SLAM Academy cruised to its third straight Class 5A wrestling state team championship, scoring 252.5 points at the state meet late Friday at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse in Bullhead City, Arizona.
Seven SLAM Academy wrestlers won individual titles: Josiah Maestas (113-pound weight class), Nataani Prado (120), Brenden Jorden Agcaoili (126), Drake Hooiman (132), Manuel Saldate (138), Isaac Balden (150) and Gabriel Delgado (165).
Maestas and Saldate claimed their third straight titles. Hooiman, Agcaoili and Delgado also won last season.
“Winning our third straight state title (Friday) was earned through their countless hours of grinding on and off the mat,” SLAM Academy co-coach Zach Hocker said in a text message. “We try to preach that if you want to win when everybody is watching, you have to push yourself hardest when no one is. Our team does that daily.”
Spanish Springs finished second with 153.5 points, and McQueen was third (100.5). Green Valley came in fourth (98.5), and Bishop Gorman was fifth (86).
Five other Southern Nevada wrestlers won individual titles: Centennial’s Deacon Pickett (157), Shadow Ridge’s Aaron Coverdell (175), Green Valley’s Gavin Blondeaux (190), Liberty’s Melvin Whitehead (215) and Bishop Gorman’s Jacob Norcross (285).
Whitehead’s title was his third in a row. Coverdell and Blondeaux also won last season.
Girls invitational
SLAM Academy added another team title, claiming the girls state invitational crown with 113 points and four wrestlers winning individual titles. Centennial finished second with 87.5 points, and Reed was third (82).
It’s the second year of the girls wrestling state invitational, which includes all classifications.
Co-coach Jake Rollans “and I consider it an absolutely amazing achievement to have both the girls and boys each earn state titles in the same year,” Hocker said. “Our two teams, although separate, root for each other and respect one another immensely. … The ladies also rose to the occasion and went four for four in the state finals.”
Emma Albanese (114), Noelani Lutz (120), Mika Yoffee (126) and Billie Bonwell (165) won individual titles for the Bulls, who finished second in the state invitational last season. Albanese and Bonwell won individual titles last season.
Five other Southern Nevada wrestlers claimed individual titles: Sierra Vista’s Kayli Rhodes (100), Bishop Gorman’s Chloe Mead (132), Shadow Ridge’s Danielle Franco (138), Centennial’s Sandilynn Paopao (145) and Cimarron-Memorial’s Addison Canja (152).
Western finished fourth with 50 points, and Sierra Vista was fifth (49).
Class 4A boys
Sierra Vista cruised to the team title with 174.5 points despite not having an individual champion. Coronado finished second with 113.5 points, and Silverado was third (106.5)
The Mountain Lions had five wrestlers who were runners-up in their state title matches.
Silverado’s Zyon Trujillo won at 165 pounds for his second straight title.
Cheyenne’s Mikael Vela (106), Western’s Colby Sulliban (113), Cheyenne’s Matthew Salvador-Agabin (120), Coronado’s Ashish Dhillon (126), Faith Lutheran’s Caden Cook (132), Western’s Kingston Smith (138), Chaparral’s Centrel Farmer (144), Legacy’s Noah Avila (150), Desert Oasis’ Gabriel Williams (157), Rancho’s Jesus Rivera (175), Coronado’s Wynn Philippi (190), Desert Oasis’ Benjamin Young (215) and Rancho’s Hudson Lile (285) also won individual titles.
Rancho was fourth with 96 points, and Faith Lutheran finished fifth (85).
Class 3A boys
Three Moapa Valley wrestlers won individual titles, but Elko won the team title with 187 points. Moapa Valley was second with 125.
Morris Wolfley (113), Shandon Matheson (165) and Gavyn Frederick (215) each won individual titles for the Pirates.
Four other Southern Nevada wrestlers won individual titles: The Meadows’ Nikolas Gallardo (144), Virgin Valley’s Gunner Cortez (150), Pahrump Valley’s Brennen Benedict (157) and Canyon Springs’ Oxbert Ezeigbebe (285).
It’s the third straight title for Cortez. Benedict also won last season.
Fernley finished third with 79.5 points. Lowry was fourth (75), and Pahrump Valley finished fifth (57).
Class 2A boys
Four Lake Mead Academy wrestlers won individual titles to help the Eagles roll the team title with 173 points over Battle Mountain and White Pine (114 points each).
Dylan Rider (106), Levi Schmidt (165), Gage Calton (190) and Vance Maheu (285) all won individual titles for Lake Mead Academy. Calton and Maheu also won last season.
Pahranagat Valley’s Alec Thornton won his second straight title at 175 pounds.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
Bulgaria votes in eighth election in five years
Real estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer
Former Piston shows Detroit what they’re missing as he dominates next to LeBron
Eastbound I-80 closure in San Francisco snarls traffic, slows business
Can Keir Starmer survive the latest Mandelson revelations? | BBC News
Petar Musa’s Brace Not Enough as FC Dallas Draws LA Galaxy 2-2
MLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd
From across Boston they flock to play for Latin Academy boys’ tennis, a co-op of 29 schools – The Boston Globe