Moapa Valley Progress
The Pirates had a busy week wrestling Pahranagat Valley and Virgin Valley at home on Thursday evening, then traveling to Shadow Ridge High School on the weekend for a two-day dual tournament.
The Pirates came out swinging in their first dual Thursday night against Pahranagat Valley and easily defeated them with a score of 42-18. Austin Tafoya, Jorge Cervantes, William Uri, and Jackson Mills all recorded wins by fall. The Pirates struggled against Virgin Valley and seemed to lack a little of the fire they have shown in other duals this year. The final score was 60-24 Virgin Valley with Gavin Henrie recording the only win for the Pirates.
Looking to redeem themselves from a tough loss against Virgin Valley, the Pirates competed in the Shadow Ridge Mustang Stampede on Friday and Saturday. Teams from California, Utah and Nevada attend and because it’s a dual tournament, every wrestler is guaranteed significant mat time.
The Pirates opened the tournament against Alta, Utah’s A team and had a rough go of it. Austin Tafoya, Jorge Cervantes and Avery Stratton started the team off right, all winning by fall against their opponents.
But the Pirates ran in to a buzz saw in the upper weights. The final score ended up being 63-18 Alta.
Coming off that tough loss, The Pirates drew another powerhouse in Cimarron Memorial in the second round of the seeding portion of the tournament. Jorge Cervantes, who became the superstar of this tournament, recorded the only win for the Pirates, pinning his opponent in 1:20 of the first period. The Pirates dropped the dual 78-6.
Day two was a different story. The Pirates (still forfeiting quite a few weight classes due to empty spots in the lineup) were placed in the bronze bracket against teams with which they matched up more competitively.
Missing one of their best wrestlers, Gavin Henrie, due to the ACT’s, the Pirates faced off against Rancho High School in the first round. Jorge Cervantes continued his winning streak by sticking his opponent in the first period. Zachary Anderson, Hayden Redd, Cropper Henrie, and Ryan McMurray also pinned their opponents. Unfortunately, the Pirates weren’t quite able to overcome the initial deficit created by the holes in the lineup and dropped the dual 48-30.
The Pirates wrestled Alta B in the second round of day two and finally got the monkey off their backs winning the dual by the narrowest of margins, 42-36. Austin Tafoya, Jorge Cervantes, William Uri, and Ryan McMurray all won their matches by fall. Avery Stratton was dominating his opponent and lost a heartbreaker at the end when he got caught out of position and pinned in the third period.
The Pirates’ next dual was against Eldorado High School. As was the norm for the tournament, Jorge Cervantes pinned his opponent in the first period. Zachary Anderson also won by fall over his opponent and Hayden Redd snuck out a 4-1 victory to sneak the Pirates past the Sun Devils, 39-35.
In the fourth round of day two, the Pirates wrestled Shadow Ridge B. Gavin Henrie made it back from his test and joined the team as they defeated the Mustangs 54-18. Jorge Cervantes continued his tear and pinned his opponent in the first period. Zachary Anderson wrestled his best match of the year winning a back-and-forth nail-biter by fall with very little time left in the third period. Hayden Redd, Gavin Henrie, Cropper Henrie and Ryan McMurray all scored falls for the Pirates as well.
The Moapa team faced off against Bonanza High School in the ultimate dual of the tournament and defeated them 54-30. There were very few scoring matches in this dual due to holes in both teams’ lineups. But of the significant matches that did take place, Zachary Anderson won his match by fall.
The team ended up bringing home a second place trophy for Moapa Valley High School, which is an improvement from last year’s 3rd place finish in the same tournament.
Jorge Cervantes was undefeated the entire tournament and pinned every one of his opponents. “It was spectacular to watch him step up and lead the team,” said assistant coach Ryan Anderson.
Youth Wrestling
The Moapa Valley youth team took 23 wrestlers to the Mojave High School tournament on Saturday. Of those, 19 placed 4th place or better. Shandon Matheson and Stetson Houston brought home the gold for the Pirates.
“This was the first tournament of the year for the majority of the youth wrestlers and they did an outstanding job,” Anderson said.
A special thanks goes out to Coach Steve Katich (a two-time State Champion and Super State Champion for Moapa Valley) who recently returned to the valley with his family, Coach Phil Sprague, Coach Nick Brown, Coach Gene Houston and all the other coaches, moms and dads helping with the youth program this season.
