Trojan wrestling completes undefeated season
The Pahrump Valley wrestling team finished their season with an undefeated league record at 9-0 after getting the final two wins last week.
The first match of the week for the Trojans was against another top team in the 3A division in Boulder City.
These two schools know each other very well and Trojans’ head coach Craig Rieger has a lot of respect for the Boulder City program.
“Coach Cox and Coach Haynes are great coaches over here at Boulder City,” Rieger said. “Their boys are a good wrestling program also. We knew, you know, Pahrump and Boulder City, that’s always going to be a tight duel.”
And tight it was.
The duel between these two schools came down to two very key matchups.
In the 170 pound division, Abraham Oliveros took part in the first of the two key matchups. With the Trojans up by just three points, 24-21, Oliveros was tied with his opponent at five points apiece with less than 30 seconds remaining in the match.
After the two wrestlers were forced to stand and restart, Oliveros got a quick takedown to give himself a 7-5 lead. With little time remaining, Oliveros was able to get on top of his opponent and pin him with just one second left on the match clock.
This win gave the Trojans a much needed six points to increase their lead to nine, 30-21.
“We know Boulder City has some really good, key wrestlers.” Rieger said. “We, in our middleweights, are really solid. So the key matches were that 170 and 182 that could’ve went either way.”
In the very next match, freshman Trojan Ethan Hutchinson of the 182 pound division was in the second key matchup of the night.
Hutchinson’s opponent jumped out to an early lead, but Ethan was able to fight back into the match. In the third round, Hutchinson was trailing by a score of 7-4.
When it looked like Boulder City was going to take this matchup, Hutchinson had other plans in mind. With just 17 seconds left, Hutchinson was able to pin his opponent and get the victory for the Trojans.
Pahrump Valley wrestler Tanner Hanks secured the duel victory with his second round pin in one of the final matches of the night.
The Trojans went on to defeat the Eagles of Boulder City by a score of 42-33.
In the second duel of the week, the Trojans went up against the Chaparral Cowboys.
Pahrump Valley came away with a decisive win by a score of 66-9.
Seniors Chris Vega, Colby Tiller and Henry Amaya all secured wins in their weight classes by pinfall.
With the completion of their perfect league record, the Trojans will be entering the Nevada regional tournament as the top seeded team.
“We will now focus on the postseason regional tournament,” Rieger said. “We need to simply improve everyday in practice. We still have goals. We have to earn everything.”
The regionals will take place on Saturday, Feb. 12, at Virgin Valley high school. The first round of matches will start at 9 a.m.
