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Curtis leads Wolverines at state wrestling

Provided to the Sun

Four Truckee High wrestlers competed in the NIAA 3A State Wrestling Championships at Spanish Springs High School this past weekend ” seniors Tim Curtis and Nick Krasensky, sophomore Bobby Waters and freshman Kyle Mullen.

– Kyle Mullen

Mullen, the No. 4 seed from Northern Nevada at 119 pounds, was pinned in the second period of his opening-round match against Jordan Booth of Pahrump Valley, the No. 1 seed from the south. Mullen was then overwhelmed in his second match against Austin Williams of Boulder City, losing again by pin.



“For a freshman to qualify for the tournament is a big deal,” said Truckee head coach Ron Curtis, “so even if he went two-and-out it is a great experience and accomplishment.”

– Bobby Waters



Waters, wrestling at 135 pounds, also was a fourth seed and wrestled the No. 1 seed from the South, James Chapman of Pahrump Valley. Waters lost by pin to the eventual champion in the weight class. Waters then bounced back to pin Boulder City’s Steve Kaposta before losing a close match 6-4 to Kyle Bradshaw, his nemesis from Incline.

“At the start of the season Bobby would lose to Kyle (Mullen) by pin,” coach Curtis said. “The last three weeks he has had some real close matches. That is how much Bobby has improved.”

– Nick Krasensky

Krasensky entered the state tournament as a No. 5 seed in his 145-pound weight class. His first match was against Trinity Perkins of Spring Creek, regarded by Curtis as the best wrestler in the state, in any weight class. Perkins won by pin. In his second match Krasensky pinned Daniel Kenneston of Dayton before losing by pin to Pahrump Valley’s Steve Kelley in the consolation semifinal.

“Nick finished the last month of the season strong, giving his best effort in every match,” said Marcus Waters, Truckee’s assistant coach.

– Tim Curtis

Curtis had some big shoes to fill in the tournament, as both of his older brothers were state champions. Curtis wanted nothing less.

At the start of the season the senior competed in the 171-pound weight class, but his main goal was to go down to the highly competitive 160-pound class for the purpose of beating Fernley’s Doug Kornegay.

“I wanted to beat him for his punishment he gave to a couple of teammates in the past; he wrestles dirty and rough,” Curtis said. “He also has a real attitude problem. He is always strutting around, showing off, and I guess he has never been humbled yet. That is what wrestling is all about, being humble.”

Kornegay was humbled on this day ” two weeks after narrowly defeating Curtis 4-3.

At weigh-ins on Friday, Curtis stepped on the scale and was a .6 pounds over the 160-pound limit. So tournament officials walked him over to another scale, where he weighed in at .2 pounds under.

Kornegay followed Curtis the whole time, cheering when he was over the limit on the first scale, then yelling out “No way!” when he was under on the other scale.

The No. 3 seed from Northern Nevada, Curtis faced No. 2-seeded Kody Daffer of Pahrump Valley in his first-round match. Curtis pinned his opponent in the third period to set up the semifinal match against Kornegay.

After two periods, Curtis had taken a 7-2 lead. Before the third period started, Kornegay became angry and started to curse, apparently directing his comments to the referee and whoever else was nearby. The referee disqualified him for unsportsmanlike conduct, and he was done. Curtis had won.

“It was such an emotional moment that I will never forget,” said coach Curtis, Tim Curtis’ father. “You looked around and everyone was crying with emotion. Tim was having a hard time holding back his tears, waiting for his arm to be raised by the referee, especially when he realized his dream of beating Kornegay.

“I looked over at his two state champion brothers and they were hugging each other crying.

There were roughly 3,000 people in attendance, and many of them were watching the match between Curtis and Kornegay. Many of the coaches came over and congratulated Curtis.

“What a moment!,” coach Curtis said.

Curtis met Adam Beach of Boulder City in the championship match.

At the start of the second period Curtis was leading 1-0 before Beach caught him in a head arm move and took him to his back.

The Truckee senior fought off his back to avoid getting pinned. But the energy he spent to do so was too much to overcome, as Curtis got hit in the same move again at the start of the third period. This time, Curtis could not fight off his opponent, and he lost by pin to take second place in the state tournament.

“Yeah, he was much disappointed for not taking state, mainly because of his brothers,” coach Curtis said. “But it is not to say he is not as good as (his brothers). In fact, in a lot of areas he was much better than they were, and actually, they contributed to him being better in those areas by working with him.

“He had a great career and was a great teacher to his teammates.”


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