Working to state

A trio of undefeated performances at last weekend’s Northern Division I-A regional dual meet gives the Fallon wrestling team a solid starting point.

Jordan Schultz (145 pounds), Sam Goings (160) and David Hughes (170) all went 7-0 to earn the top seed in their respective weight classes for Friday and Saturday’s Northern DI-A regional tournament in Spring Creek.

Following their lead was Jack Swisher (136), who took second with a 6-1 record just weeks after recovering from a shoulder injury.

A nice surprise, though, was freshman heavyweight Robbie Schostag, who went 5-2 and put himself in contention with a solid performance.

The official seedings for the regional tournament have not been released by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association, although Fallon coach Louie Mori said he expects them to be announced today.

“It was kind of a surpise for us,” Mori said of Schostag.

Collectively, the Wave went 5-2 at the dual meet losing only to powerhouse Lowry and Spring Creek. The mighty Buckaroos also set a new state record for consecutive league dual wins with 108, moving past Yerington’s record of 107 set from 1971-79. Lowry’s streak began in December 2009.

The Fallon contingent, meanwhile, has just one day remaining to perfect their moves and set their minds to chase down a state berth.

Last weekend’s meet, Mori said, was up and down for many as his younger grapplers struggled to find consistency. As a result, those athletes will face a tough road to the state tournament slated Feb. 13-14 in Winnemucca.

“A whole bunch went 4-3,” Mori said, “so they will have to beat someone (good) to go to state. It puts us in a gray area right now.”

As a result of the roller-coaster ride, Mori said practice this week will focus on individual drilling. With more intense practice sessions, the goal is to get those wrestlers on the cusp over the hump and into state.

“We are going to break into groups,” Mori said. “We will work on things we need to improve and refining what they need to do. This is it for most of them, so if they want to go on they have to win this week.”

Perhaps the biggest obstacle, Mori added, is eligibility. The coach said a number of his grapplers must bring their grades up or they will be left off the regional roster.

The reasoning, he explained, was if a wrestler qualifies for state it wouldn’t benefit the team because that individual would be ineligible to compete at the meet.

“If they’re not passing, I’m not taking them,” Mori said.