Dave Maxwell:
A Pahranagat wrestler has his man in down in a recent match. Pahranagat Valley and Lincoln County participate this weekend in the 36-team Desert Storm Dixie JV Classic in St. George, Utah.
Pahranagat Valley has unfilled spots in their wrestling weight classes, but the team still managed to place fifth in the nine-team tournament at Parowan, Utah last Saturday, which also included Lincoln County
Coach Brad Loveday said Salvador Heredia won the 113 pound class, freshman Reece Thornton was second at 170, Matthew Prince was third at 120, Jon Stewart was fourth at 195 and Danny Heredia was fourth at 170.
“The team is still rough, but we’re only a couple of weeks in,” Loveday said. “We’ll keep working, and we’ll get there.”
The boys had between three and five matches at Parowan, the coach said. “It depended on their weight class. Five is the most you can have in any one day.”
This week the Panthers participate in the 36-team Desert Storm JV Classic at Dixie High School and Dixie Middle School in St. George, Utah.
Loveday explained entering his wrestlers in the JV tournament is helpful to get them more experience and confidence. “We might have one or two that could be in the varsity tournament but choose to put everyone in the JV tourney.”
Pool play is done on Friday he explained. “You are in a pool of six other wrestlers in your weight and you get five matches. Then on Saturday you are put into your weight bracket depending on how you did on Friday. If a man wins most of his matches, he will be in a bracket with others who did equally well. But, for example, if you lost all your matches the first day, you would be paired with others who also did not do so well, and you could get up to five more matches. That way, you don’t just get only two matches on the weekend and then you’re out.”
Loveday said that’s what he likes about this tournament. “You get a lot of matches, you get a lot of challenges there.”
Most teams entered are Utah schools, but Aztec, New Mexico, near Farmington, is also entered.
