| BY STEPHEN VINCENT • For The Spectrum & Daily News • December 18, 2009 | | ST. GEORGE - With some key pins early and late, Snow Canyon's wrestling team won a dual over an illness-depleted Hurricane squad, 42-36.
Down 26-24 with five matches remaining, Snow Canyon had monstrous pins by Allan Wilde and Thomas Hafen.
Wilde, a senior team captain, pinned his opponent in the first round. After coming close to earning the pin on a couple of occasions, Wilde finally forced both shoulders down with 26 seconds left in the first period.
Despite the victory coming at a key point in the match, Wilde didn't pay any attention to the importance of his match to the team.
"I didn't even know what the score was," he said. "I don't like to have to worry about that."
Hafen followed with a pin in the 140-weight class. Being driven backwards several feet from the center of the mat by his opponent, Jeremy Evans, Hafen managed to stop Evans' push - just inches from being out of bounds. Then Hafen flipped Evans to the ground and held him down for a pin.
"Thomas is deceiving because he is so skinny, but he goes out there and gets the job done," said Snow Canyon coach Wane Kittrell.
Those two wins, plus a subsequent Hurricane forfeit at 145, gave Snow Canyon a lead that proved to be too much for the Tigers.
Snow Canyon started off the match with a pair of pins in the 171 and 189 weight classes by sophomores Tavish Nelson and Curtis Bulloch, respectively.
Bulloch put his man to the mat by using an arm bar to gain control and then turning his opponent over for the pin.
"It was a good win for us," Bulloch said. "We won this match (against Hurricane) last year, and we stepped up and won it again this year, even thought we have a lot of new people."
Although a staph infection, which caused the Tigers to forfeit three bouts, is circulating through the Hurricane squad, they had some good showings. Hurricane had four pins on the night - by Bryan Scott (215), Drew Mills (112), Will Baldwin (119) and Jordan Prince (130).
The Tigers' Jordan Peterson and Pat Russell also won the last two matches of the night. Peterson was saved by the bell as Jennings Fletcher nearly pinned him in the waning seconds of the third round.
Russell overcame a cut eye to win his bout, 7-2.
"It was a good battle," Russell said. "It taught me a lot about what I have to do to get better. It showed that I have the ability to stay under control even when my opponent is wrestling me rough." |
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