HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Hart, Judd battle back to win titles for Palo Verde

Jordon Hart just felt like he had to keep going.

The Palo Verde wrestler trailed 4-1 entering the final period of the 112-pound championship match at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Saturday. But he was confident it wasn’t over yet.

Instead of giving up, Hart nailed a takedown in the final 20 seconds to edge Arthur Carmona of Brawley (Calif.), 5-4 and win the tournament championship at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“I had to shrug it off, and keep going forward,” Hart said of falling behind.

Carmona took a lead on a first-period takedown, then used a reversal in the second period to take a 4-0 advantage. Hart picked up an escape, but still trailed 4-1 after two rounds.

Hart stood up to gain another escape, then began firing several rounds of back-to-back shots before taking Carmona down, finally dragging him to the mat.

“I’m always just going for it, and I thought he was backing out and I had to keep going for it,” Hart said. “He was going to break. I just had to keep going.”

The victory assured the top local spot at the tournament would go to the Panthers, who finished third with 219 1/2 points.

Parkersburg South (W. Va.) won the title with 352 1/2 points. Las Vegas High was fifth with 176 points, and Spring Valley sixth with 169. Shadow Ridge used a late charge and two individual champions to rally for 10th place.

Hart wasn’t the only Palo Verde wrestler who notched an emotional, come-from-behind win. Marcus Judd (171) came off his back in the third period to pin Mission Viejo’s Chase Schumacher in 5 minutes, 30 seconds for the championship.

“These guys really dug deep and found the resolve to win,” Panthers coach Scott Nimchek said. “And that’s their personalities, too.”

Robert Buchannon (130) added a fourth-place finish for Palo Verde and Paul Educate (140) placed fifth.

“The kids put in the hardest work in the summer,” said Nimchek, who estimated some wrestlers had as many as 100 offseason matches with club programs. “They had been in situations they had been in before on the road, and certainly came through like we expected.”

Las Vegas’ Alex Aniciete won the 140-pound title and his brother Napoleon Aniciete ruled at 152 pounds.

Spring Valley’s Ray Waters led the Grizzlies with a first-place finish at 160 pounds.

Shadow Ridge’s champions were Brandon Fisher at 189 and Jordan Kurth at 215.

Seth Bohman of Silverado won the 285 championship.

Clinton Garvin (103) and Bleu Huxford (215) finished second for Boulder City. Cheyenne’s Kenny Pero was the runner-up at 145.

 

Parkersburg South (W.Va.) 352½, La Quinta (Calif.) 255½, Palo Verde 219½, Brawley (Calif.) 208, Las Vegas 176, Spring Valley 169, Cedar (Utah) 156½, Fountain Valley (Calif.) 155½, Rancho Bernardo (Calif.) 154, Shadow Ridge 145, Boulder City 144 1/2, Vista (Calif.) 130½, Carlsbad (Calif.) 130, Irvine (Calif.) 128, Marshfield (Ore.), 115, Mission Viejo (Calif.) 115, Vista Murrieta (Calif.) 115, Eastlake (Calif.) 103½, Victor Valley (Calif.) 101½, Marina (Calif.) 95
Foothill (Calif.) 93, Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 92, Westminster (Calif.) 91½, Camarillo (Calif.) 91, Willamette (Ore.) 90½, Bishop Gorman 86, Silverado 85½, Esperanza (Cailf.) 83, Desert Oasis 79½, Imperial (Calif.) 79, Liberty 78, Churchill County 77, South Eugene (Ore.) 77, Bonanza 74, Cheyenne 74, Foothill 72½, Basic 70½, Yorba Linda (Calif.) 70, Brawley (Calif.) JV 65, Sierra Vista 64
Moapa Valley 63½, Rancho 61, Western 60, Mojave 51, Huntington Beach (Calif.) 49, Green Valley 45, Legacy 44½, Fallbrook (Calif.) 41, Holtville (Calif.) 41, Fountain Valley (Calif.) JV 38, Eldorado 34½, Clark 32, Indian Springs 30, Palo Verde JV 27, Del Sol 25, Foothill JV 25, La Quinta (Calif.) JV 25, Bonanza JV 24, Chaparral 20

103—D. Hone, Cedar, p. Garvin, BC, 2:32. 112—Hart, Palo, d. Carmona, Brawl, 5-4. 119—Jeffrey, Parker, d. O’Bourke, Fount, 12-1. 125—McKirdy, RB, p. Sapiro, LQ, 1:12. 130—Ramos, Imp, d. Nixon, Marsh, 14-6. 135—Richards, Parker, d. Lizarraga, 5-3. 140—A. Aniciete, LV, d. Norman, Parker, 10-3. 145—Smith, Brawl, p. Pero, Chey, 0:44. 152—N. Aniciete, LV, d. Hickman, Cama, 5-1. 160—Ray Waters, SprVal, d. Whalen-Orona, Carls, 6-1. 171—Judd, Palo, p. Schumacher, MViejo, 5:30. 189—Fisher, Shad, p. Brogle, Parker, 1:31. 215—Kurth, Shad, d. Huxford, BC, 10-8. 285—Bohman, Silv, p. Casillas, Eastlk, 2:34.

Third-place matches

103—Miller, Foot, p. Tran, Irv, 4:03. 112—Torres, LQ, d. Gainer, Parker, 8-5. 119—Garcia, LV, d. Ledesma, Vista, 8-5. 125—Hall, LV, p. Martinez, Vista, 4:29. 130—C. Hone, Cedar, p. Buchannon, Palo, 4:09. 135—Escobedo, Fount, d. Molin, MViejo, 3-2. 140—De Lara, LQ, d. Calavitta, 7-6. 145—Abbey, RB, d. Shively, Parker, 8-2. 152—Romero, Carls, d. Watts, LQ, 7-6. 160—Moore, Marsh, p. Strbac, SprVal, 7:45. 171—Smith, Parker, d. Donahue, Vista, 5-4. 189—Franklin, VMur, d. Rivera, SEug, 13-3. 215—Rassel, Carls, d. Smith, Marina, 5-2. 285—Hulick, Esper, d. Gomez, Ran, 5-4.