Reno Tournament of Champions

Reno, Nev. – Poway (CA) and Oklahoma State each dominated the high school and college tournaments, respectively, in this year’s 17th annual Reno Tournament of Champions. The Poway Titans ran away with the tournament scoring 270.5 points, while the Cowboys fended off defending tournament champions Wyoming by scoring 166 teams points. Mark Branch’s Wyoming Cowboys scored 115.5 points en route to their second-place finish, while Oregon State (105 pts), Binghamtom (68.5 pts) and Michigan State (66 pts) rounded out the top five.

Jordan Oliver blitzed the competition at 133 pounds, pinning his way to the tournament title. The top-ranked Cowboy’s longest match was the finals when he pinned the tournament’s second seed Zach Zehner of Wyoming in 1:32. Oliver was named Outstanding Wrestler for the college tournament. John Smith’s Cowboys crowned five champions overall in Jon Morrison (125), Oliver, Jamal Parks (141), Chris Perry (184) and Blake Rosholt at 197. The youngest of the three Rosholt brothers only needed a takedown and a pair of stall points in order to defeat teammate and then-No. 4 Cael Byers.

At 141, Boris Novachkov of Cal Poly needed 10:51 to defeat Oregon State’s Michael Mangrum en route to his tournament title. Novachkov and Mangrum split the first two matches this year and each were looking to gain a leg up on the other in not only the conference but nationally, too. After taking a 2-1 lead into the second period, Mangrum extended that lead to 3-1 after an escape.

With a two-point advantage going into the final period, the rubber match in the series looked as if it would go Mangrums way. With Novachkov starting the final period on bottom, the senior from Bulgaria needed at least an escape to get within striking distance. However, he was able to reverse Mangrum to tie the score at 3-3 and ride him out to send the match into sudden victory. After a scoreless minute, the two went into the :30 periods, with each earning an escape.

The two went into the final :30 period with Mangrum needing to ride out Novachkov to secure the victory. With seconds waning down, Novachkov was able to reverse Mangrum for the second time, but this time he flattened Mangrum and secured the pin.

“It was a great match and win for Boris just because of the different obstacles he had to overcome during the match,” Cal Poly assistant coach Jamill Kelly said. “Even though he doesn’t score a lot of points, his matches are always entertaining and he knows how to win.

“That being said, for him to be a national champion he’s going to need to do a better job at getting takedowns and putting more points on the board,” Kelly said.

Other champions in the college division include Boise State’s George Ivanov at 157, Wyoming’s Shane Onufer (165), Ryan DesRoches of Cal Poly at 174 and Oregon State’s Clayton Jack at heavyweight. Onufer became a back-to-back tournament champion after recording a 7-2 decision over Oklahoma State’s Dallas Bailey.

The high school tournament became a race for third place as Poway and Union ran away from the competition. Poway’s 270.5 points were 59 points better than Union’s 211.5. However, Union (OK) was 59 points better than third place Easton (PA). The Red Rover’s 152 points were four better than Roseburg (OR), while Pleasant Valley (PA) rounded out the top five with 135 points.

“Obviously, we are much improved from last year.” Poway head coach Wayne Branstetter said. “With the addition of Connor King and Victor Lopez back it certainly helped. But it’s never automatic and you need to do the work in order to have the success.

“These kids have done that since last year and it was an entire team effort that caused the domination effect,” Branstetter said. “We had 12 medalists on the A team and 1 medalist (3rd place) on the B team. It’s always a great tournament and we especially enjoy all the different states being represented (Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, etc.) so we can get feel of how we fair with the other states. I know the economy has affected a lot of schools from being able to travel, but the good teams still do whatever it takes to get the competition.”

Union’s 182 pounder Kyle Crutchmer repeated as tournament champion, but this time he did it in dominant fashion. The two-time tournament champ pinned his way to the finals before pounding out a 24-13 major decision over Chester’s unseeded Westley Ruffer.

