Four Qualify For State

Moapa Valley Progress

Pirate wrestler Hayden Redd competes in the NIAA Southern Regional tournament held at MVHS last weekend. Redd was one of four Pirate wrestlers to qualify for state competition which will be held this weekend. PHOTO BY MAGGIE MCMURRAY/Moapa Valley Progress.

The Pirates hosted the NIAA 3A Southern Regional Wrestling Tournament last weekend and the event went off without a hitch.

The Pirates qualified four wrestlers for state competition over the two-day tournament. In addition, the team produced two 5th place finishers who will act as alternates if something were to happen to the 4th place finisher.

Pirate wrestler Russell Bodily won 2nd place at 152 lbs. He narrowly missed first place in a heart-breaking loss to his Boulder City opponent.
“Russell wrestled very well and we are confident he will make the necessary adjustments to come out on top the next time the two meet,” said MVHS Assistant Coach Ryan Anderson.

Austin Tafoya and Hayden Redd both earned 3rd place finishes.
“If you know me, you’ll often hear me say the only difference between 2nd and 3rd place in this kind of tournament is when the wrestler lost his match,” Anderson said. “Hayden had been dominating his Mojave opponent in the second round of the tournament and just made a slight error that cost him.”

Four Pirate wrestlers qualified to compete in the state competition at last week’s Regional Tournament. They included l to r Austin Tafoya, Hayden Redd, Russell Bodily and Jorge Cervantes.

Jorge Cervantes finished in 4th place in one of the most stacked weight classes in 3A this year. “Jorge wrestled very well and is excited to compete in state.” Anderson said.
William Uri and Ryan McMurray finished 5th and will be our two alternates.

The Pirates finished in 7th place as a team with 5 holes in the lineup. Anderson stressed that a full Pirate team would have put them in the top 4 and possibly contending for the title.

“We’re looking forward to adding 5-6 freshmen wrestlers next year who have been involved in the youth program for multiple seasons,” Anderson said. “I’ll also make a personal plea to coaches and parents out there. If their young men or young women are not involved in a winter sport, they should encourage them to wrestle. I guarantee they will be better all around athletes if they do.”

The MVHS coaching staff also expressed appreciation to the community for support in hosting this major tournament event.
“We couldn’t have done it without the help from our wonderful community,” Anderson said. “From our volunteer table help, concessions workers, the Pirate Motion dancers acting as timers, the high school custodial staff and administrators, there were no complaints whatsoever from anyone. We can’t thank everyone enough for the support.”

The state championship tournament is being held in the Winnemucca indoor events center this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9.