Dec. 16, 2004: The Standard Examiner

Buffs Pin Cowboys in Dual
by Nick Drake

It was pin night in Region 11 wrestling Wednesday between Tooele County neighbors Tooele and Grantsville.

All but two of the 12 varsity matches that took to the mats were decided via pin and the Buffs benefited from their wrestling experience and grappling prowess in the league match at GHS.

Tooele registered nine pins and a pair of forfeit victories to battle to a 72-6 triumph over neighbor Grantsville on the Cowboys home mats.

After two of the first three matches of the night went the distance, the final nine contests were pins, eight of which were won by Buff grapplers.

Nick Trujillo (112), Eric Mascarenas (119), Travis Gallegos (125), John Lopez (130), Brad Gustafson (135), Ray Trujillo (152), Jacob Foster (160), Cody Judd (171), and Brandon Kummer (heavyweight) all fought to pins in their respective weight classes for Tooele High.

Grantsville’s Dustin Jones garnered the lone triumph of the night for the hosts, also by pin.

Pete Poulson (189) and Travis Gustafson (103) also garnered wins by forfeit in their weight division.

Lalo Herrera (140) and A.T. Cisco (145) grabbed wins for the Buffs by decision.

The start of the match was delayed for nearly 20 minutes when an official didn’t show up. After a brief discussion, Grantsville High administrators agreed to have certified official Jim Hochstrasser referee the match instead of postponing the event to a later date.

The win was much needed for the Buffs after coming off a tough weekend in the Wasatch Duals Friday and Saturday. Tooele lost all eight varsity matches in the two-day event in Heber City, falling to Wasatch (80-0), Green River, Wyo. (46-21), South Summit (40-34), Brighton (74-3), Pleasant Grove (59-18), Spanish Fork (57-24), Mountain Crest (57-18) and Box Elder (77-6).

Tooele Coach Codie Miller said his team responded in the region dual after a tough two days of meeting talented wrestling foes.

“After coming off a hard weekend in the Wasatch Duals, we showed we wanted to win as a team,” he noted. “We were focused and ready to wrestle despite the delay. I was proud the team didn’t lose their intensity and focus when the match didn’t start on time. Hopefully, we can carry this level of confidence and intensity into the Reno Tournament of Champs.”

Tooele will now venture to the Reno Tournament of Champions Monday and Tuesday to compete against the elite wrestlers in the Intermountain west.

Meanwhile, Grantsville Coach Kirk Summers said his team is inexperienced and improving day-by-day.

“We have a couple of returning wrestlers that are looking really good,” he said. “We have a really young team that have the desire but are still working on the fundamentals. We’re having a fun year and enjoying the sport like we should be. We’re looking forward to increasing our intensity and our record, as a team and as individuals.”

Brad Gustafson opened the match and set the tone of the contest for Tooele with a pin of Cowboy foe Brandon Anderson in 41 seconds at 135 pounds.

Lalo Herrera garnered a hard fought 6-4 victory over Grantsville’s Tyler Pike in the ensuing match. The Cowboy grappler opened the match with a take down and led 2-1 after one period expired.

Pike registered a reversal to open the second stanza but Herrera responded with his second escape of the match, a reversal and two-point near fall in the final frame to record the slim triumph at 140.

Cisco and Grantsville’s Nick Swenson locked up in a bitter battle at 145 pounds as well. Swenson logged a take down just seconds into the match to take a quick 2-0 cushion.

However, the Buff grappler answered with an escape and take down to answer the challenge and build a 3-2 lead after one period.

Swenson would record an escape later in the match but Cisco countered with a pair of take downs for an 8-3 win.

It was pin city the rest of the way. Buff Ray Trujillo nailed Grantsville’s Brach Boman to the mat at 152 in 55 seconds and Tooele’s Foster recorded a pin at 160 of Cowboy foe Trent Ottley in 1:20 as well.

Judd grabbed a victory at 171 with a pin of Grantsville’s Joey Logan in 54 seconds and Pete Poulson took home a forfeit victory at 189 for the Buffs.

Grantsville’s Dustin Jones pinned Tooele’s Dustin Sheehan in 1:16 at 215 pounds to log the lone Cowboy victory of the night.

Buff heavyweight Brandon Kummer pinned Cowboy Bryce Jorgensen to the mat in 1:28 and teammate Travis Gustafson earned a forfeit win at 103.

Nick Trujillo battled to a victory by pin in 38 seconds at 112 over Trevor Anderson and Tooele’s Mascarenas recorded another pin at the 5:36 mark of the 119 match over Cowboy Chance Rowley.

Gallegos registered a pin in 3:56 at 125 against Grantsville’s Spencer Delaney and Buff teammate Lopez fought to a victory in 1:48 when Cowboy Cody Newberry’s shoulders were put on the mat at 130.