Tribune photo by John Byrne - Spanish Springs 145-pounder Tony Pachella (in teal) worked a second-round pin against his McQueen opponent.
Spanish Springs improved to 4-0 in HDL duals and will meet Reno at RHS on Feb. 2 with the league title on the line. The meet is set to start at 6:30 p.m.
"This is the third year in a row, we're wrestling our final dual for the league championship," Spanish Springs coach Joe Imelli said. "You can't ask for anything more than that. It's nice to be building up to something as regionals near."
Spanish Springs took care of business Wednesday, easily dispatching McQueen. The two teams started the midweek meet with the 130-pound match. The visiting Lancers got a pin win there but Spanish Springs proceeded to win the next seven matches and take a commanding lead it never relinquished.
Blake Nauman started the run of seven consecutive wins when he captured a 5-1 decision in the 135-pound match. Zach Perez followed with a first-round pin at 140s and Tony Pacella posted a second-round pin at 145s. The SSHS grapplers had a 15-6 lead at that point.
Spanish Springs got a free six points when McQueen forfeited the 152-pound match to Cougars wrestler Kevin Avalos, making the scoreboard read 21-6.
Next, Spanish Springs senior Garek Tauchen racked up an 18-3 technical fall win for a 26-6 SSHS edge.
Tyler Beaulac and Nikk Audenreid wrapped up the string of Spanish Springs wins with a second- and first-round pin respectively. When the run was over, the Cougars held a 38-6 lead.
McQueen won the next four matches — 215, 285, 103, 112 — to close within 13 points on the scoreboard, 38-25. Unfortunately for Lancers fans, that's as good as it got.
Spanish Springs concluded the meet with wins in the 119-pound and 125-pound matches. At 119, Spanish Springs standout Curtis Lampert won with a second-round pin. At 125s, Jason Cotham snared a second-round pin. The last two wins accounted for the final 49-25 margin.
Late-season injuries kept a trio of Spanish Springs' starting wrestlers off the mat Wednesday, but two of the three reserves who took their place, Avalos and Cotham, still managed to give the Cougars wins.
"We had some guys step in and really give us a lift," Imelli said. "Up and down the lineup, we did really well. We shifted some guys into different weights and they did an admirable job."
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