Jesse Jones and Jon Michael Stewart were the only Pahranagat Valley wrestlers competing in the 32-team varsity level Desert Storm tournament at Dixie High School in St. George, Utah, Dec. 14-15.
Three other Panther wrestlers, Tayt Leavitt, Davin Minick, and Jacob Griffin took part in the Desert Storm JV Classic. PVHS had 47 points, with Leavitt taking seventh place.
Coach Brad Loveday said the boys “are working hard; wrestled a lot of matches against bigger schools. It was a good weekend. It’s good competition for the boys; that’s why we go each year. Everyone gets a lot of mat time, getting experience and learning to do well.”
Jones (138) took sixth place and Stewart’s place was unknown on the varsity side.
The Panthers had 13 points. Lincoln County also participated but earned no points.
Stewart (285) had a bye in the first round of the championship bracket. He lost his next match by fall to Zack Goodall of West Jordan.
In consolation Round 2, Stewart had a bye, then lost by fall in the second period of Round 3 to Jaiden Romero of Bishop Gorman.
Jones had a bye in his first round and took an 11-7 decision over Ezay Castillo of Bishop Gorman in the second round. In the championship quarterfinals, though, he lost a 7-3 decision to Joshua Armstrong of Hurricane.
In Round 4 of the consolation bracket, Jones outpointed Travis Whiting of Green Canyon by a 7-3 decision and pinned Wyatt Larsen of Enterprise in Round 5.
In the consolation semifinals, Jones was pinned by Cody Candaleria of Aztec High (NM), then lost the fifth-place match by sudden victory to Graydee Warren of Millard.
In the JV tournament, Minick (132) wrestled four times but lost each match, first, by fall to Taijia Harada of Enterprise, then by forfeit to Robert Young of Enterprise. He lost his third match by fall to Tristen Pratt of Salem Hills, and finally to Kahekili Alip of Cimmeron Memorial by fall.
Griffin (170) was 3-2 at the tournament to take 10th place. He won by major decision (10-1) over Linden Jackson of Parowan. But he lost the next match by fall to Wayon Jones of Canyon View.
In the consolation, he won two matches, first by fall over Conner Stanworth of Grantsville, followed by a 13-7 decision over Isaiah Saint of Highland. In the ninth-place match, though, he lost by fall to Damien Anderson of Hurricane.
Leavitt (220) was 3-3 at the JV Classic. His first match was a pin over Colton Williams of Canyon View. He lost the next match though, 8-5, to Glen Thompson of Hunter High.
In Round 3, Leavitt won by fall over Kaden Gross of American Leadership Academy. Then, in the quarterfinals, he lost a 6-5 decision to Sunia Manavahe of Highland. In consolation Round 1, he lost a 9-6 decision to Cody Barlow of Enterprise but won the seventh-place match by forfeit over Aaron Deem of Dixie.
Pahranagat Valley will compete in the Ely Lions Invitational Dec. 20 at White Pine High School.
Then they will be off for the holidays and return to action hosting the Panther Invitational Jan. 11, featuring Moapa Valley, Lincoln County, Lake Mead, Indian Springs, and Sunrise Mountain.
