PVHS wrestlers gain advantage over The Meadows
On the lengthy bus ride over to Summerlin Tuesday evening, Pahrump Valley wrestling coach Frank Lopez prayed the strong showing at last weekend’s Chaparral Invitational tournament would continue on the mats.
The Trojans would go on to answer his prayers as they soundly defeated The Meadows 72-12.
“The boys came out and wrestled really hard,” Lopez said. “We always pride ourselves on our conditioning and basics. ‘Do we have a double arm to a bar?’ That’s our program. We try not to stop and we wrestle hard all six minutes.”
Following a seventh-place finish last weekend, Pahrump Valley’s team found success in multiple pin opportunities at this week’s match-up.
Backed by the deafening cheers of support from her teammates, Trojans senior Payton Weaver got the party started quickly in the girls 120-pound weight class as she was able to gain top position, pinning her opponent Brooke Ioffe.
“Normally I can tell how decent a wrestler is by their handshake. Hers definitely threw me off,” Weaver said. “I was expecting a longer match. I haven’t wrestled her yet, so anyone that I haven’t wrestled, where we have a duel or a match coming up, they’re having me practice for regionals.”
The Meadows sophomore, returning state champion Nikolas Gallardo, seemed to be the only light at the end of the tunnel for the Mustangs. Competing in the 157-pound weight class, the former All-American was able to gain a reversal after multiple pass attempts, pinning Trojans junior Austin Alvarez.
“He’s a state champ from last year, solid kid,” Lopez said of Gallardo. “But all our boys came out and wrestled tough and it showed out there today.”
Senior standout Oscar Bosket, who did not wrestle Tuesday night, said that the Trojans had a good opportunity to be able to work out different offensive techniques coming into the match.
“Not being on the mat today in a way is nice. I’m a little injured having taken a few bruises over the last few matches so it’s nice to rest and see what is working and what isn’t,” Bosket said.
Heading into regionals, the Trojans have three more league duels to play before the season concludes.
“We’re just getting the boys prepared as we transition from team play to getting individuals ready to go and succeed in the postseason,” Lopez said.
Contact Jacob Powers at jpowers@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jaypowers__ on X.
