White Pine senior Casetin Gubler was looking for his elusive third Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) regional championship in boys wrestling on Feb. 10 at Pahranagat Valley High School
In the 120-pound weight category, Gubler went straight into the semifinals after receiving a bye in the quarterfinals.
His championship quest began with semifinal victory by fall over Ethan Hammar of West Wendover. As a result, it was on to the finals where he also won by a fall at the 5:04 mark over Cyler Leeds of Lincoln to secure the individual title in his weight class for White Pine to complete the trifecta
Also securing individual titles for White Pine were junior Tucker Maestes and freshman Maddox Sedlacek in the 150- and 157-pound weight classes, respectively.
Like Gubler, Maestes and Sedlacek both received an opening-round bye. Maestes automatically earned a spot in the quarterfinals. He kicked off his championship run with a couple of victories by falls over Aleixo Luna of West Wendover and Levi Harhay of Tonopah to reach the finals.
In the championship match of the 150-pound weight class, Maestes defeated Carter Hales of Lincoln by injury.
For Sedlacek, he kicked off his tournament in the semifinals, like Gubler. At the 1:26 mark of the semifinal match, he was able to gain victory over Davian Morales of West Wendover by fall. Sedlacek secured a second victory by fall of Logen Blood of Indian Springs to secure the 157-pound title and get individual championship No. 3 for the Bobcats.
In addition to having three champions, White Pine had five other wrestlers in the finals in Tanner Cox (106-pound weight class), Landon Nelson (113), Jackson Armstrong (132), Jacob Hall (165) and Bryant O’Flaherty (190).
Jordan Stroud was the ninth member of White Pine to place, finishing third in the 215-pound category.
That means, the Bobcats had eight finalists among the 14 weight classes. However, in the team category, it was not quite enough as White Pine totaled 208.5 points, good for second place, only trailing behind Lake Mead’s 265. Lake Mead had six individual champions, including three coming directly against White Pine wrestlers.
Maestes scored a team-high 28.0 points. Sedlacek and Gubler followed closely behind with 24.0 and 22.0 points, respectively. Among the runners-up, O’Flaherty led the way with 20.0 points followed by Armstrong and Hall each totaling 18.0 points.
Now, both the boys and the girls wrestling teams prepare for the NIAA 2A State tournament, happening simultaneously, on Feb. 16 at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse in Bullhead City, Ariz.
Gubler is one of 12 White Pine boys wrestlers and freshman Brooklyn Reed is one of five girls competing.
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