Firth wrestlers bring home third and fourth place at State

FIRTH — The Firth High School Wrestling team sent 12 wrestlers to the 2021 2A State Wrestling Tournaments Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. Two Firth wrestlers brought home third and fourth place medals.

The Firth Wrestling team had a great team showing and placed eighth out of 37 teams in the 2A division. Senior Brandon Richards (40-10) in the 182-pound classification and junior Riley Barber (17-8) in the 220-pound weight class advanced to the finals.

The Firth wrestlers who competed at the state tournament were:

• Roan Larsen – Freshman – (17-23) 113-pound weight class.
• Leon Gardner – Freshman – (11-17) 120-pound weight class.
• James Ostler – Senior – (7-3) 126-pound weight class.
• Bridger Jolley – Freshman – (30-16) 132-pound weight class.
• Justin Bartousky – Junior – (27-14) 138 weight class.
• Aiden Clayson – Sophomore – (14-12) 138-pound weight class.
• Derek Adams – Senior – (24-14) 152-pound weight Class.
• Slade Barber – Freshman – (11-11) 160-pound weight class.
• Brandon Richards – Senior (40-10) – 182-pound weight class.
• Riley Barber – Junior – (17-8) 220-pound weight class.
• Ethan Perkins – Junior – (31-14) 220-pound weight class.
• Jamie Ortiz – Senior – (24-6) 285-pound weight class/

Richards was seeded No. 3 in the bracket and won his first two matches with pins, 1:17 minutes and 1:59 respectively. In his third match, he came up against the No. 2 seed William Maddox of Malad with a record of 32-2. Richards fought hard but was defeated by Maddox who pinned Richards in the second round at 3:02 seconds. Richards won his fourth match with a pin at 2:07 in the second round. He advanced to the consolation finals and defeated Kamren Wright of West Jefferson with a pin at 4:12 minutes in the third round to take third place behind Isai Arriaga (first place) of Marsing and Maddox who took second place.

Barber was seeded No. 4 in the bracket and won his first two matches with pins, 4:59 minutes and 4:22 minutes respectfully. He lost his third match to Gabe Sommers of Ririe, the No. 1 seed, by a pin at 3:41 minutes. Riley won his fourth match with a major decision of 11-0 to advance to the consolation finals. Riley fought hard but was defeated in the final match by a major decision of 17-5 by Miguel Juarez of Declo who was not seeded in the tournament. Riley placed fourth in the tournament behind Sommers of Ririe, who took first place, Isaac Finley of Wendell, who took second place and Juarez of Declo who took third.

The top ten team scores for the 2A division are as follows:

1. New Plymouth 236.0 points
2. Ririe 182.0 points
3. Declo 177.5 points
4. Malad 143.0 points
5. Grace 137.0 points
6. Wendell 111.0 points
7. Potlatch 74.0 points
8. Firth 71.0 points
9. St. Maries 68.0 points
10. North Fremont 67.0 points

Overall the Firth men’s wrestling team was had a great year and will be a great team in the future with so many young wrestlers that were successful this year.

Congratulation to the Firth Wresting Team.