Apparently winning a state wrestling title doesn’t bring a whole lot of glamour.
After the team bus stopped in Tonopah last Sunday on the way back from the state meet in Primm, Nevada, Spanish Springs’ Blake Boswell realized he wasn’t done working out for the weekend.
He had just wrapped up his high school wrestling career with the 145-pound state title less than 24 hours earlier only to emerge out of the restaurant and realize his ride was leaving. So along with his teammate Cole Drescher, who finished second in the 152-pound class, the two had to chase down the bus.
“That was actually something to remember. It was pretty funny,” Boswell said. “It had just started pulling out and we like sprinted over and waved it off (before) they saw us and stopped.”
The near fiasco in Tonopah was the only thing that didn’t go perfectly over the weekend for Boswell, other than battling the flu. The senior won all three of his matches by fall on his way to his first state championship.
“It just fell into place and things worked out,” Boswell said. “I did not expect that … Once I got him on his back (in the state championship match), I was just thinking ‘squeeze him as tight as I can and it will all work out.’ It was crazy. It was awesome.”
He said the reality of his accomplishment sunk in five days after the fact, but that was partly because he had plenty of time to think about it. His flu got so bad after the state tournament that he missed the first three days of school before returning to classes on Thursday.
Plenty of people reached out to him over the week, particularly his teammate Reece Masset who ‘blew his phone up,’ before the majority of his congratulations rolled in on Thursday at school.
“I got all my congratulations and all that, so it was pretty cool,” Boswell said.
His state title helped lead Spanish Springs to a second place team finish at the meet—the highest place ever by the program. The highest Spanish Springs had finished at state before last weekend was fourth, in 2014.
While he said he would’ve liked to win the program’s first state title, he wasn’t going to complain about a runner-up finish.
Boswell plans to wrestle at Santa Rosa Junior College, located west of Sacramento, next year.
While he will not get the shot to defend his state title next fall, Reed’s Izzy Casarez will.
After finishing second in the state tournament last year, the junior rolled to the 138-pound state title in convincing fashion. He won all three of his matches, including the state championship match, by major decision.
“I honestly didn’t see it happening like that,” Casarez said. “I thought all three matches were going to be tough, and they were, but I was just prepared for it.
“It’s a feeling you can’t really explain. It’s a good feeling, that feeling that I’d succeeded and I’d won something I’d wanted since I was young. I was super happy. I knew I made my parents proud.”
He said the title hasn’t sunk in yet.
“It hasn’t hit me at all,” he said.
Once it does sink in, he doesn’t plan to rest on his laurels. The recently crowned state champion had no problem talking about his title defense run next winter. He said a number of people who have reached out to him for his feat have reminded him there is work still to be done in his senior season.
“I know there’s people out there who want to beat me,” Casarez said. “So I just have to work super hard to stay on top.”
While he was comfortable looking forward, he didn’t have a problem looking back, either, realizing he ddin’t clinch his first state title on his own.
“I just want to thank everyone who supported me,” Casarez said. “I do it for everybody … I want to thank everybody for it.”
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