Wrestlers beat Timberline, Homedale

Mountain Home's wrestling squad defeated Timberline and Homedale in dual matches this week and the JV squad finished second at the Eagle JV Tournament.

Mtn. Home 60

Timberline 12

The Tigers won 11 of 14 matches with the Wolves at Timberline last Tuesday night, picking up four pins, five forfeits and two decisions.

Winning by pins were Matthew Tennant at 119 pounds, Nico Pinque at 135, Calvin Vivier at 140, and Matt Ward at 189.

Taking forfeits were Pomerantz (103), T.J. Billinger (112), Kaeo Doronio (125), Ty Kleffner (125), and Tyson Sessions (215).

Kori Andrews won an 8-2 decision at 160 pounds, and Blake Pharis won a 7-4 decision at 285 pounds.

Kamron Spaulding lost a 10-4 decision at 145 pounds, Chris Knudson lost a 7-2 decision at 171, and Ryan Hammer lost by pin at 152 pounds.

Mtn. Home 66

Homedale 15

Mountain Home also wrestled the Homedale Trojans at Timberline, beating the Trojans, 66-15. The Tigers picked up six forfeits and had five pins.

Picking up pins against Homedale were Ty Kleffner (130 pounds), Nico Pinque (135), Matt Ward (189), Tyson Sessions (215), and Tommy Miller (119).

Forfeit wins went to Zach Pomerantz (103), T.J. Billinger (112), Kaeo Doronio (125), Cal Vivier (140), Kamron Spaulding (145), and Chris Knudson (171).

Kori Andrews dropped a 7-3 decision at 160 pounds, and Ryan Hammer (152) and Blake Pharis (285) lost by pins.

The two dual wins improved the Tigers to 20-1 in dual match competition.

Mountain Home Tiger wrestling coach Lynn Knudson was pleased with his wrestlers' efforts on the night.

"It was another great effort by the Tiger wrestling program. Timberline and Homedale both had a few good kids here and there. I felt okay about how we wrestled for the most part.

"We received a lot of forfeits, so our kids didn't see a lot of wrestling time against either Timberline or Homedale, but we ended up winning both of the matches pretty handily. I'm always saying how we need wrestling time, and those forfeits, they kind of take away from it, so I'm not really happy about that, but it was two more wins for the program."

The Tiger varsity was scheduled to go to the Madison Invitational Wrestling Tournament in Rexburg, but the meet was cancelled when the school was shut down with frozen pipes due to the cold weather.

A number of Tigers did go to Eagle on Saturday for a junior varsity tourney. Mountain Home ended up in second in the 14-team tournament, finishing just two points behind Eagle, which won the tournament. The Mustangs ended the tourney with 218 points, Mountain Home had 216. Rounding out the top five were Meridian with 102, Capital, 100, and Centennial 52.

Mountain Home had five champions at the Eagle tourney. In the "A" bracket, T.J. Billinger won the 112 pound weight class, Brandon Johnson won at 160, Luke Loomis at 171 and Colby Lord at 189.

Taking second was Matt Tennant at 119 pounds, Ryan Hammer at 152, Kevin Anderson at 160 and Josh Lindsay at 171.

Third place went to Tommy Miller at 119, John Deal (130 pounds) and James Bailey (215) finished fourth, Keith Bonney (160) finished fifth, and Cody Staebler (135) took sixth.

In the "B" bracket, Travis Goldsby won the 135-pound weight class, beating teammate Tae Hon Paschal for first.

Michael Heinen (145) and Bruce Folk (160) both finished second.

Chris Billinger finished third at 160 pounds, and Junior Ruiz was fourth at 152 pounds.

Coach Knudson said that 19 of the 33 wrestlers they took to the Eagle tourney placed in the tournament.

"It was a good showing and what was really good about it was we finally got a lot of our kids a lot more matches than they have been getting, so that was good."

The Tigers have a conference dual match at Emmett Thursday night, and head to Skyline High School in Idaho Falls Friday and Saturday for the Tiger-Griz Wrestling Tourney.

"We're not going to taking a full squad up there," said Coach Knudson. "We won't be taking 103 or 125, but other than that, we should have everybody else up there."