month and hope they can make it to state.”