HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Huxford keys Eagles’ strong showing on opening day

Bleu Huxford doesn’t usually wrestle long matches.

But Boulder City’s 215-pound wrestler got more than his money’s worth Friday — and still recorded a pin.

Huxford had two pins, including a fall with fewer than 45 seconds left in his final match, to help the Eagles to 13th place after the first day of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic at the Convention Center.

Boulder City (80½ points) is the third-highest local team, behind third-place Palo Verde (128) and fifth-place Spring Valley (102).

“Most of it is coaching; we have amazing coaches,” Huxford said after he pinned Ivan Campos of Westminster (Calif.) in 5 minutes, 18 seconds to move into the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. Saturday. “But it’s also our drive to win.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys that are just well-driven young men and keep focused on what they can do.”

Parkersburg (W.Va.) leads the two-day tournament with 150 points.

The tournament, which features 56 schools from around the country, draws on a wider range of competition than Boulder City is used to. Nevada has 10 Class 3A teams.

“We feel that we can compete with anybody,” Boulder City co-head coach Jim Cox said. “Our mindset is not just to compete with smaller schools but with anyone who steps on the mat.

“A lot of it is your approach to each match. You’ve got to expose yourself to everything. We want to be able to wrestle in these big tournaments, something bigger than state, so that our mindset is to be prepared for state — which is what really counts.”

Clinton Garvin (103 pounds) registered three pins, and Brandon Foster (189) totaled two falls to also net a quarterfinal appearance for Boulder City.

“I feel fortunate. Yeah, we’re one of the smaller teams, but they invite us to this, and we come and show them who we are,” Huxford said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re smaller — we’re going to come out and hit you in the mouth.”

Palo Verde placed Jordon Hart (112), Renzo Costa (119), Robert Buchannon (130), Kyle Leet (130), Paul Educate (140), Juan Urista (152), Marcus Judd (171) and Ryan Ratliff (189) into the quarterfinal round.

Spring Valley’s Trever Siedlecki (119), Rasheem Waters (152) and Ray Waters (160) also will be among the wrestlers in the quarterfinals.

 

Parkersburg (W.Va.) 150, La Quinta (Calif.) 130, Palo Verde 128, Brawley (Calif.), 111½, Spring Valley 102, Irvine (Calif.) 93, Vista Murrieta (Calif.) 92, Rancho Bernardo (Calif.) 90, Victor Valley (Calif.) 88, Cedar (Utah) 87, Fountain Valley (Calif.) 87, Long Beach Poly (Calif.) 82, Boulder City 80½, Foothill (Calif.) 76½, Westminster (Calif.) 75½, Shadow Ridge 72, Mission Viejo (Calif.) 71, Las Vegas 69½, Marina (Calif.) 68, Desert Oasis 66½
Churchill County 66, Bishop Gorman 65, Eastlake (Calif.) 64, Vista (Calif.) 62½, Brawley (Calif.) JV, 62, Liberty 62, Carlsbad (Calif.) 61, Western 60, Bonanza 58, Camarillo (Calif.) 58, South Eugene (Ore.) 58, Willamette (Ore.) 58, Basic 57½, Yorba Linda (Calif.) 56, Marshfield (Ore.) 55, Mojave 51, Moapa Valley 48½, Foothill 47, Sierra Vista 47, Green Valley 45
Huntington Beach (Calif.) 45, Imperial (Calif.) 45, Esperanza (Calif.) 42, Holtville (Calif.) 41, Legacy 40½, Cheyenne 39, Fallbrook (Calif.) 37, Silverado 35½, Fountain Valley (Calif.) JV 35, Eldorado 34½, Rancho 34, Clark 32, Palo Verde JV 27, Indian Springs 26, Foothill JV 25, La Quinta (Calif.) JV 25, Del Sol 23, Chaparral 20

103 – Hone, Cedar, p. Sanchez, LV, 1:31; Pham, Westmin, p. Ferguson, Palo, 3:24; Garvin, BC, p. Strobeck, Palo, 1:46.

