Post by Alumni on Feb 12, 2007 9:57:12 GMT -5
Rattlers' depth dominates, enables program's first championship
By ROBERT PEREA
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL
SPARKS -- By qualifing 13 wrestlers for the tournament, Mojave outnumbered its opponents in the Class 4A state wrestling championships.
Turns out the Rattlers had everyone outmanned, too.
Though Mojave had only one individual champion, unbeaten 189-pound Reggie Powers, eight other Rattlers also won medals to propel the team to its first state title Saturday at Spanish Springs High School.
Mojave compiled 136 points, had the title wrapped up before the finals began and unseated four-time defending champion Cimarron-Memorial. The Spartans finished second with 112 points and had two individual champions.
But it was Mojave's weekend. The Rattlers entered as the favorites after winning the Sunset Regional last week, and they didn't disappoint.
"We're state champs -- there's nothing else to say," coach Bill Murray said. "Our season has been awesome."
Mojave entered the consolation round leading Cimarron by only 6 1/2 points, but four out of five Rattlers won their third-place matches, giving Mojave an insurmountable 25-point lead heading into the finals.
It was a championship several years in the making for the Rattlers.
"Four years ago we brought in some guys to help out. We all got on the same page and we've just taken off since then," Murray said. "We knew we had something special with these kids four years ago."
Though Cimarron's four-year title run was stopped, co-coach Mike Garcia was not let down by his team's performance. The Spartans qualified eight wrestlers for the tournament and seven won medals.
"We hardly could've done better," he said. "We scored more points than we did last year. We're entirely pleased."
Mojave simply had too much depth, with 12 of their 13 qualifiers eligible to earn points.
"We filled out the brackets with what we thought guys were going to do," Murray said. "But a couple of guys lost who we thought would win, and a couple others came through.
"Everybody here added to the win. Everybody won a match."
Powers dominated his weight class to cap a 61-0 season, beating Las Vegas' Zach Williams 15-8 in the finals.
"That was my toughest match all year," Powers said. "I've got respect for Zach. He gave me one of the toughest matches anyone ever gave me."
Powers, though, was more excited about the team trophy than his own gold medal.
"I don't really care for all the glory and fame," he said. "I'm a state champ, but I'll just stay level for now."
Winning gold for Cimarron were Britain Longmire (103 pounds) and Nicholas Harris (135). Longmire took a 10-5 decision over Jonny Cronin of Palo Verde, and Harris won a grueling 11-8 decision over Colby Evans of Mojave.
Harris scored a takedown with five seconds left to clinch the victory, and was so exhausted he had to be helped from the mat.
Third-place Las Vegas also had two champions. Jarell Price (140) earned a 4-3 double-overtime victory over Jeremy Padilla of Green Valley, and Zach Hocker (171) pinned Chazz Mitchell of Cimarron in overtime.
Green Valley's Edgar Hernandez also wrapped up an undefeated season (62-0) by pinning Mojave's Tolin Garcia in 3:45 for the 125-pound title.
"I never thought this would happen to me," Hernandez said. "It's a very good feeling for me and my family. I'm the only one who's going to graduate and I've got 20 people here from my family."
The other two individual champions from Southern Nevada were Bishop Gorman's Steven Hernandez (130) and Kyle Barrett of Palo Verde (152).
By ROBERT PEREA
SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL
SPARKS -- By qualifing 13 wrestlers for the tournament, Mojave outnumbered its opponents in the Class 4A state wrestling championships.
Turns out the Rattlers had everyone outmanned, too.
Though Mojave had only one individual champion, unbeaten 189-pound Reggie Powers, eight other Rattlers also won medals to propel the team to its first state title Saturday at Spanish Springs High School.
Mojave compiled 136 points, had the title wrapped up before the finals began and unseated four-time defending champion Cimarron-Memorial. The Spartans finished second with 112 points and had two individual champions.
But it was Mojave's weekend. The Rattlers entered as the favorites after winning the Sunset Regional last week, and they didn't disappoint.
"We're state champs -- there's nothing else to say," coach Bill Murray said. "Our season has been awesome."
Mojave entered the consolation round leading Cimarron by only 6 1/2 points, but four out of five Rattlers won their third-place matches, giving Mojave an insurmountable 25-point lead heading into the finals.
It was a championship several years in the making for the Rattlers.
"Four years ago we brought in some guys to help out. We all got on the same page and we've just taken off since then," Murray said. "We knew we had something special with these kids four years ago."
Though Cimarron's four-year title run was stopped, co-coach Mike Garcia was not let down by his team's performance. The Spartans qualified eight wrestlers for the tournament and seven won medals.
"We hardly could've done better," he said. "We scored more points than we did last year. We're entirely pleased."
Mojave simply had too much depth, with 12 of their 13 qualifiers eligible to earn points.
"We filled out the brackets with what we thought guys were going to do," Murray said. "But a couple of guys lost who we thought would win, and a couple others came through.
"Everybody here added to the win. Everybody won a match."
Powers dominated his weight class to cap a 61-0 season, beating Las Vegas' Zach Williams 15-8 in the finals.
"That was my toughest match all year," Powers said. "I've got respect for Zach. He gave me one of the toughest matches anyone ever gave me."
Powers, though, was more excited about the team trophy than his own gold medal.
"I don't really care for all the glory and fame," he said. "I'm a state champ, but I'll just stay level for now."
Winning gold for Cimarron were Britain Longmire (103 pounds) and Nicholas Harris (135). Longmire took a 10-5 decision over Jonny Cronin of Palo Verde, and Harris won a grueling 11-8 decision over Colby Evans of Mojave.
Harris scored a takedown with five seconds left to clinch the victory, and was so exhausted he had to be helped from the mat.
Third-place Las Vegas also had two champions. Jarell Price (140) earned a 4-3 double-overtime victory over Jeremy Padilla of Green Valley, and Zach Hocker (171) pinned Chazz Mitchell of Cimarron in overtime.
Green Valley's Edgar Hernandez also wrapped up an undefeated season (62-0) by pinning Mojave's Tolin Garcia in 3:45 for the 125-pound title.
"I never thought this would happen to me," Hernandez said. "It's a very good feeling for me and my family. I'm the only one who's going to graduate and I've got 20 people here from my family."
The other two individual champions from Southern Nevada were Bishop Gorman's Steven Hernandez (130) and Kyle Barrett of Palo Verde (152).