Jones wins 2A state wrestling title

By Dave Maxwell

Like two of his brothers before him, Jesse Jones won a state wrestling championship for the Pahranagat Valley Panthers at the NIAA Class 2A tournament last weekend in Winnemucca.

Pershing County won its first state wrestling championship and stopped Battle Mountain’s run of six straight state titles.

The Mustangs beat the Longhorns 209-173½. Yerington was third with 154½ points, followed by Pahranagat Valley (68) and Tonopah (64½).

Three other Panther wrestlers also took medals at state. Hagen Harris (106) and Tayt Leavitt (220) both took the bronze and Jon Michael Stewart (285) placed fourth.

Jones (138) won his first match over Jacee Herald (Battle Mountain) by fall in 15 seconds.

His semifinal match was against Jayce Leyva (Pershing County), the defending state champion. Fans said Jones was dominating the match on points, but was able, in the last second of the third period, to get the pin.

In the championship match, Jones faced Donovan Coplin (Yerington) and scored a 7-4 decision. Coplin placed third in the weight class last year.

Harris (106) won his first match by fall over Tell Baptist (Yerington), but lost 9-7 in the semifinals to Devin Moura (Pershing County).

In the consolation rounds, Harris pinned Candice Triplet (Yerington), then Jesse Fehr (Excel Christian) for the bronze.

Tayt Leavitt (220) took a first-match win over Kaitlyn Teller (Owyhee), but lost in the quarterfinals by fall to Kevin Pope (Tonopah). In the consolation semifinals he pinned Tyler Rochester (Battle Mountain), but had to go to the final seconds in the third period to pin Ricardo Carrillo (Battle Mountain) for the third-place medal.

Jon Michael Stewart (285) had a first-match win over Lyle Whitten (Battle Mountain), then lost the semifinal match to Davis Murphy (Pershing County). He won the consolation semifinal by fall over Acilino Thomas (Owyhee), but lost the third-place match to Whitten by a 9-2 decision.

Pahranagat’s Jacob Griffin (182) lost his first match by fall to JayDan Vasquez (Yerington), the eventual state champion. He won a consolation round match by fall over Caleb Hinkle (Independence), but lost in the consolation semifinals to Zack Duggan (Battle Mountain).