DIVISION III WRESTLING: Kruse, Allen get key pins to launch Laughlin to title

Colyn Kruse and Acy Allen each won by pin in the final two matches of the day to allow Laughlin’s wrestling team to win the Division III Southern League championship Saturday at Panaca.

The Cougars had 184½ points, four more than second place Lincoln County. Pahranagat Valley was third with 144, and Spring Mountain took fourth with 143.

With the Cougars trailing Lincoln County by eight points, Kruse took the 220-pound championship by pinning Agassi Prep’s Robert Blake in 2 minutes, 13 seconds.

Kruse’s pin brought Laughlin within two points of the Lynx, and when Allen recorded a pin against Tonopah’s Kyle Dennis in just 36 seconds in the 285-pound championship match, the Cougars captured the title.

Brandon Chamberlin (152) also won a title for Laughlin.

Zachary Rowe (113), Will Culverwell (145) and Jesse McLean (160) won titles for Lincoln County.

White Pine, which finished fifth overall, had four individual champions: Christopher Gamberg (120), Joseph Pauley (126), Monte Moore (132) and Drue Ashby (138).

Also finishing first were Pahranagat Valley’s Salvador Heredia (106), Austin Horrocks (182) and Mateo Linares (195), and West Wendover’s Anthony Medina (170).

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to next week’s state tournament in Winnemucca.