Three Nye County wrestlers finished in the top five at the Nevada State Wrestling finals at Primm on Saturday. One was from Pahrump in Division I-A, one was from Round Mountain in Division III/IV and one was from Tonopah in Division III/IV.
Trojans wrestler Gino Gusman finished in fourth place in the Division I-A Wrestling Championships. To get there he defeated Daden Constable from Spring Creek, but then lost in the semifinals to Trase Bell (13-0) of Lowry by decision. Bell was the number one seed in the North.
Gusman came out strong against Bell and had a chance to pin him in the second round but Bell used his strength to wiggle free. In the end Gusman lost by decision, 9-6.
He then wrestled Jimmy Brown (12-2) of Boulder City for third place and lost by fall.
Bell went on to beat Tyler Nishi (13-1) of Spring Valley for the 126-pound title.
In Division III/IV wrestling, Round Mountain’s Austin Boerst (160) 6-0 took first in his division, beating Eddie Montano, 11-1, of Yerington in the title bout by decision 1-0.
Tonopah wrestler Tanner Otteson (132), also in Division III/IV finished in second place. Otteson dominated his first two opponents, Lupe Garcia of Yerington and then Eric Wagner of Pershing County.
Wagner avoided the pin several times as the bout went three rounds with Otteson beating him by decision 11-4.
Otteson then went up against three-time state champion Andrew Cox of Battle Mountain in the state title match and lost by decision by one point, 12-11.
In the team competition for Division I-A, Churchill County (145.5) earned the Division I-A state title with Lowry (88) finishing in second, Spring Creek (82) in third, Virgin Valley (76) in fourth, Elko (66) in fifth and Mojave (58) in sixth. Pahrump Valley (10.5) finished in 16th.
In the team competition for Division III/IV, Battle Mountain (221) finished in first place, Pershing County (154.5) in second, Yerington (105) in third, Spring Mountain (91) in fourth, Lincoln County (81.5) in fifth and Wells (50) was in sixth. Tonopah (16) finished in 15th place.
-Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com