Carson High’s JT Heaton looks for back points, during the 190-pound Class 5A North regional championship match Saturday at Spanish Springs. Heaton, a senior, won his first regional title and will make his fourth state tournament appearance this coming weekend in Fallon.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
JT Heaton qualified for his fourth state wrestling tournament in four years Saturday afternoon in emphatic fashion.
After runner-up finishes at regionals as a sophomore and a junior, the Senator senior finished his career with a top spot on the podium.
“The last two years I've been regional runner-up definitely dig at me,” said Heaton. “I've always kind of been the little guy wrestling varsity ever since my freshman year. … I'm like the big guy on the mat now. I'm a senior. So I knew it was kind of my time to shine.”
No one went the full six minutes with Carson’s 190-pounder as Heaton won the Class 5A North regional crown with four pins in as many matches.
Heaton, who started the season at 175 pounds, missed a month of action with an abdominal tear.
A regional title will certainly help quell any distaste for the lost time.
“Getting hurt was kind of a blessing in disguise. I had to bump up that weight class,” said Heaton. “I'm just happy that I have the advantage of state for that seeding.”
Three other Senator wrestlers made it into regional title matches at their respective weights between Jesse Oliva (113), Damian Porter (165) and Dominic Porter (285).
After winning his first two matches by tech fall, Oliva tangled with McQueen’s Taitan Green in title round.
Oliva took an early 3-0 lead with a takedown, but trailed 4-3 at the end of the first period.
With a minute to go in the third, the two were tied 6-6, following an Oliva single leg takedown.
However, a reversal with 33 seconds to go were the final points as Green edged out Oliva by an 8-6 decision for the championship.
“That kid was beating him up in our dual and pinned him,” said Redwine of Oliva’s previous match against Green. “To have that big of a turnaround, from getting almost teched and pinned, to almost beating him in the regional final. That was impressive.”
Junior Damian Porter fell in 3:09 to McQueen’s Anthony Uccelli after winning his first two matches of the day.
En route to the finals, Porter won by a 16-1 tech fall in the quarters and a 12-11 decision in the semifinal. He grabbed an 11-4 lead with a trio of takedowns in the first half of his semifinal match.
The elder Porter has only one thing in mind after falling to Spanish Springs’ Cormac Anderson in the regional heavyweight title match for the second season in a row and that’s beating the fellow senior at state.
Anderson pinned Dominic Porter in 3:37, but it was a wild match that featured dramatic swings as both Porter and Anderson survived near fall moments.
“That’s the closest I've gotten (to beating him) in my four years wrestling him,” said Porter. “Each time we wrestle I get closer. I think state's going to be the big one.”
(Senator senior heavyweight Dominic Porter nearly pins Cormack Anderson of Spanish Springs, during the championship match at Saturday’s Class 5A North regional wrestling meet. Porter qualified for his third state tournament appearance with a second place finish at regionals. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)
SENATOR QUALIFIERS
Carson had seven more wrestlers qualify for the state tournament Saturday.
On top of sending 11 total wrestlers to state, the Senators finished third as a team with 189 team points – behind McQueen (275.5) and Spanish Springs (313.5).
“We scored almost 200 team points so I mean it's as good a regional as we've had,” said Redwine. “I think we could have done better, but I'm happy with our performance overall.”
Keona Basa is headed back to state for the second year in a row, finishing in third place at 126 pounds. Basa was third last winter at 120 pounds.
Basa won his opening match by fall, but lost in the semifinal by technical fall.
He bounced back with a 9-2 decision win in the consolation semifinal before putting it on his opponent in the third place match, winning by 19-4 tech fall.
Jett Rupert was also a third place finisher for the Senators, making it to the semifinals at 138 before losing to two-time regional champ Evan Krantz of McQueen.
Rupert, a senior, didn’t drop another match on the day, winning by fall in 2:23 and by 10-9 decision in the third place match to go 4-1 in the regional tournament.
It’ll be Rupert’s third appearance at the state tournament.
Konnor Crisp punched his ticket to the state tournament with a third place finish at 175 pounds.
Crisp won his opener by pin in 1:58 before losing by tech fall (20-3) in the semifinal.
The senior had two second period pins in his final two matches.
The senior was third last season at 165 pounds, too.
Iziah Oliva was fourth at 215 pounds, going 3-2 in his five matches with a win by decision and two more by pin.
Matthew Manley (132), Ean Thomas (157) and Ethan Linehan (190) all took fifth in their respective weight classes.
Manley won his fifth place match by fall after starting out the tournament 1-2.
Thomas was in the same boat, pinning Reno’s David Fong in the fifth place match in 1:50.
Linehan went 3-0 in matches that weren’t against Galena’s John Riley.
Linehan fell to Riley in the opening round and the consolation semifinal while winning all three of his other contests by pin.
UP NEXT: The Class 5A state tournament will be held in Fallon Feb. 7-8 at the Rafter 3C Arena.
(Ethan Linehan of Carson High School wrestling tries to turn his opponent at the Class 5A North regional wrestling meet this past Saturday. Linehan finished in fifth place in the 190-pound bracket, qualifying for state. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)