112 – Gainer, Prkrsbrg, p. Tevin, GrnVal, 0:27; DeJesus, Westmin, d. Temple, Leg, 9-5; Sanchez, Foot, d. Wang, SprVal, 2-0; Pasqual, Willam, p. Campos, DO, 1:43; Hart, Palo, p. Gomez, Foot, 4:43.

119 – Charbono, RB, p. Jauregui, LV, 3:04; Costa, Palo, p. White, Chur, 0:39; Siedlecki, SprVal, p. Qureshi, Foot, 0:27; Garcia, LV, p. Balden, Lib, 1:56.

125 – Hall, LV, d. Burr, Sil, 13-3; Zellner, Bon, p. Peterson, Lib, 3:32; Martinez, Vista, d. Hammontree, Palo, 23-7.

130 – Pasqual, Willam, p. Thomas, BC, 5:57; Steiner, Vista, p. Gonzales, LV, 1:24; Buchannon, Palo, p. Heath, IndSpr, 2:34.

135 – Leet, Palo, d. VanTassel, SprVal, 4-2, OT; Jackson, Bon, d. McMahill, Clark, 7-0; Lara, DO, d. Williams, SR, 12-4; Pollard, RB, p. Abbott, Eldo, 1:52; Dominguez, VV, d. Hooker, Western, 6-2; Lizarraga, Brawl, p. Bruce, Moj, 3:11.

140 – A. Aniciete, LV, p. Washington, MViejo, 0:41; Mateo, FootCal, d. Hafen, Ran, 17-2; Educate, Palo, d. Stanko, Eastlk, 14-6; Sargent, IndSpr, p. Campbell, Marina, 1:39; DeLara, LaQuin, p. Roman, Western, 3:25.

145 – Shively, Parker, p. Haugh, Palo, 2:44; Abbey, RB, d. Lavasseur, SVista, 19-3; Smith, Brawl, d. Montenegro, Bon, 16-1; Pero, Chey, d. Leet, Bon, 12-1; Reddick, DO, d. Levine, HB, 12-6.

152 – N. Aniciete, LV, d. Opheim, MViejo, 22-8; Rashe. Waters, SprVal, p. Phillip, Holtvl, 0:39; Terrell, Lib, d. Garcia, BC, 8-3; Urista, Palo, p. Harris, Eldo, 4:06; Hickman, Cama, d. Durham, Moapa, 15-2.

160 – Ray Waters, SprVal, p. Cervantes, Eastlk, 0:58; Kofford, Bas, p. Douglass, VV, 1:54; Strbac, SVist, p. Austin, Eldo, 1:29; Milkovits, RB, p. Navarette-Albinio, Moj, 1:01; Cortez, Westmin, p. Grace, Western, 2:56; Chappell, Moapa, d. McDearmon, SR, 16-0.

171 – Judd, Palo, p. Hoar, SEug, 3:39; Reveles, Lib, p. Martinez, Gor, 4:26; Johnson, Chur, p. Rasha. Waters, SprVal, 2:15; Jones, Willam, p. Wall, SVist, 3:00; Mulvey, Chey, p. Joseph, Leg, 0:55; Schumacher, MViejo, p. Badgley, BC, 1:32.

189 – Foster, BC, p. Cruz, Bas, 1:20; Ratliff, Palo, d. Gonsalvs, Holtville, 8-6; Lussier, VV, d. Hill-Hale, Lib, 7-6, OT; Fisher, SR, p. Burrell, LaQuin, 0:20; Franklin, VM, d. Clark, Gor, 7-3; Hernandez, Foot, d. Palmer, DO, 14-2.

215 – Bikle, Ran, p. Venegas, Cama, 1:30;  Vera, Flbrk, d. Lopez, Western, 5-2; Pretasky, Bas, d. Arellano, VM, 10-9; Somerville, Parker, p. Boria, Chap, 3:23; Kurth, SR, p. Moreno, Holtvl, 1:00.

285 – Contreras , LaQuin, p. Correa, SR, 2:35; Casillas, Eastlk,d. Wadley, Bas, 8-6; Ellis, YL, p. Smith, Moj, 3:46.