Trojans wrestler preparing for showdown

Pahrump Valley High School wrestler, senior Gino Gusman (126 pounds), has the next two weeks to prepare for the Nevada Southern Regional Division I-A Wrestling Tournament at Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas on Feb. 12-13. At the moment, he is the Trojans' best bet to make it to state with his undefeated league record.

He will be the number one seed for the South and still has two days of wrestling to go through before he starts thinking of his Northern opponent.

After his last tournament against Sierra Vista, Gusman expressed no concerns over his Southern opponents.

"I only had trouble with one wrestler and that was from Cheyenne," he said. "That match went to three rounds."

Gusman finished first at the Chaparral tournament which had 15 schools.

If all things go well at the Southern regional tournament, the Humboldt Sun's sports editor Tony Erquiaga predicts that Gusman will face Lowry High School senior Trace Bell (126). Bell is a senior at Lowry High School.

"He is by far the best wrestler at that class up North," Erquiaga said.

Bell just finished second out of 30 wrestlers from Nevada and Idaho at the Spring Creek Invitational. His only loss came to a wrestler from Idaho in the finals, where he lost 11-1 by decision to Christian Hudson.

"Trace looked good and wrestled well," Lowry High School wrestling coach John Brooks told the Humboldt Sun. "I was happy the way he looked. He just ran into a buzz-saw in the final. The Hudson kid is solid."

Lowry finished seventh at that tournament and Erquiaga said this was a rebuilding year for them. Lowry had won 6 titles up until Pahrump beat them last year. Lowry has 16 total wrestling state titles, which is the most in Nevada.

-Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com