“We are real proud of how Kyle is maturing into a national level competitor,” Union head coach Kevin Crutchmer said. “He wrestled very aggressive at the tournament. His leg attacks were very sound especially only have a few practices since football ended on Dec. 1.”

Crutchmer just came off another Oklahoma State High School football championship where he scored the winning touchdown in the final seconds to secure the victory. With just wrestling a few matches prior to the tournament, it didn’t take Crutchmer long to find his groove as he only went into the third period twice (both of which ended before the four minute mark) before heading into the finals. In the finals, he put on a takedown clinic to secure his 24-13 victory. Ruffer, who had a fantastic tournament, defeated the second, seventh and third seeded wrestlers en route to the first-place match.

“I am looking for Kyle to lead the team for the year with his actions,” Crutchmer said. “I am real proud of what he is accomplishing not only in wrestling but, also in everyday life. “Being his father and coach makes watching his development even more exciting because I know where both my boys are headed in the sport of wrestling. All the practicing, traveling, and finances spent has made it all worth it,” Crutchmer said.

With his dominant performance, the Oklahoma State signee was named Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament.

At 132 pounds, Crutchmer’s brother, Brian, finished second to Centennial’s Hayden Tuma, 7-2. Brian Crutchmer, too, entered the tournament as the second seed and battled his way to the finals. In the finals, however, Tuma showed his strength as he captured the tournament title after placing fourth a year ago at 125.

“I’m very excited about both Kyle and Brian signing at Oklahoma State University,” Crutchmer said. “I am pleased to know that John Smith and his coaching staff will be continuing the development of them both. Brian has always been in a hornet nest being in the 125/133 lbs. class. He is starting to grow as a competitor because of the level of wrestling at that weight class across the board.”

Union crowned its first champion in Josh Walker at 120, while Kyle Ash (152) finished second and Blace Walser finished third at 195.

The Titans of Poway crowned one champion as top-seeded Connor King defeated Wooster’s (NV) Steven Elicegui, 4-3. King, who has signed with Cal Poly, recorded a pair of falls and a tech fall before facing fifth-seeded Spencer Salinas of Columbia, Idaho, in the semifinals. King advanced to the finals after a 6-2 decision over Salinas.

“Obviously, Connor has been good for us, but in return I think we will, and have been, good for him,” Branstetter said. “He’s a wonderful kid from a great family that is extremely competitive and hard-nosed. He is currently 16-0 with a couple of tournament wins behind him, however, we have a couple of real tests ahead of us.”

Last year Victor Lopez competed for Calexico (CA) where he won the tournament title at 112 pounds. Lopez moved back to Poway this year and entered the tournament as the third seed at 132 pounds. After dropping a tough 3-1 decision to eleventh-seeded Paul Fox of Gilroy (CA) in the quarterfinals, Lopez fought his way through the consolation bracket to secure a third-place finish where he avenged his loss against Fox, with a 6-5 victory.

At 145, top-seeded Reed VanAnroory of Roseburg (OR) was looking to become a two-time tournament champ with a victory over Reno’s Joey Lavallee. However, Lavallee recorded a wild 8-2 victory to stop VanAnroory’s attempt for his second tournament title.

Live Oak’s (CA) Isaiah Locsin recorded his second straight tournament title after a 10-7 decision over the 10th seed Sean Bianco of Pleasant Valley. Locsin entered the tournament as the top seed at 113 pounds and recorded a trio of falls, a tech fall and a major decision en route to his tournament title.

At 195 and 220, Reed (NV) teammates Broc Westlake and Spencer Empey, respectively, each captured tournament titles. Westlake recorded his via medical forfeit while scored an impressive 10-0 decision over second-seeded Ben Goirigolzarri of Roseburg.

Other tournament winners include, Sean Cannon (Green Valley) at 106; Mike Dahlstrom, who entered the tournament unseeded and fought his way to a tournament title, of Pleasant Valley at 126; Bella Vista’s Shayne Tucker at 138; Coleman Hammond (Bakersfield, CA) at 152; Zac Brunson of Churchill (OR) at 160; and Fernando Herrera (Lowry) at 285.