Tiger wrestlers finish fourth at state tournament

Freaky Friday was again unkind to the Mountain Home Tigers, who ended up finishing fourth at the 4A State Wrestling Championships at Holt Arena in Pocatello last weekend.

Mountain Home took 15 wrestlers to state, and after the first day's action on Thursday, 13 of the 15 were still wrestling.

Things started well enough for the Tigers on Friday with 10 wrestlers making the quarter-finals. After the quarter-final round, the Tigers had five wrestlers in the semi-finals Friday night.

The State Wrestling Tournament is never on Friday the 13th, but one would wonder, as the yearly occurrences have not been kind to Tiger wrestlers, and it was no different this year. Two number one seeds -- Kaeo Doronio at 119 and Calvin Vivier at 140, both suffered defeats, as did Chris Knudson at 171 pounds, and Tyson Sessions at 215. Sessions led 3-0 in the second period, and 3-2 late, before being taken down in the final seconds to lose, 4-3.

Only Kori Andrews, who had to battle from behind in the quarter-finals, came through strong with a pin to advance to the 160-pound championship.

The Tigers did bounce back on Saturday, as seven Tigers placed in the top six in their weight classes. Kori Andrews lost the 160-pound championship by decision to finish second. Kaeo Doronio took third at 119, as did Calvin Vivier at 140. Tyson Sessions finished fourth at 215 pounds, as did Blake Pharis at 285.

Nico Pinque finished fifth at 135 pounds, and Chris Knudson placed sixth at 171.

Going into the semi-final round, the Tigers were in second place in team standings, just two points behind Blackfoot. Final teams standings had Blackfoot winning with 178 points, Sandpoint was second with 165.5, Lakeland, third with 157.5, and Mountain Home, fourth, with 133, just ahead of Nampa, which was fifth with 130.5.

"We were right there neck-and-neck with a lot of teams there Friday night," said Tiger wrestling coach Lynn Knudson. "What it came down to was how well we could do in the semi-finals, and also in the consolation just before that, and we had some problems there, and didn't get it done, which put us way behind this morning when we came back and made up a few points this morning."

Coach Knudson nevertheless was proud of the way his guys battled back after the Friday night adversity to finish strong.

"They stepped right up and took on the challenge and at least tried to place in the top three, and we managed to do that a couple times, and took a couple fourths, a fifth and a sixth. The thing is they're in the top six in their weight class, so that's a big accomplishment. I'm not disappointed, as we had the seven that placed, and a few others went a long way and missed placing by one match, so we were right there.

"There's always next year. We've got a strong team coming back (including four of the seven that placed), and there's some things to look forward to, and I'm looking forward to next year, and I hope the kids do, too, and kind of set some goals on what we need to accomplish next year.

"There's a lot to be said about Mountain Home wrestling right now. We have the numbers, and hopefully we can keep the kids in town, they don't move on us, and we start building that team right now, as we go into the free-style season, the weight room this summer, and some of the camps that we're planning to go to this summer. That's all part of it, and hopefully, we can accomplish the things that we need to accomplish with that to build on next year."

For a breakdown of the Tigers wrestling at state by weight-class, here's the rundown:

112 pounds

T.J. Billinger opened against Ryan Packard of Columbia, and lost by technical fall, 17-2. He then faced Kyle Sherrick of Emmett, and won by a second-round pin. Next he faced Seth Wright of Lakeland, and lost technical fall, 16-0, to be eliminated from the tournament. He went 1-2.

119 pounds

Kaeo Doronio opened the tournament against Justin Goff of Nampa, and won by pin. He then faced Talon Borge of Emmett, and won by technical fall, 17-1, to advance to the semi-finals. He faced Kyle McCrite of Lakeland, and came up short, losing a 7-3 decision. That put him against Nate Armstrong of Pocatello in the consolation bracket, and he made quick work of Armstrong, winning by pin. The Tiger sophomore then faced Alex Gonzales of Blackfoot, and won, 11-9, to take third place. Doronio went 4-1 in the tournament to finish 35-5 overall.

125 pounds

Tommy Miller opened against top-seeded Joey Fio of Sandpoint, and lost by pin. The Tiger freshman then faced Ethan Shipp of Skyview, and won by pin. He next faced Eddie Franco of Bishop Kelly and won by technical fall, 17-0. That put him against Buster Brown of Hillcrest. Miller was pinned in the second round to end the Tournament at 2-2, just one win away from placing in the top six.

130 pounds

Ty Kleffner opened against Jonathan Wood of Rigby, and lost a 17-8 major decision. He then faced Nathan Broadhead of Burley, and lost an 11-6 decision to be eliminated from the Tournament. He finished 0-2.

