Pirates Take 2nd at the Growler

By DAVE BELCHER

The Progress

The Virgin Valley High School wrestling team hosted its annual Virgin Valley Bulldog Growler tournament last weekend on Dec. 15-16. The big wrestling roundup brought in teams from all across southern Nevada.

Teams from both Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley participated in the meet, often against much larger schools.
Moapa Valley placed second tied with Bishop Gorman at 181 team points in the tournament.
Shadow Ridge, a 5A team, won the Growler with 192.5 points.
Virgin Valley finished fourth with a team total 131 points.
The Pirates had four wrestlers win individual championships.

Morris Wolfley won the 120 pound weight class after defeating Landon Los Banos of Palo Verde by fall in the first period.

Caleb Anderson won the 126 pound class in a tough match against James Zuniga of Shadow Ridge ending with a 6-4 decision.

Shandon Matheson won the 165 pound class taking the final match by fall against Daniel Gostanian of Bishop Gorman.

Gavin Frederick won the 215 pound championship in a final match against John Watt of Bishop Gorman which ended in an 8-2 decision.

Moapa Valley had Stetson Houston place 2nd in the 113 pound class after losing the final round by major decision, 15-6, against Anthony Esoldo of Shadow Ridge.

Max Bromley ended in 2nd for the 144 class after a close decision, 12-10, in a match against Vincent Vogan of Bishop Gorman.

Jared Evans ended up in 3rd place for the 175 pound class after pinning Caleb Porter of Boulder City in the final.
Gary Leavitt placed 4th for the Pirates in the 165 class.

For Virgin Valley, Gunner Cortez was the lone champion for the Bulldogs. He took the 150 pound weight class by pinning Vicente Tizoc of Chaparral in the final round.

Ruben Silveyra placed second for the Dawgs in the 157 pound class. After pinning Spring Valley opponent Dillon Banks, in the semifinal round, Silveyra fell short by decision, 8-4, in the final round against Harrison Smith of Bishop Gorman.

Dominic Piazza made it into the final round in the 175 lb class by beating Caleb Porter of Boulder City. But he dropped the final match by fall against Caleb Farrar of Palo Verde.
Conner Zarate placed 3rd in the 165 lb class; and Jacob Nelson placed 3rd in the Heavyweight class for the Bulldogs.
Gary Woods placed 4th for Virgin Valley at 190.