| Pirates Host Wrestling Tournament | |||
| By Jonathan Ogelsby Moapa Valley Progress Published January 7, 2009 The Moapa Valley High School Wrestling team hosted the Marty Taggart Dual Tournament at Moapa Valley High School last Saturday. Eight schools competed in the day-long tournament, including Southern 3A foes Faith Lutheran and Virgin Valley. The tournament was set up in a round-robin dual format. The teams with the best overall record were then reseeded into the championship round. |
 MVHS Wrestler Ben Rebman takes control of his opponent from Basic High School during a match at the Marty Taggert Duals held at MVHS on Saturday, January 3, 2009. Photo by Rachel Brandes |
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| In the first round, Moapa Valley faced off against Rancho High School. The Pirates won the duel against Rancho, albeit because of many Rancho forfeits. Despite this, Moapa Valley got a strong performance from veterans Shae Bryant, Zach Staley, and Riley Staley. All three had pins to seal the first victory for Moapa Valley.
In the second round, the Pirates faced Basic High School. Basic had a much larger and fuller team than Moapa which led to the easy victory for the Wolves. Once again, Bryant and the Staley brothers were able to win and to represent the Pirates well. |
 MVHS Wrestler Shae Bryant seems to have things all wrapped up as his holds his opponent from Basic High School during a match at the Marty Taggert Duals held at MVHS on Saturday, January 3, 2009. Photo by Rachel Brandes |
In round three, Moapa wrestled against Faith Lutheran. The Pirates cleaned up against the Crusaders as Parker Chappell, Zach Staley, Derik Parkinson, Ben Rebman, Ray Bellavance, and Taylor Houston got easy pins to catapult the Pirates into the Consolation Championship.
The Pirates wrestled Silverado in the final and despite good wins from Will Belcher, Parker Chappell, Derik Parkinson, and Shae Bryant, the Skyhawks soared as they captured third place. Overall in the tournament, Cimarron-Memorial took first, Basic took second, Silverado took third, and Moapa Valley placed fourth, beating all other small schools. |
| Earlier last week, the Pirates also wrestled in the Bulldog Growler. The Pirates were able to come away with three winners: Cyle Durham, Shae Bryant, and Derik Parkinson. Moapa placed third in that tournament. |
