Spaulding wins gold at state wrestling tourney

Kole Spaulding capped off his Mountain Hme wrestling career by winning the 171 pound weight class at the state wrestling tournament last week.

Seven Mountain Home Tiger wrestlers competed at the 4A State Wrestling Championships at the Idaho Center in Nampa last weekend. Of those seven, five medaled, with one as a champion (Spaulding), one second, and one third.

A.J. Hutchison finished second at 135 pounds,

Kyle Hickerson took third at 119 pounds, and Daniel Doronio and Calvin Vivier both finished sixth, Doronio at 119 pounds, Vivier, at 130.

Mountain Home finished seventh in the team standings, scoring 95.5 points. Skyview won the 4A state title with 181 points, Nampa was second with 143, Bonneville finished third with 137.5, Kuna was fourth with 117, Blackfoot fifth with 107, and Preston sixth with 98 points.

Madison, Minico and Rigby rounded out the top 10.

Tiger wrestling coach Lynn Knudson, who got the honor of handing out the medals at 171 pounds, including the championship medal to Spaulding, was extremely proud of the efforts of his seven wrestlers that competed at state.

"A coach can't wish for much more than what we were able to do here and where we ended up placing as a team, so I'm really proud of these guys, how they ended up and the things that they came down here to do.

"They set their goals high, and most of them met what they set their goals at. It was a great tournament for such a small amount of kids that came here from Mountain Home.

"We got a lot of support throughout the three days that we've been here, and I'm just very happy about what we can do at Mountain Home and the coaching staff and the community and these kids that work hard to make us a championship team.

"I'm just really proud of Mountain Home," he said.

Knudson was happy to see Tiger senior Kole Spaulding end his high school career as a state champion.

"Kole has been working hard for the last four years, or even longer than that, and with injuries, placing third last year, and finally, coming up with the championship, his parents are so dang proud. It's so great for Mountain Home HIgh School, and it's just so good to see because Kole's a good kid.

"Kyle (Hickerson) didn't quite make what he wanted to do, but he's a great kid and he worked hard also and I've got to give him some recognition for what he was able to do this year.

"He had some stiff competition and he stayed at it and stayed at it and I'm just proud that he was able to place third, and I think he is, too, so congratulations to Kyle, also.

"Coming into the season a little bit late didn't help A.J. (Hutchison) any, and his style of wrestling really has to have some modifications done to it, and we just haven't had enough time to spend with him to correct some of the ways that he's going to wrestle. When we've got that taken care of, he's going to be a solid kid, and he's placed at state every year he's come, and he's a great wrestler, he's just got to overcome some other things and he'll be a state champion next year."

Here is a rundown of how the Tiger wrestlers did in their weight classes:

119 Pounds

Kyle Hickerson, who went in as the number four seed, with a 31-13 overall record, opened with a first-round pin over Myles Porter of Preston. The Tiger senior won his quarter-final match over J.C. Chandler of Pocatello with a first-round pin. He lost by technical fall (16-1) to top-seeded Joe Fio of Sandpoint in the semi-finals. Hickerson then won an 11-2 major decision over Thomas Thiel of Bonneville to advance to the third-place match against Kevin Killoy of Minico, and won a major decision to claim third place.

Daniel Doronio, who went into state with a 26-13 overall record, opened against Craig Byers of Post Falls, and lost a close 5-3 decision. That put the Tiger sophomore in the consolation bracket, winning a 14-4 major decision over Brian Otto of Pocatello. Next, he registered a first-round pin over Preston Brown of Blackfoot, and pinned J.C. Chandler of Pocatello in the third round. He then lost to Kevin Killoy of Minico, 9-7, in overtime, which put him in the fifth place match against Thomas Thiel of Bonneville, in which he lost a 10-5 decision.

130 Pounds

Calvin Vivier took a 16-4 overcall record into state, and opened with an 19-2 major decision over Freddy Sarmiento of Madison. The Tiger freshman then went up against the number two seed,Tyler Moore, and lost by pin in the second round. Vivier bounced back with a first-round pin over Dustin Nourse of Vallivue, and followed that up with a 6-4 decision over Jerod Hammond of Burley. He then faced Wes Watson of Blackfoot, and lost by a second-round pin, setting up his match against Alex Watson of Sandpoint for fifth place, in which he lost a 12-3 major decision.

135 Pounds

A.J. Hutchison took a 15-1 overall record into state, and the number two seed. He opened with a first-round pin of Tyler Pitruzzello. The Tiger junior then won a 14-9 decision over Tayson Beck of Skyview. He then decisioned Jake Pearson of Blackfoot, 11-5, in the semi-finals, setting up the championship match against number one seed Justin Gardner of Bonneville. Hutchison jumped out to a 6-2 first-period lead, but trailed 7-6 heading into the third period, and came up short, 10-8, to finish second.

145 Pounds

Kori Andrews opened against Shawn Hiebert of Lakeland, and won by technical fall (17-0). The Tiger sophomore then faced number one seed Brady Garner, and lost a 7-0 decision. Andrews then faced Eloy Naranjo of Burley, and won. Next up was a familiar foe, Brett Butterfield of Kuna. Andrews has had some tough battles with the Kuna senior, and this one was no exception, as he lost a tough 2-0 decision to be put out of the Tournament. Andrews finished 19-21 overall for the season, going 2-2 at State.

171 Pounds

Kole Spaulding went into state as the district champion and number one seed and a 40-3 overall record. He opened state against Stephen VanGerpen of Moscow, and pinned him in just 23 seconds. Next came a third-round pin over Britt Thiessen of Jerome, followed by a 12-4 major decision over Justin Torfin of Preston in the semi-finals. That put the Tiger senior against number two seed, Wes Cooper of Minico, who took a 42-0 record into the championship match.

Spaulding battled back form a 5-3 deficit to win the match, 6-5, and claim the state championship.

215 Pounds

Charles Davidson finished third at district, and took an 11-19 overall record to state. He opened against Sheldon Cramer of Sandpoint, and lost by pin in the first round. The Tiger junior then won a 5-2 decision over Lance Forsgren of Preston. Davidson then lost by pin in the closing seconds of the second round to Fernando Pedraza of Nampa to be eliminated from the tournament, going 1-2 at state.

The seven Mountain Home wrestlers compiled a 20-12 record in the state competition.