135 pounds

Nico Pinque opened against Sid Winter of Sandpoint, and won by pin. He then faced Cody Lords of Kuna, and lost a close 7-5 decision. He then faced Tanner Orchard of Wood River, and won by pin. That put him against Mike Cummins of Jerome. The Tiger junior won, 3-0, to advance against Abner Cook of Pocatello. Cook was the number two seed, who got upset in the semi-finals, and beat Pinque by pin in the second round. Nico then won an 11-5 decision over Darren Thompson of Sandpoint to claim fifth place.

Pinque went 4-2 in the tournament to finish 40-7 overall.

Chris Vogl opened against the number two seed, Abner Cook of Pocatello, and lost by pin. That put him in the consolation round against Blake Ford of Bonneville, and he lost a 16-3 major decision to be eliminated from the tournament. He went 0-2.

140 pounds

Calvin Vivier took the number one seed into the tournament and opened against Tyler Pollock of Middleton, winning by a first-round pin. He then won by pin over Jacob Wackenhut of Blackfoot to advance to the semi-finals against Thomas Thiel of Bonneville.

Thiel came away with a first-round pin, to put Vivier in the consolation bracket. The Tiger junior came back strong Saturday morning to pin Dustin Springer of Lakeland, and then beat Jerod Hammond of Burley, 5-2, to take third place. Vivier went 4-1 in the tournament to finish 35-4 overall.

145 pounds

Kamron Spaulding opened against Stan Pauza of Nampa, and won by pin. He then faced Kyle Cooley of Rigby, and lost by pin in the second round. He then faced Josh Clapier of Minico, and lost a 9-2 decision to be eliminated from the tournament. He went 1-2.

160 pounds

Kori Andrews took the number two seed into the tournament and opened with a first-round pin over Josh Schaffield of Bishop Kelly. He then edged Zak Mecker of Nampa, 6-4, to advance to the semi-finals, where he faced Matt Kinn of Columbia. The Tiger senior pinned Kinn to advance to the championship match against Kyle Sargent of Blackfoot, losing to Sargent, 9-2, to finish second.

Andrews went 3-1 in the tournament, finishing 36-7 overall.

171 pounds

Chris Knudson opened against Andy Pense of Kuna, and won a 15-2 major decision. He then faced Miles Hunsinger of Nampa, and won a 2-1 decision in double overtime. That put him in the semi-finals against number one seed, J.C. Percy, and he lost a 9-5 decision. The Tiger junior then faced Miguel Simental of Minico, and lost by pin in the second round. He then faced Scott Underdahl of Lakeland, and lost by pin to finish sixth. Knudson went 2-3 in the tournament to finish 35-12 overall.

Luke Loomis opened against Richard Haux of Bonneville, and won, 8-6. He then faced number two seed Jerod Morris of Sandpoint, and lost by pin. That put the Tiger junior against Craig Helms of Burley, and he lost by pin to be eliminated from the tournament. Loomis went 1-2.

189 pounds

Matt Ward opened the tournament against Steven Stores of Lakeland, and dropped a 12-6 decision. He then faced Myles Sexton of Skyview, and won a 5-2 decision. Next up came Tiger teammate Colby Lord, and Ward won by pin to advance to face Collin Hand of Wood River. Hand edged Ward, 5-1, to end the tournament for the Tiger junior, one win away from placing. Ward went 2-2 to finish 30-5 overall.

Colby Lord opened against Corbin Bowers of Burley, and won a 14-9 decision. He then faced John Williams and lost by pin, which put him against teammate Matt Ward, and he lost by pin to be eliminated from the tournament. Lord went 1-2, to finish 30-8.

215 pounds

Tyson Sessions opened the tournament against Nate Barclay of Minico, and won by pin. He then faced James Swenson of Jerome, and won a 4-1 decision. That put him in the semi-finals against number two seed Kip Ramos of Nampa. The Tiger senior led 3-0 in the second period, and was up 3-1 heading into the final period. Ramos got an escape and a take-down late in the match to edge Sessions, 4-3. Sessions then faced Jordan Hick of Columbia Saturday morning, and won, 4-3. He then faced Sergio Archuletta of Pocatello for third place, losing a 4-2 decision to finish fourth.

Sessions went 3-2 in the tournament to finish 33-9 overall.

285 pounds

Blake Pharis opened against Dan Lane of Moscow, and won a 3-1 decision. He then faced Jared Richardson of Bonneville, and lost a 4-3 decision. That put him against Josh Ramirez of Minico, and Pharis pinned him to face Cody Weber of Middleton. The Tiger senior beat Weber, 8-3, and won over Cody Hunsaker of Preston by injury default. He then faced Jared Richardson of Bonneville for third place, and lost 3-1, to finish fourth. Pharis went 4-2 at state to finish 24-17.