Meridian’s Jeremiah Gonzalez lifts Nampa’s Vincent Contreras into the air during the final round of the 113-pound weight class during the state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Nampa’s Nikko Gonzalez celebrates with head coach Roy Perales after winning the final round of the 138-pound weight class during the state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center.
Nampa’s Carson Exferd, right, competes in the final round of the 132-pound weight class Saturday during the state wrestling tournament at the Ford Idaho Center.
Meridian’s Jeremiah Gonzalez lifts Nampa’s Vincent Contreras into the air during the final round of the 113-pound weight class during the state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.
Jake King/For The Idaho Press
Nampa’s Nikko Gonzalez celebrates with head coach Roy Perales after winning the final round of the 138-pound weight class during the state wrestling tournament Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center.
Jake King/For The Idaho Press
Nampa’s Carson Exferd, right, competes in the final round of the 132-pound weight class Saturday during the state wrestling tournament at the Ford Idaho Center.
NAMPA — As much as Brad Muri marveled at the five Meridian wrestlers who won individual state title on Saturday, the Warriors coach also had to give due to the five who saw their state title dreams end Friday night with a loss in the semifinals.
All five wrestlers came back Saturday and won their first consolation match to get into their third-place match. Three of them won that match, helping push Meridian over the edge as a team to win its third straight 5A state championship Saturday at the Ford Idaho Center.
“Our guys on the backside this morning went five for five in the opening round,” said Muri. “That’s what put us in a good spot to win it tonight.”
Meridian finished with 280.5 team points to beat out second-place by Post Falls and win their third straight state championship. The Warriors had snapped a 34-year state title drought when it won its first state title of its current run in 2021.
A couple of years later, and now it’s Meridian who is the dominant squad in the 5A ranks.
“It just shows how hard our program works, day in and day out,” said senior Cade White, who won his third title at 160 pounds by beating Nampa’s Jonathan Seamons via an 11-7 decision. “We’re not here to play games and mess around. Our team’s here and we’re making a statement.”
Meridian also got state titles from Jerimiah Gonzalez at 113 pounds, Jason Mara at 152, Isaiah Twait at 182 and Carson Gooley at 195. Gonzalez, Mara and Gooley are all underclassmen and will be back next year as the Warriors try and make it four in a row.
“From being a freshman to leading this team to being a three-time state championship team and me, myself being a three-time state champ, too, it’s just really awesome,” said Mara, a who beat Middleton’s Jacob Blandford via a 11-2 major decision to pick up his third title. “It’s mind blowing to me. I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on right now.”
Mara will have a chance at history next season as he’ll attempt to become the first four-time state champion in Meridian wrestling’s history. On Saturday he and White became the fourth and fifth three-time champions in program history and the first ones to do it since Tanner Hall won three straight from 2009-11.
“I’m freaking exciting,” said Mara. “Being a contender for Meridian’s first four-time state champion is exciting. I put in all the time in the (wrestling) room and that’s what I work for. It’s what I’ve looked up to as a child, being a four-time state champion.”
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Another local wrestler entered Saturday with a chance at his fourth state title, but Eagle’s Tanner Frothinger fell to Nampa senior Nikko Gonzalez 7-5 in overtime of the 138-pound final.
It’s the first state title for Gonzalez, who twice earlier in his career fell victim in the championship match by a wrestler going for his fourth title. As a freshman in 2021, he lost to Kuna’s Mason Mitchell as Mitchell claimed his fourth. Last season it was Bishop Kelly’s Christopher Martino who etched his name into history at Gonzalez’s expense.
He wasn’t about to go down as a footnote for the third time in his career, however. This time, Gonzalez was determined to go out as a champion.
“It means a lot,” said Gonzlaez. “Losing those two years, there’s times I doubted myself. I just kept trusting the process, believing in my coaches.”
Nampa also got individual state titles from Dedrick Navarro at 120 pounds and Carson Exferd at 132. The Bulldogs finished with 241.5 points as a team and finished third in their first year moving up from the 4A to the 5A classification.
“We’re a family, we’ve been grinding with each other and have been wrestling since we were a very young age,” said Navarro, a senior who won his second state title after winning one as a freshman in 2020. “It’s awesome how we came up.”
Like Mara, Exferd will be going for his fourth state title next year. The junior captured his third straight Saturday, beating Post Falls’s Tyson Barnhart via a 7-1 decision. He’s Nampa’s first-ever three-time state champion.
“It begins tomorrow,” Exferd said when asked when his hunt for a fourth title begins. “I’m always looking for the next tournament, the next big thing to prove myself. This is just the beginning. There’s a lot more growth and a lot more wrestling that comes in that just in the high school season. The offseason starts right after.”
Borah’s Aden Attao capped off his second straight state title and an undefeated season by beating Mountain View’s Shilo Jones in a 10-2 major decision in the 285-pound final. Mountain View took home a team trophy, finishing fourth.
