Trojans soundly defeat last year’s Division I runner-up at state

The Trojans grapplers went up against Spring Valley on Tuesday night and won 46-26. Spring Valley was the Division I runner up at state last year. The full house crowd expected a better showing from the Grizzlies but it was not to be.

Trojans Coach Rieger expected the score to be closer, he knew the Grizzlies were missing some wrestlers, but still didn’t expect to win by that much of a margin.

“The coach for Spring Valley said he had lots of stuff going on. It really doesn’t matter about the forfeits, our best wrestlers are on the top. I want to wrestle. I am happy with the win, but unless we win 14 weight classes …”

He was disappointed at the losses the Trojans had that evening. The coach didn’t have to finish his comment. There were several matches the coach knew the Trojans should have won.

Wrestling summary:

At 106 pounds, senior Joseph Zarabozo lost by decision in overtime 10-8. It was close and probably not the way Rieger wanted to start off the day. Zarabozo’s record is now 6-4. Rieger had this to say about the loss, “Joseph Zarabozo is a good wrestler. He was up big in the third period. All he did was drill against the cradle (during the week). Spring Valley is a great cradling team. Everybody in the state knows this …” The coach said the other wrestler was still able to get a good cradle on Zarabozo, that’s how good at cradling the other team was.

At 113 pounds, sophomore Nathan Trudeau lost by pin in 38 seconds. He is now 2-8.

At 120 pounds, freshman David Reda wrestled his first varsity match and was quickly pinned in 19 seconds. The coaches see a lot of talent in him, so expect to see a lot more of him.

At 126 pounds, junior Gino Gusman worked his magic and won by pin in the second round. He increases his record to 9-1.

At 132 pounds, senior Nick Nelson returned to the ring after winning a wrestle-off with teammate Antonio Sandoval. Nelson won his match in the first round by pin.

At 138 pounds, senior Levi Gundacker fought a scoreless match until the end. He lost by a one-point decision at the end, when his opponent escaped his grasp. Gundacker falls to 7-3 on the year. Rieger was disappointed but knows Gundacker will come back.

“Levi let the guy escape and lost,” Rieger said. “He just has to get points. I told him (before the match) score points. He has to open up. He is so tight and he ends up not doing much and he knows he does this. He is a good wrestler in the practice room and then he tightens up.” With the win, the Trojans hung on to a narrow lead of 18-12.

At 145 pounds, senior Sam Brophy came in with his 9-0 record and won a decision in the third round that wasn’t even close, 13-2. Brophy said he wanted the pin really bad.

“All he was doing was stalling,” Brophy said. ” I couldn’t do anything with him because he had his arms straight out and wouldn’t let me do anything. I was thinking that I was going to get a quick pin, but it didn’t happen.” Brophy is now 10-0. He said he won’t be wrestling in Las Vegas at the Holiday Classic this weekend to heal some minor injuries.

When asked what the key to his success was, Brophy replied, “Every single match I give it all my heart and go out and try my hardest. I go out every single match thinking I am going to win.”

Brophy is known for his deadly guillotine move. This is where he throws on a leg ride. Brophy explained, “I am the only one on the team that the coach will let leg ride, because no else knows how and I came from another school that taught it. You pretty much put the arm behind the head and fall back right to his back and stretch him out. It is one of the most painful moves in wrestling, but it’s a dangerous move if I do it wrong.”

At 152 pounds, senior John Clark lost in the second round by pin. His record fell to 1-5 on the season.

At 160 pounds, Senior Garrett Monje won his wrestle-off with teammate Zeke Mendoza. He then lost by decision to SV, 8-3.

At 170 pounds, senior Sam Tucsnak stopped the bleeding and won by pin in the second round. After Tucsnak, the Trojans didn’t lose any more matches. Tucsnak is now 9-1.

At 182 pounds, senior Johnathan Corrow wins by forfeit and is now 9-1.

At 195 pounds, senior Jax Clayton came in determined not to lose. He won in 30 seconds by pin and is now 9-1.

“Prior to my match, I was so pumped up,” Jax said. “I wanted to follow the game plan as close as I could and I think I did. I put a bulldog on the guy. If somebody is going back on you that is when you put the elbow up and just put them on their back, that’s a bulldog.”

Jax was surprised that the Trojans won by so many points.

“It came down to us thinking it was going to be a lot closer than it was,” Jax said. “Our game plan was to pin, pin and pin. Get the pin points and not to give up pins. So that was the plan, just get as many pins as we can and not get pinned.”

At 220 pounds, Jeremy Coates won by forfeit. He is now 8-2.

At 285 pounds, Jace Clayton also won by forfeit to end the evening. He is 7-3.

It was touch and go in the middle-weights but once the Trojans got to Tucsnak it was all over for Spring Valley.

Spring Valley had some key wrestlers missing and should be hard to beat at regionals.

The Trojans are at a two-day wrestling tournament called the Las Vegas Holiday Classic starting today. Wrestlers from all over the United States will be there at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Dec. 19-20. Action starts at 10 a.m. The tournament is a high school wrestling tournament put on by the Las Vegas Sports Committee, which is a non-profit organization.

There will be a sixty-four-man bracket featuring teams from many parts of the United States. It is a double elimination format with attractive awards for the top eight wrestlers per weight class.

A “Hard Luck” bracket will be formed for all wrestlers eliminated with a 0-2 or 1-2 record on the first day of the tournament.