Final stop for the Wood River Middle School wrestling teams is Nampa's Idaho Center for the Idaho Middle School State Championships Friday, Dec. 19 starting at 10 a.m.
But first, Wood River tuned up for its season finale at the seven-school Magic Valley Conference meet Saturday, Dec. 13 at O'Leary Middle School in Twin Falls.
The Wood River teams did well during the one-day conference meet, which wrapped up a fall league campaign when the 22 Hailey wrestlers (15 in 7th grade, 8 in 8th grade) had a 315-138 record in their matches.
Wood River's seventh-grade squad won the second-place team ranking in a field that included Jerome, Burley, Robert Stuart, O'Leary, East Minico and West Minico. And the Hailey eighth-grade wrestlers grabbed third place overall.
Individually, the Hailey boys were top-notch competitors, seven of them taking home first-place hardware. Eighth-grader Tim Boyle (21-1 for the season) had the toughest match of the day, winning by points over West Minico's Isiah Alvarado after three full periods of intense grapping.
Here are conference placings:
First-place conference champs—Eighth-graders Storm Anderson (23-1 at 140 pounds), Tommy Bailey (25-1 at 112), Tim Boyle (21-1 at 103), Jared Anderson (28-1 at 90); and seventh-graders Cooper Bailey (25-0 at 85), Marshall Reyburn (16-2 at 170) and Kyle Clark (23-0 at 95).
Second places—Seventh-graders Rudy Chavez (18-7 at 75), Jason Williams (6-12 at 190) and Adrian Medina (15-6 at 110).
Third places—Eighth-grader Nic Brunker (3-10 at 160); seventh-graders Alexis Sualez (5-13 at 140), Kris Dugger (11-10 at 105) and Colby Guisasola (12-8 at 95).
Fourth places—Eighth-grader Andrew Tranberger (9-15 at 130).
Additional competitors—Seventh-graders Cody Richmond (7-9 at 130) and Kaleb Guisasola (14-11 at 75).
Jerome wrestlers due in Hailey tonight
The Jerome High School wrestling team, coming off 36-34 and 39-33 home dual meet victories over Bonneville and Hillcrest of Idaho Falls last Wednesday, will visit Hailey tonight, Wednesday for Great Basin Conference mat action.
Coach Tyson Young's Wood River Wolverines will host last year's Great Basin Conference third-place Jerome at 6 p.m. Then the Wolverines travel to Jerome and Twin Falls Friday and Saturday for the Bear Cat Invitational tournament.
The Wolverines took their licks Friday in a double dual meet in Idaho Falls. The host Bonneville Bees won seven matches by pin and four by forfeit in a 70-6 victory over Wood River. In a closer dual, Rigby out-pointed Hailey 46-21.
Rigby beat Butte County of Arco 77-4 and Bonneville defeated the Pirates 66-12.
In the Bonneville dual, juniors Tyler Jaramillo (6-4 decision at 140) and Tanner Orchard (11-9 decision at 145) were Hailey's match winners.
Young said, "The Bonneville dual seemed to be in slow motion from the get go. They were aggressive and took the wind right out of our sails. They came ready to wrestle for every minute and for every match."
Freshman 160-pounder Andrew Orr hung tough and lost a 16-4 major decision, but the rest of the losses were pins.
Wood River won four matches, three by pin and one by decision against Rigby. Four forfeit wins and those 24 points helped Rigby to its 31-point dual meet triumph.
Freshman Andrew Beck recorded a second-round pin at 119 pounds and junior Nick Chase earned a 10-4 decision at 135. Orchard continued his winning ways with a 1:49 pin in the 145-pound weight class, and sophomore Kasey Barker enjoyed a very quick 36-second pin at 171 pounds.
Young added, "We came out looking great with Andrew's pin, but we weren't able to keep a solid lead even though a handful of individuals (Chase, Orchard and Barker) came away with tough, needed wins.
"Once the boys can figure out they can wrestle with the rest and believe in themselves they will start turning the tables and battle for wins."
Wood River Middle School wrestlers and coaches celebrate their efforts at Saturday’s conference meet in Twin Falls. Photo by
