Daniels wins title, Heard places second

Nevada Daily Mail

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Nevada Tiger wrestler Spenser Daniels capped a remarkable junior season with a state championship, winning the Class 2, 189-pound division when his opponent pulled out of Saturday's title match with an injury.

Daniels (37-1) was leading Kirksville's Jesse Alter (44-2) in the championship match when Alter suffered an injury and couldn't continue. That gave Nevada its first state champion wrestler in two decades.

Daniels was one of two Tiger grapplers who were in the title match of their classes, as 112-pound junior Mason Heard placed second. Heard lost a 9-4 decision to Nick Clemens of Odessa in the finals.

A third Tiger joined Daniels and Heard on the medal stand, as junior 215-pound wrestler Ryan Herda placed fourth.

Nevada had seven wrestlers at state overall, with Jerrod Alexander, Cole Bond, Matt Kennedy and Josh Palmer also making the trip to Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers wrestled well enough to finish ninth in the team standings with 73 points. Platte County won the team competition easily with 164 points. Odessa was second with 117.5 points.

The good news for Nevada is six of their seven state wrestlers will be returning, as only Kennedy will be lost to graduation. The other six were juniors this year. Nevada will bring back 11 of 14 varsity grapplers from their district championship squad for the 2007-'08 season.

For more coverage -- including pictures -- see Wednesday's edition of the Nevada Daily Mail.