Wrestlers qualify 17 for state

The Mountain Home Tiger wrestlers finished second behind Skyview at the District III 4A Wrestling Tournament at Caldwell last weekend.

There will be 17 Tiger wrestlers competing at this week's 4A State Wrestling Championships at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

Skyview won the District Championship, garnering 352.5 points. The Tigers came in second, with 279.5. Kuna was third, with 252, followed by Caldwell, 193, Nampa, 181, Bishop Kelly, 121, Vallivue, 112, and Emmett, 69.5.

The Tigers did not have any district champions, but had one second-place finish, eight third-place finishers, five fourths and four fifth-place efforts.

The top five wrestlers in each weight class advance to state.

Taking second at district was Nico Pinque at 130 points.

Third-place efforts went to Kaeo Doronio (112 pounds), Daniel Doronio (119), Kamron Spaulding (130), A.J. Hutchison (135), James Greenfield (145), Kori Andrews (160) and Chris Knudson (171).

Fourth-place finishers were T.J. Billinger (103), Zacq Hale (152), Tyson Sessions (189), Charles Davidson (215), and Blake Pharis (275).

Placing fifth were Nick Best (103), Calvin Vivier (135), Ty Kleffner (140) and Matt Ward (171).

Four Tiger wrestlers were seeded in the top six in their weight classes. Daniel Doronio goes in seeded fourth, and Nico Pinque, A.J. Hutchison, and Kori Andrews are all seeded sixth in their weight classes.

Tiger wrestling coach Lynn Knudson was pleased with the efforts at district and qualifying 17 wrestlers to state.

"I was really happy. We had a little setback in the tournament there for one of the rounds, but they came back and did the things they needed to do, and we ended up qualifying 17 kids, so it was a great effort by them and I was really happy how we came out of there in second place, so I was real happy with how it turned out."

Knudson feels confident his wrestlers can do well at the state tourney.

"I feel that, even though we only have four kids that are seeded in the top six, I feel our wrestlers are going to come out a few of those spots and do a lot better than that predicts, so I expect some really good things. And one of the great things besides them placing at state, which I think a lot of them can do, is that we will have 14 of the 17 we're taking returning next year, and that will be a great way to start our next season. I'm really looking forward to what we're going to be able to do at this state tournament."

The State Wrestling Championships start tomorrow (Thursday) and run through Saturday at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

Looking at first round opponents for the Tigers at state, at 103 pounds, Tiger freshman T.J. Billinger will take a 16-14 record against top-seeded Colton Nielson, a sophomore from Pocatello with a 30-9 record.

Tiger freshman Nick Best takes an 18-12 record against Blackfoot freshman Kyle Williams, who is 19-11.

At 112 pounds, Tiger freshman Kaeo Doronio, 24-6, opens against Nate Crane, a sophomore from Minico with a 30-3 record.

At 119 pounds, Tiger junior Daniel Doronio takes a 20-11 record against Blackfoot junior Alex Gonzales, who is 16-7.

At 130 pounds, Tiger sophomore Kamron Spaulding, 35-6, opens against Madison sophomore Jake Lords, who is 35-8.

At 135 pounds, Tiger senior A.J. Hutchison, 20-7, opens against Jerome senior Bastin Thacker, 18-18.

Tiger sophomore Calvin Vivier takes a 28-12 record against Moscow senior Alex Thompson, 26-9.

At 140 pounds, Tiger sophomore Ty Kleffner, 32-10, faces Jon Smith, a sophomore from Minico with a 16-14 record.

At 145 pounds, Tiger senior James Greenfield, 13-6, opens against Sandpoint junior Kyle Meschko, 18-7.

At 152 pounds, Tiger junior Zacq Hale, 16-11, faces Matt Kinn, a Skyview sophomore who is 18-8.

At 160 pounds, Tiger junior Kori Andrews, 22-10, opens against Caldwell junior Chase Kelpin, 26-13.

At 171 pounds, Tiger sophomore Chris Knudson, 20-6, opens against Blackfoot junior Zachery Littlejohn, 25-3.

Tiger sophomore Matt Ward, 27-10, faces Sandpoint junior Jerod Morris, 23-7.

At 189 pounds, Tiger junior Tyson Sessions, 8-5, opens against Skyview senior Joel Sandoval, 29-9.

At 215 pounds, Tiger senior Charles Davidson, 14-14, opens against Sandpoint senior Sheldon Cramer, 29-5.

At 275 pounds, Tiger junior Blake Pharis, 20-17, opens against Preston sophomore Caleb Zitterkopf, 9-9.