Tiger grapplers knock off Buffalo at home in season's final dual

Chase Brooks tries unsuccessfully to pin his opponent during Thursday's dual meet against the Buffalo Bison. Brooks went on to win the match by major decision. --Photos by Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail

"That was a very nice win. It gave the boys a little bit of confidence going into districts", Nevada Tigers wrestling coach Devin White said of Thursday night's season-ending dual victory over the Bison of Buffalo High School.

The Tigers had a very strong performance to come from behind in a dual that started with a 24-point deficit before the first match even got underway. The open classes that have plagued Nevada all season long proved to be of little consequence as they were able to win eight of 10 contested matches on the night.

"They wrestled hard, a lot of people came up big," White said. "We only had a couple losses throughout the entire lineup. You spot a team 24 points and you still come out with a victory, that's saying something."

The Tigers came into the night with tremendous confidence and intensity in the hope of pulling off a win to finish out the year and it showed as several wrestlers came up with very strong performances. Out of their eight wins, the Tigers were able to pull off pins on five different occasions.

Kyle Bennett tries to pin his opponent during the Tigers' final home wrestling dual against the Buffalo Bison. Bennett won with an 8-7 decision.

Tanner Charles started off the night in dominant fashion as he became the first of those five pin wins for Nevada. Dominic Habjan followed suit just two matches later in the 125-pound bout, followed by Rusty Johnson at 130, Gage Brooks at 140, Scotty Bough at 145 and Arik Williams at 171.

Buffalo seemed to be outclassed in nearly all of their matches on the night and two of the other three match wins for the Tigers ended in very one-sided decisions.

At 119 pounds, Devin Miller picked up the first of Nevada's three major decision victories, followed by Todd Brier at 160 and Chase Brooks at 189 in the night's final match.

Kyle Bennett found himself in a very tough match at 135, but eventually came out on top as well in a close decision.

"The boys wrestled hard, they looked good, they competed," White said. "I can't complain one bit at all. They were really pumped up for this one."

Now the Tigers will get a break to rest and continue to prepare before the district tournament on Feb. 13 and 14. The Tigers hope to have a successful stint in the event and several wrestlers from this year's team have genuine potential to move on to the state tournament in Columbia, Mo., Feb. 19 and 20.

"I'm excited about this week. I'm going to give the boys the rest of the weekend off to relax and come in strong, ready to go for districts," White said. "We've got all next week off, so we don't go again to districts on Friday. So I'm going to give them a chance this weekend to relax a little bit and that way they can get focused this next week and really crack down for districts."

The Tigers are undoubtedly fatigued and in need of that break, but will be forced to keep their focus and get back in action for districts in the hope of coming up with another strong showing and adding some state qualifications to what has already been a solid year.

Not only did the Tigers enjoy tremendous success from their varsity competitors, but the JV wrestlers had a strong showing on the night as well. Both JV matches ended with a pin and the Tigers were able to come out on the favorable end of the first, as Zach Shepherd added another victory to his already exceptional season record.

With this win, the Tigers finish out the dual season with an overall record of 4-6, a very strong showing given the four open weight classes that were a thorn in their side on multiple occasions throughout the year.