Tiger grapplers drop tough road dual

Nevada's Scotty Bough works for a takedown against his Carl Junction opponent. Bough went on to win the match by pin. --Steve Brier/Special to the Daily Mail

"Tough loss. Opens hurt us once again," Nevada Tigers head wrestling coach Devin White said of Tuesday night's dual meet at Carl Junction.

The Tigers spotted Carl Junction 24 points right off the bat, simply because of open weight classes. That proved to be the difference maker on the night, as the Bulldogs took a 22-point victory.

However, in the matches they did get, the Tigers wrestled well, White said. Nevada picked up pin victories from Scotty Bough, Tanner Charles and Todd Brier on the night, on their way to a 51-29 defeat.

"With our opens, we ended up spotting them 24 points and only lost by 22," White said. "The matches we wrestled, we performed very well, we just have to fill the spots. They have hurt us all year long."

Hurt is exactly what those open spots have done this season as nearly every one of the Tigers' losses this year have come simply by having to forfeit so many points. And even in the duals that weren't decided by opens, single-digit point totals would have been the difference had opens not become a factor.

The Tigers were able to take two more individual match wins on the night. At 125 pounds, Dominic Habjan came out strong and earned a technical fall and Gage Brooks won his 140-pound match by forfeit.

The Tigers hope to be able to rebound from this most recent loss and put together a strong finish to the season as they come home for their final dual of the year against Buffalo High School tonight at 6 p.m.