Tiger grapplers sweep quad

Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Nevada's Johnathon Ireland works to secure a pin against Butler's Kaleb Hurshman during Tuesday night's quadrangular wrestling meet at Nevada High School.

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

"Those duals were a little closer than what the score showed." Those words out of the mouth of Nevada Tigers head wrestling coach Devin White couldn't have been more accurate as he reflected upon his squad's performance in Tuesday night's home quadrangular against Butler, Diamond and El Dorado Springs.

Nevada's Chaden Brandt attempts to secure a pin in his 160-pound bout against Ryan Parshall, El Dorado Springs, during Tuesday's quadrangular, inside Wynn Gymnasium.

The Tigers won all three of the duals in which they competed on the night in dominant fashion, if nothing but the team scores is considered. By the time all was said and done, White's squad defeated Diamond by a final score of 60-18 and followed that with a 60-24 victory over Butler and a 72-6 drubbing of El Dorado Springs.

"It's a great win and a great confidence booster, two weeks from districts," White said.

A significant portion of the dominance the Tigers showed in the team scores was explained by the same thing that led to the night ending as quickly as it did -- just 2 1/2 hours for all four teams to finish three duals, on two mats. By the time all was said and done, the Tigers won 18 bouts -- an average of six per dual -- by forfeit, since none of the other three teams came with a full roster.

Nevada's Scott Swink attempts to turn Diamond's Colton Renfro, during Tuesday night's wrestling quadrangular, at Nevada High School.

In many of the bouts that were contested, the Tigers came out on top by pin, simply due to a significant conditioning advantage, White said. In total, five of Nevada's 12 pin victories came in the second period or later.

"We wore them out and that's what it all comes down to," White said. "Several matches were very close."

It wasn't just bouts ending in pins that showed the Tigers' conditioning advantage, however. In four other bouts, the Tigers eked out the victory by decision, simply wearing down the opposition in the end and holding on for the win.

The most impressive of those decision victories came at 195 pounds when Jacob Johnson took on Gage Miller, El Dorado Springs, and found himself in a back-and-forth contest that went right down to the wire. By the time all was said and done, Johnson used his superior conditioning to take a 12-11 victory, much like he did the last time the two met on the mat.

"He actually wrestled that same kid the last time, too," White said of Johnson. "This kid had a little bit different game plan (this time), he came at him a little differently and kept his tempo down a little bit and he almost pulled it off. Nevertheless, Jake did what he had to and that's what it's all about."

The other three decision victories the Tigers picked up on the night came against Diamond, when Dayton Miller and Scott Swink won their bouts by the final scores of 6-4 and 11-7, respectively, and against El Dorado Springs, when Morgan Long took a 6-0 victory over Colby Charles.

The Tigers didn't have to rely on superior conditioning all night, however. The other seven of their 12 pins on the night all came in the first minute and a half of the bout.

Though it wasn't the quickest of those pin victories, what could easily be called the most impressive came against El Dorado Springs, when Chaden Brandt looked as though he was well on his way to a loss to Ryan Parshall. Just when it appeared that Parshall would secure the pin for himself, however, Brandt fought off of his back and got the reversal, which he quickly turned into a pin victory at the 1:25 mark.

That wasn't Brandt's only strong performance of the night, though. By the time all was said and done, he came out of the night as one of two Tigers to not only win three contested bouts, but also win them all by pin.

"He had a great night," White said of the 160-pound sophomore. "He wrestled well."

The other member of the Tigers' squad to accomplish that feat was one who has been a frontrunner for the Tigers throughout most of the year. Johnathon Ireland competed in three contested bouts on the night and not only won them all by pin, but spent a total of just 4 minutes, 54 seconds on the mat.

"John's having a great season," White said of what many believe to be his best wrestler. "He's a very technically sound wrestler and he stays in good position."

Another of the 10 Nevada wrestlers who came out of the night undefeated was one who isn't quite as dominant as Ireland, but with whom White has been very impressed, dating back to last season. Just as he did throughout the season last year, Scott Swink hasn't seen as much action as he and his coach might like, but has made substantial improvements, each opportunity he does get on the mat.

On top of his decision victory against Diamond, Swink finished the night with a win by forfeit and a dominant performance against Butler's Dale Besendorfer that ended in a second-period pin.

"He's a strong kid," White said of his 182-pound sophomore. "He wrestled well.

"We've got some things to tweak on a little bit, but he's getting better. I'm very excited about his district tournament and to see what he's going to do there."

Among the other Tigers who came out of the night undefeated were Peyton Walker, Miller, Colten Shrewsbury, Daxtyn Hiestand, Anthony Franco, Johnson and Trey Pritchett. Pritchett, Walker and Shrewsbury got all three of their victories the easy way, winning every bout by forfeit.

Franco's three wins came via two forfeits and a pin of El Dorado Springs' James Dubois, while Miller added a pair of forfeits to his decision victory. Hiestand finished the night with two pins and a forfeit victory, while Johnson had two forfeits to go with his decision win.

Though White and his squad did come out of the night with a significant measure of confidence, the coach wasn't quite satisfied just yet.

"We're going to continue to work," he said. "We're going to continue to get better and address some stuff."

The Tigers won't have to wait long for their next opportunity to get better as they are scheduled to get right back into action on Friday and Saturday, when they head back out on the road to compete in the Seneca Invitational tournament.

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