Publisher’s Note: We had a hard time getting the information and the pictures from the wrestling coaches for this story because on the day we were supposed to get the information, Wednesday February the 14th, the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting happened and everybody at West Wendover High School were focussing on that event, and so did we.
West Wendover junior Jonathan Rodriguez(285 weight) took 1st Place at the 2A North State Championship, and Ricardo Cervantes(138) won 4th place in his category, Friday, February 9th at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
After finishing third in the 285-pound division at the 2A South regional tournament, Rodriguez bested all grapplers in the state tournament.
Rodriguez rolled to a 3-0 record, winning each match by pinfall.
He pinned Pershing County’s Davis Murphy at the 1:23 mark in the quarterfinal round, notching another fall victory over Pahranagat Valley’s Jon-Michael Stewart in the semifinal round in 2:34.
Rodriguez’s won at 3:55 in the 285-pound championship against Spring Mountain’s Avion Newman, avenging a semifinal loss to Newman in the 2A South regional tournament by fall at the 1:16 mark.
Rodriguez scored 24 of West Wendover’s 35 team points and West Wendover’s other 11 points point came from senior Ricardo Cervantes in the 138-pound division, giving the Wolverines the eighth rank in the team standings.
Cervantes notched a fall victory over Eureka’s Garrett Todd in the quarterfinal round in 3:50, but he was defeated by fall to Battle Mountain’s DeAndre Powell in 3:40 during the semifinal round. Cervantes bounced back with a fall victory over Lake Mead’s Byron Fernandez in the semifinal round at the 2:13 mark.
Cervantes was later pinned by Yerington’s Donavan Coplin, taking fourth.
Wells senior Luke Escamilla won against the only state competitor for the Leopards, finishing fourth in the 2A North regional tournament at 160 pounds.
At state, Escamilla was pinned in the third round in his first two matches.
