By Gregg Chappell
Moapa Valley Progress
The 2010-2011 wrestling season came to an end for the Pirates with the culmination of the State Tournament at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nevada. The wrestlers competed over the course of two days in front of an impressive crowd.
Schools from all across the state came as 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A all grappled on Friday and Saturday.
The 1A and 2A classifications are always combined together for the wrestling championships. All three classifications participated in an eight man, double elimination format.
The 3A and 4A schools each had a pigtail match between the eighth and ninth place wrestlers to determine who would be seeded into the eight man bracket. The loser of the pigtail match was eliminated from the tournament.
Moapa Valley had 15 wrestlers who qualified to go to the state tournament this year. Five of the original 15 athletes survived the elimination process and were able to compete for the top four medaling spots. The Pirates have not had five state medalists in the same season for many years.
The tournament this year was even more difficult to place in, with the addition of three former 4A schools: Churchill County, South Tahoe and Elko High Schools due to realignment in the Northern 3A division.
Brayden Evans at 119 pounds was the first Pirate to medal; he took fourth place.
Shae Bryant at 135 pounds defeated Erik Wilson from Fernley in an exciting championship match by a 3-2 victory. Shae completes his high school wrestling career as a two time wrestling state champion. Shae was only defeated once this entire season.
Trevor Durham at 152 pounds advanced to the championship round and finished in second place.
Parker Chappell at 160 pounds defeated Fernley and Boulder City to medal at fourth place.
A first time qualifier for state, Brandon Reeves at 215 pounds, received a fourth place medal.
The Pirates this year continued to improve as a team and placed in the top five of the 3A. Lowry was once again named the state champions with 200 points. Spring Creek finished in second place with 170 points. Boulder City finished third in the tournament with 129 points. Churchill Country edged past Moapa Valley in the final round to finish in fourth place with 78 points and Moapa Valley rounded out the top five with 75 points.
Ranking in 6th through 12th place are as follows; Elko; Fernley; Virgin Valley; South Tahoe; Sparks; Truckee and Dayton.
Congratulations to the Pirate wrestlers and coaches for a winning season.
2 thoughts on “Five Pirate Wrestlers Take Medals at State Tournament”
Congradulations to the team members for their dedication to their sport and to the STATE WINNERS, also to the Coaches for their hard work in helping these boys have a good experience in wrestling this year.
Congradulations to the team members for their dedication to their sport and to the STATE WINNERS, also to the Coaches for their hard work in helping these boys have a good experience in wrestling this year.