Biting incident puts Garcia in the finals

LAS VEGAS - A bizarre ending on Friday lifted Carson's Nico Garcia into the 4A state wrestling championship match.

In the second period of Garcia's match against Palo Verde's Marcus Judd, Garcia suddenly yelled out, "He bit me."

The officials stopped the 182-pound match with about a minute remaining in the second period, examined Garcia's finger and disqualified Judd. Palo Verde coaches and fans angrily defended Judd, saying Garcia inserted his finger into Judd's mouth.

"Oh yeah, he definitely bit him," Carson coach Tim McCarthy said. "It's pretty cut and dry. It's actually an easy call. It's kind of a weird way to end a semifinal match."

Match official Bob Milligan said he and the other official studied Garcia's finger and ruled a bite had occurred because impressions were left on the top and bottom of the finger.

"That's what you have to go by," he said. "This is the first one I've seen this year. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is."

Despite the incident, Garcia advances to his second consecutive state title match. He lost in the finals last year at 160 pounds. McCarthy said Garcia is ready to face Arbor View's Brandon Cunningham. Cunningham finished seventh at the Sierra Nevada Classic earlier this year. Garcia finished fifth at the prestigious tournament in December.

"(Nico) doesn't have to do anything out of the ordinary," McCarthy said. "He needs to wrestle his match and he's a state champ."

During Friday's semifinal, Palo Verde fans were screaming at the officials telling them to look at video of the bout. The Palo Verde coaches were furiously defending Judd. They accused Garcia of embellishing the incident and yelling at the Carson coaches.

At the time if the incident, Garcia was leading 2-0.

Donnie Nelson, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association assistant director, said Judd will forfeit his consolation bout, eliminating him from the tournament.

Many Palo Verde fans were screaming at the referees, and NIAA officials escorted at least one individual out of the arena.

McCarthy said "He had the lead and was in good shape," he added.

Garcia blew past Green Valley's James Byrne, 15-0, in the opening round.

"Nico's got a great shot to be a state champ," McCarthy said.

As for the rest of the Senators, it was a rough go round in the semifinals. Carson won five quarterfinal matches but lost four of the five bouts in the semis.

Kyle Sharp (106), Sammy Mercado (113), Cole McCarthy (126) and Patrick Cooke (220) couldn't advance to the finals.

Sharp battled through a tough match in the opener but was able secure a win over Eldorado's Trevor Perez by pin. Sharp, however, fell in the semis, 6-0, in a hard-nosed battle with Shadow Ridge's Jonah McKee.

McKee controlled the match and limited Sharp's attacks while controlling the bout from the top position.

Mercado held on for an 8-6 win over Green Valley's Alex Watson in the quarterfinals but like Sharp, fell in the semis. The semifinal match was dominated by Bishop Gorman's Jonah McKee, who won 12-5.

McCarthy pinned Las Vegas' Antonio Jaregui before being pinned by Cimarron-Memorial's Chris Colwell in the second period.

Cooke slipped past Spring Valley's Devin Dishari, 5-4, but was pinned by Wooster's Omar Torres in the first period.

At 152 pounds, Jordan Luhrs lost to Green Valley's Donovan Peek, 7-1. Brayan Burgos (285) lost twice by pin to Jordan Karst of Centennial and Michael Cisneros of Desert Pines. Brady Rivera (170) lost a 5-4 decision and 4-2 decision to be eliminated.

Carson sits seventh in the team standings with 39.50. Green Valley is running away with the state title with 105.50 points. Cimarron-Memorial is second at 80 points.

Sharp, Mercado, McCarthy, Luhrs and Cooke all still can finish third in today's matches.

"They all have a really good shot," McCarthy said of the chances of the wrestlers placing third. The coach said since he has coached at Carson it was the most wrestlers the Senators have had in the state semifinals. McCarthy has been coaching the Senators since 2004. He had a previous stint at the helm before stepping down in 2001.

"I am definitely happy to have five wrestlers make the state semifinals."

• Nevada Appeal News Editor Adam Trumble contributed to this report.