Wildcats seize lead after first day of Sunrise Region tourney

The Las Vegas High wrestling team entered the Class 4A Sunrise Region tournament with No. 1 seeds from the Northeast League in all but four weight classes.

And the host Wildcats took full advantage Friday night.

Las Vegas sent a tourney-high 14 wrestlers into today’s semifinals and has the team lead with 86.5 points.

The Wildcats will try to wrap up their ninth straight Sunrise championship today. Action resumes at 10 a.m., with title bouts scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

“It doesn’t matter who’s ahead at the end of the first day,” Las Vegas coach Aric Thomas said. “Whoever’s ahead at the end of the semifinals is the team that normally pulls it out, so we have to have a good semifinal round.”

Green Valley enters the semifinals a close second (78), followed by Foothill (54), Canyon Springs (49) and Basic (48.5).

“(Saturday) is a big day,” Green Valley coach John Ferry said. “It’s a new tournament (Saturday), so hopefully guys can come through and give themselves a chance to be state qualifiers.”

The top three at each weight qualify for state.

Ferry said it has become an annual focus to attempt to dethrone Las Vegas.

“They’re the top dogs,” Ferry said of the Wildcats. “They’re the team to beat on our side of town, they’re one of the teams to beat in the state. We’d like to compete with them, at bare minimum.”

Three of Las Vegas’ 10 top seeds had first-round byes.

“It just shows how hard our coaches push us and how dedicated our wrestlers are as a group,” Wildcats 112-pounder De’Armon Hall said of the 10 No. 1 seeds.

Hall, a sophomore, improved to 49-10 with a first-round pin and a 14-7 decision in the quarterfinals.

Other Wildcats who won two contested matches were Hugo Carrillo (125), Gabe Gonzalez (125), Jeremy Dailey (140), Tyler Pack (145), Ronald McCullogh (152), Johnathan Hales (171), David Prieto (189), and heavyweights Madison Hales and Austin Woo.

Title bouts could be contested between Carrillo and Gonzalez, and Hales and Woo.

“That’d be great,” Thomas said. “That’d mean we have the two best guys in the tournament. We’re hoping that’s going to be the case.”