Wrestlers improve with Weiser victory

The Mountain Home Tigers had another solid week of wrestling, taking duals from Gooding and Kimberly before finishing in first place at the Weiser Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

Mountain Home 58, Gooding 21

Mountain Home won 10 of 15 matches against Gooding at Kimberly last Tuesday, beating the Senators, 58-21.

Winning by pins for the Tigers were Tyler Hardin in the 138-pound weight class, Andrew Thornburg (145), Tanner Sessions (152), Tyler McCall (170) and Jose Ortiz (285). Picking up forfeit wins were Seth Dolan (106), Hunter Thornburg (113), Dylan Park (132) and Taylor Ogaard (182). Jacob Lucas won by major decision (12-2) at 120 pounds.

Jacob Ryan lost a 3-2 decision at 195 pounds. Jeremy Essl (160) and Dallin Dearing (220) lost by pins, and the Tigers forfeited at 126 pounds. Both teams forfeited at 98 pounds.

Mountain Home 62, Kimberly 18

The Tigers picked up 11 wins against the host Bulldogs last Tuesday, finishing the night with a 62-18 record.

Winning by pins for the Tigers were Jacob Lucas in the 120-pound weight class, Tyler Hardin (138), Andrew Thornburg (145), Tanner Sessions (152), Tyler McCall (170), Dallin Dearing (220) and Jose Ortiz (285). Picking up forfeit wins for the Tigers were Hunter Thornburg (113) and Jacob Ryan (195). Seth Dolan won by technical fall (16-1) at 106 pounds, and Taylor Ogaard won by decision (4-1) at 182 pounds.

Dylan Park (132) and Jeremy Essl (160) lost by pins, and the Tigers forfeited in the 126 pound weight class with both teams forfeiting in the 98 pound contest.

Tigers wrestling coach Lynn Knudson felt great about the win despite not having his full varsity lineup at the tournament.

"Our wrestlers are really making progress as we get closer to districts," he said.

The Tigers took 14 wrestlers to the Weiser Invitational Tourney over the weekend and won the 20-team tournament, edging Columbia by 2.5 points for first place. The Tigers came in with 201.5 points while Columbia was second with 199. Vale was third with 141.5, Nyssa fourth with 125 and Caldwell fifth at 117.

Mountain Home brought home two champions as Hunter McCluskey won the 98-pound weight class and Tanner Sessions won at 145. Second-place medals went to Pierce Mederios (106), Jacob Lucas (120), Tyler McCall (170) and Jacob Ryan (195). Third-place medals went to Kanoa Doronio (113), Taylor Ogaard (182), and Dallin Dearing (220).

"The team definitely stepped up as a whole," Coach Knudson said. "We also had some individual best performances by Taylor Ogaard, Tyler McCall, Dallin Dearing and Jake Ryan. We had 14 of the 15 weight classes filled, but we were missing outstanding wrestlers Tyler Heath and David Welle, who are injured at this time."

The Tigers, 16-2 in dual matches and 3-0 in conference, close out their regular season schedule today, Feb. 11 at Skyview. The 4A District III Wrestling Tournament begins Feb. 19 at Caldwell.