Shadow Ridge’s Fisher continues to dominate

Shadow Ridge wrestler Brandon Fisher doesn't feel burdened by his gaudy record when he steps onto the mat.

It has led to a breakout season that has the junior 189-pounder in position for a Sunset Region title.

Fisher ran his record to 62-1 with a first-period pin of Spring Valley's Churchill Rochester in the quarterfinals of the Sunset tournament Friday at Bonanza High School.

"I try to block (the record) out because anything can happen," said Fisher, who earned his 47th pin of the season. "I just try to focus on that one match."

Fisher took third in the Sunset at 215 pounds last year. This year at 189, he has joined upperweights Michael Tootle (171) and Jordan Kurth (215) as cornerstones for the Mustangs.

All three will wrestle in today's semifinals with hopes of helping Shadow Ridge repeat as regional champion.

"Last year (Fisher) was actually a 189-pounder wrestling 215," Shadow Ridge coach Gus Gledhill said. "He wrestles Tootle and Kurth on a daily basis, and you can't have two better partners than what he has."

Action resumes at 10 a.m. today at Bonanza, with the finals scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

The top three individuals in each weight class will clinch spots in the Class 4A state tournament, which begins Friday at Spanish Springs in Sparks.

Gledhill said it will be a tall order for the Mustangs to repeat as region champs because they were unable to bring wrestlers in two weight classes.

"It would be so much more special this time because of the fact we don't have a full team here," Gledhill said. "If we repeat, it's going to be a long haul."

In team scoring, Cimarron-Memorial enters today in first place with 77½ points, followed by Palo Verde (77), Arbor View (72), Shadow Ridge (70) and Spring Valley (65).

Gunning for its second region title in three years, Cimarron sent eight wrestlers to the semifinals.

Spartans coach Mike Garcia was especially pleased with junior Austin Beaman, who advanced to the semifinals at 160 pounds by grinding out a 3-2 decision over Spring Valley's Rashad Waters.

"All our kids did a great job," Garcia said. "One who stood out for us was Austin. He did a real nice job wrestling the whole match."

The Spartans also will be counting on junior Bronson Ashjian, who won a region title at 103 pounds last year and is in this season's semifinals at 112.

"He takes care of business for this team," Garcia said of Ashjian, who won twice by pin Friday to improve to 55-2. "He does great for the coaches and all the wrestlers."

Palo Verde, the only team in the top five without a nonscoring wrestler, also could be in good position to challenge for its first region championship since 2002.

Palo Verde landed Jordon Hart (112), Renzo Costa (119), William Wosick (125), Rob Buckhannon (130), Paul Educate (140), Juan Urista (152) and Marcus Judd (171) in the semifinals.

Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.