By Gregg Chappell

Moapa Valley Progress

MVHS Senior, Parker Chappell defeated his Bishop Gorman opponent in the semi-finals of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic last week.

The Moapa wrestlers were off from competition during the first part of the week but were busy preparing for the Las Vegas Holiday Classic held on Dec 16-17.

This year at the Classic there were a total of 75 teams registered in the tournament which was held in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Teams came from many different states to compete, as far away as Louisiana, but the majority were from California and Nevada.

The 64 man bracket started off early Friday morning with 734 wrestlers hoping to advance through the brackets. After two losses participants were eliminated from the competition.

The competition was fierce and unfortunately the Pirates only had two wrestlers still in the tournament after the first day.

Trevor Durham at 160 pounds was seeded number two in the tournament and was undefeated by Friday evening. Saturday morning he met Tyler Bethany from Boulder City who he had pinned the previous week. Bethany had made adjustments after their prior bout and defeated Trevor, in a nail-biter, by a score of 11 to 9. Durham then met Tommy Fields from Bishop Gorman who pinned him and eliminated him from the tournament before qualifying in the medal rounds. Trevor has a record of 12 wins and 3 losses so far this season.

Parker Chappell, in the 182 pound weight class, was the other Pirate wrestler who went undefeated the first day. Saturday morning he continued to win and advanced to the championship match after defeating Jason Auschwitz of Bishop Gorman in the semi-finals with a score of 16 to 6.

Chappell then faced Marcus Judd from Palo Verde High School in the championship round. Judd was the number one seed in the tournament and is the favorite contender in the Nevada 4A class at 182 pounds this year. Chappell had the number two seed. Both Chappell and Judd entered the championship match with perfect records for the season of 19 wins no losses. Judd defeated Chappell by a score of 8 to 0 and claimed the gold medal. Parker finished the tournament in second place and now has a season record of 19 wins and one loss.

The top five teams in the tournament were: first place Mountain View, Arizona; second place Victory Valley, California; third place Palo Verde, Nevada; fourth place Sultana, California and in fifth place Spring Valley, Nevada. Moapa Valley finished in 33rd place. The Pirates next competition is at the Cimarron-Memorial Duals on December 21 and 22.