Tiger grapplers make quick work of Butler at home

Nevada senior Scotty Bough works to turn Butler's Brandon Mason during Tuesday night's dual. --Eric Wade/Daily Mail

The Nevada Tigers wrestling team came into Tuesday night hoping to use Parents' Night to wash the taste of what head coach Devin White called a "rough night" at Carthage on Thursday, Jan. 14. The Tigers ultimately came through in a big way, earning a dominant, 43-12 victory over the Butler Bears inside Wynn Gymnasium.

"Carthage was pretty rough," White said. "They went out there and just kind of didn't really show up at Carthage and the score reflected it. So I think they were pretty upset about their performance."

That attitude coming off the struggles at Carthage showed right from the outset of Tuesday night's dual as the Tigers came out firing immediately after the conclusion of Parents' Night. Both teams came into the night battling roster shortages, leading to several wrestlers having to deviate from their normal weight classes just to see some action and making for the earliest night the Tigers have seen this year.

"That's the way I like them. It was a good night," White said. "We bumped some kids around because they wanted some matches and we wanted some matches and so they bumped some kids around, we bumped some kids around and it came out in our favor."

Those roster moves created some very different matchups from what the Tigers might have anticipated heading into the night, but they were still able to pick up wins in all five of the matches that were wrestled, with only two of those five going to a decision.

Of those two matches, the toughest of the night went to sophomore Zach Shepherd as he moved down to 135 pounds to take on Butler's Austin Fix. Neither wrestler was ever really able to gain a decided advantage in the closest battle of the night, but Shepherd ultimately held on to come out on top of a 6-5 decision.

The only other match of the night that went the distance was a much different story, however as senior Scotty Bough took on junior Brandon Mason. Despite Bough having jumped up from 145 to 152, Mason didn't seem to have an answer for anything Bough brought into the bout and ultimately found himself on the short end of an 11-2 decision.

Freshman Slade Stiles made what was arguably the toughest jump of the night as he moved up from 103 to 112 to face stiff competition in junior Dustin Laughlin. Laughlin brought a significant size and experience advantage into the bout, but Stiles seemed unfazed as he worked his way to a pin near the midpoint of the second period.

"Slade, he's wrestling exceptionally well right now," White said of the freshman. "He bumped up to 112 tonight and wrestled very well, very strong at 112."

Senior Todd Brier was the last of Nevada's wrestlers to move up in weight as his opponent, Cody Pitts, failed to make weight at 160. The two faced one another anyway, however, and Brier earned a quick pin following a timeout for a bloody nose near the midpoint of the opening period.

"Todd had a strong kid, he was extremely strong," White said. "He went out and stuck to his guns and did what he always does and came up big for us."

In the only other match that was wrestled on the night, Stephen Parker was finally able to see his first action of the year on the home mats as he took on Daniel Shubert at 125 pounds in the quickest match of the night. It became quickly obvious to everyone in attendance that Shubert was very overmatched and Parker wasted little time taking advantage as he worked his way to a pin in just 39 seconds.

With that win, the Tigers are now set to get right back into action with barely a break to catch their breath as they are scheduled to head back out on the road for a triangular against Neosho and McDonald County at Neosho tomorrow.

"It's kind of rare saying that this year, but we're going to enjoy the win and get ready for Thursday," White said.