Injury-plagued Red Devils go 5-3 at Juab wrestling tournament
by Jeff Richards
contributing writer
Dec 13, 2012 | 1290 views | 0 0 comments | 11 11 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Grand’s Austin Day (top) attempts to pin his Manti opponent during the Juab Winter Classic meet on Dec. 7. Photo by Michelle White
Grand’s Austin Day (top) attempts to pin his Manti opponent during the Juab Winter Classic meet on Dec. 7. Photo by Michelle White
slideshow
Despite injuries that sidelined several athletes, the Grand County High School wrestling team went 5-3 overall at last week’s Juab Winter Classic, a two-day invitational duals tournament held in Nephi.

The Red Devils started off on Friday, Dec. 7 with a 54-21 loss to host school Juab High, which dropped Grand into Pool C. The Red Devils then played the other seven schools within that pool in a round-robin tournament that lasted until Saturday afternoon.

According to Grand’s coach, Dennis Wells, the Red Devils won five of their seven round-robin games, defeating Summit Academy 54-24, and also beating Manti, Carbon, Springville, and Juan Diego, all by identical 42-36 scores. The Red Devils’ two defeats were a 39-35 loss to Uintah and a 60-18 loss to Panguitch.

Wrestling at 145 pounds, GCHS sophomore Ronnie Dolphin fractured his right arm during his second match on Friday, against Summit Academy, but still managed to beat his opponent on points, 8-7. Dolphin was unable to wrestle any additional matches, however, and finished with a 1-1 record at the tournament. His broken arm is expected to keep him out for the rest of the season, coach Wells said.

In addition, GCHS heavyweight wrestler Edgar Gomez, a junior, injured his knee in his fifth match, and was unable to wrestle in the team’s final three matches. Gomez went 4-1 overall, Wells said.

Two other Red Devil athletes didn’t compete at Juab at all due to injuries. Dexter Sheets, a 120-pound senior, was recuperating from a shoulder injury, but is expected to return to action soon, Wells said.

However, Jacob Francis, a 132-pound junior and former state finalist, is not so lucky, as his recent shoulder dislocation will require surgery and sideline him the remainder of the season.

“He’ll get it operated on Dec. 27 and will not wrestle the rest of the year,” Wells said.

Two GCHS wrestlers posted 7-1 win-loss records at the Juab tournament: 152-pound junior Trenton White and 120-pound junior Gage Lindquist. In addition, 195-pound Austin Day, also a junior, was 5-2 overall at Juab, while 138-pound senior Doyle Irvine was 4-4.

Winning three of five matches overall for Grand at the Juab tournament were Seth Holyoak, Matt Bridenbaker, Donavin Denton, Justin Moore, and Robert Allred.

GCHS sophomore Andrew Hugentobler, who was wrestling in the junior varsity division at 120 pounds, took fourth place overall in that JV tournament, Wells said.

This weekend, on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15, the Red Devils will travel to Kayenta, Ariz., for an invitational tournament.

Grand’s first home match of the season will be a dual meet against the San Juan Broncos on Dec. 19.
Share This Article |

Copyright 2013 The Times-Independent. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

report abuse...

Express yourself:

We're glad to give readers a forum to express their points of view on issues important to this community. That forum is the “Letters to the Editor.” Letters to the editor may be submitted directly to The Times-Independent through this link and will be published in the print edition of the newspaper. All letters must be the original work of the letter writer – form letters will not be accepted. All letters must include the actual first and last name of the letter writer, the writer’s address, city and state and telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be accepted.

Letters may not exceed 400 words in length, must be regarding issues of general interest to the community, and may not include personal attacks, offensive language, ethnic or racial slurs, or attacks on personal or religious beliefs. Letters should focus on a single issue. Letters that proselytize or focus on theological debates will not be published. During political campaigns, The Times-Independent will not publish letters supporting or opposing any local candidate. Thank you letters are generally not accepted for publication unless the letter has a public purpose. Thank you letters dealing with private matters that compliment or complain about a business or individual will not be published. Nor will letters listing the names of individuals and/or businesses that supported a cause or event. Thank you letters about good Samaritan acts will be considered at the discretion of the newspaper.