McNelly, Buchmiller lead Bulldogs at state

POCATELLO — Sophomores Tanner McNelly (113 pounds) and Brent Buchmiller (126) each registered first round wins to lead the Bulldogs on Friday during the first day of the 4A state wrestling tournament at Holt Arena in Pocatello.

McNelly pinned Nampa’s Freddy Sanchez in 2:32 in the first round, advancing to face No. 1 seed Casey Cobb of Kuna. Cobb pinned McNelly in :59, dropping McNelly into the consolation bracket.

Buchmiller scored a hard fought 17-16 decision over Burley’s Fernando Parke, an abnormally high score for a state wrestling match. In the second round, Buchmiller was pinned by No. 2 seed Cody Burden of Middleton in 2:37, dropping into the consolation bracket.

Wrestling in arguably the toughest bracket at the state meet, junior Lewis Dunton (132) lost a major decision 14-4  to Isaac Laris of Twin Falls in the first round, then was pinned by Pocatello’s Samuel Joerger at 3:41 in the consolation bracket, ending his state tournament.

No. 5 seed junior Adam Weindl (170) was pinned at 3:12 by Twin Falls’ Dakota Miller in the first round, dropping into consolation, where he faced Braxton Egbert, from Bonneville. The match was tight throughout, before Egbert registered a pin in overtime to knock Weindl out of the tournament.

At 182 pounds, junior first-year wrestler Jon McCormick was pinned by No. 1 seed Austin Schaffer of 4A power Columbia in 1:40. McCormick bounced back in consolation, scoring a solid 13-7 decision over Blackfoot’s Sean Walters to remain alive in the draw.

Junior Josh Travers (195) lost a 13-4 decision to No. 2 seed Juan Labra of Burley in the first round, then bounced back to score a tough 6-3 win over David Sio and keep his state tournament alive.