Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Boulder City High School wrestling program’s morale is at an all-time high after placing nine first-place finishers at the Pahranagat Valley Invitational in Alamo on Friday.
Rolling to the team title with an overall score of 260.5, the Eagles dominated every weight class, finishing with 21 wrestlers in at least the top four.
“We’re not going to jump to conclusions and say this points us in the state hunt or anything like that,” head coach Jim Cox said. “But the boys do look really sharp at the moments, as they have all season. I’m very proud of them up to this point, but there’s still a lot of work left to be done on the mat.”
Dominating the top of the podium were seniors Jimmy Brown (132 pounds) and Bryan Foster (170 pounds), juniors Garrett Leavitt (113 pounds) and D.J. Reese (120 pounds), sophomores Jimmy Dunagan (152 pounds), James Ewell (182 pounds), Ryan Vanario (195 pounds) and Michael Kaposta (275 pounds) and freshman Justin Bonar (106 pounds).
“I’m very proud of our team for stepping up and taking home this win,” Foster said. “We had a lot of guys that showed nothing but heart and determination over the weekend. We all push each other to get better and the end result are victories.”
Having their fair share of second-place finishers as well, seniors Octavian Trumbo (152 pounds), Dillon Viera (160 pounds) and Devin Fox (220) fell just short in the championship round, along with junior Zane Dennington (120 pounds) and sophomore Kenon Cowley (113 pounds).
“Top to bottom, I thought we did a nice job this weekend,” Cox said. “The familiar faces obviously got victories, but we had some new guys as well get into the mix and show what they can do. (It was a ) great tournament overall for our program as we try to continue to build for the postseason.”
Finishing in third place at Alamo were junior Wyatt Harling (182 pounds) and freshmen JC Bonar (120 pounds) and Ladd Cox (138 pounds). Junior J.P. Valenzuela (132 pounds), sophomores Hayden Moore (138 pounds) and Thorston Balmer (160 pounds) and freshman Curtis Brown (106 pounds) each finished fourth.
Carrying over their weekend momentum into Tuesday’s league opener against Moapa Valley, the Eagles pinned their way to a 72-12 victory.
“It was a great way to start off league play tonight,” Cox said. “I thought everyone came out ready and focused and it showed in their ability to get the pin. We still have our work cut out for us, but we’re on the right track.”
Continuing league play today, the Eagles will travel to Chaparral, followed by the Delta Duals starting on Friday in Utah.
Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.
Upcoming games
Today, at Chaparral, 5 p.m. junior varsity; 6 p.m. varsity
Friday, Delta Duals in Delta, Utah, TBA