The Pahrump Valley High School Trojans boys’ wrestling team competed at the 3A Southern Regional Tournament in Boulder City on Saturday, February 1. PVHS finished second in the team standings behind Moapa Valley and qualified 10 wrestlers for the State Championship, which will take place on February 7-8 in Fallon, NV.
Several PVHS wrestlers advanced through the tournament to secure spots at State. Bishop Carter (132 lbs.) and Oscar Bosket (190 lbs.) finished first in their brackets, winning all their matches. Joseph Scheer (113 lbs.), Jacob McLaughlin (132 lbs.), and Iyan Bosket (175 lbs.) took second place, competing in tough matches to secure their placements.
Austin Alvarez (157 lbs.) and Paul Walker (165 lbs.) finished in third place, successfully advancing to State. Ethan Rouse (106 lbs.), Zach Hulderson (113 lbs.), and Joaquin Flores (126 lbs.) placed fourth, completing PVHS’s list of qualifiers.
Although not all wrestlers moved on to State, many put in strong performances. Dominic Chiancone (120 lbs.), Ben De Santiago (138 lbs.), Jayden Crisler (144 lbs.), Ryan Hamlin (150 lbs.), Jacob Stepp (165 lbs.), Randy Murray (190 lbs.), Billy Sparks (215 lbs.), and Julio Ackerman (Heavyweight) contributed to the team’s overall second-place finish.
Head Coach Frank Lopez said, “The Regional tournament was an overall successful day for us. We took 18 wrestlers and 10 qualified for the state tournament. We took 2nd in the region to a very talented Moapa Valley team. All of our boys showed up and wrestled hard. We were very close to qualifying more but lost tight matches. That’s how it goes in the postseason though; everything gets tighter, every single point is important. I am very proud of our boys and the way we represented our program on Saturday. We will grind out another week of practice and then watch our boys compete for state titles and the chance to stand on the podium.”
With 10 PVHS wrestlers preparing for the State Championships, the team looks ahead to another week of training before taking the mat in Fallon.
*Medal pictures courtesy of Coach Mike Colucci
