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Show n . (ill! - I j I ; ..V-Ci. . f.- . J :-r-Ci5j ) . j e : , THE FOURTH TIME was the charm for Craig Funk, left, as he toppled Brian Friel, Rock Springs, Spr-ings, 3-0 in overtime, for first place in the 80 pound class in the Vernal 7th and 8th Grade Tournament, Saturday. Funk gained his first win in four matches against Friel. Friel had a 34-0 record before his match with Funk. Rooting for Funk to win his match is Mike Smith, center. Vernal Junior High added another wrestling crown to their overstuffed trophy case when they captured the Vernal Junior High 7th and 8th Grade Wrestling Tournament, Saturday with 225 points. Rock Springs placed second at 154 and Green River, Wyoming, finished in third place with 153 1 2 counters. West pocketed fourth place at 123' 2 and Rangely, Colorado, nabbed fifth place with 85 points. Vernal's B team garnered sixth place with 71 points. Eight wrestlers on Vernal Junior High's team pocketed first place titles in the tournament. Craig Funk, Vernal's Ver-nal's 80 pounder, had been defeated three times by 34-0 tussler, Brian Friel of Rock Springs, but Funk turned the tables on Friel in the match, Saturday, as he blanked the Wyoming matman, 3-0 3-0 in overtime, for first place. Funk nabbed the takedown for a 2-0 lead in the first round. Friel gained an escape and a takedown in the second round, but Funk gained a reversal for a 4 to 3 lead. Funk garnered two escapes and a takedown for an 8-7 lead with about seven seconds left, but the contest was tied up at 8-8' and forced into overtime when Funk was called for stalling. Both wrestlers failed to score points in the first two overtime periods, but Funk gained an escape with 46 seconds remaining and a takedown with nine seconds left in the third period to win the contest, 3-0. Funk pinned Bart Neilsen of Rangely and Tom Radosevich of Rock Springs. "Funk just wrestled an outstanding match and did a real fine job," stated Vernal Junior High wrestling coach, Leon Smuin. George Cook pocketed the 85 pound crown for Vernal Junior High when he toppled Rock Springs' Andy Hall, 8 to 1 Cook gained a takedown in the first round and an escape and takedown in the second round. He added a three-point three-point near fall in the third round. Cook also defeated Devin Bailey and Jerry Tingey, Vernal. Leslie Gorman, a member of Vernal's Ver-nal's B team captured first place honors in the 90 pound class. Gorman jumped out to a 5-0 lead due to a takedown in the first round and a three-point three-point near fall in the second round. Two stalling points against Gorman in the third round made the final score: Leslie Gorman, 5 and Joe Dallman. Green River, 2. Gorman also defeated Shane Gross, Vernal and Brad White, Rangely. Gary Murray was behind L.D. Hodges of Green River at the end of the first and second rounds, but he rallied in the third round for a 5-4 victory in the 95 pound championship match. Hodges gained a takedown in the first round and a reversal in the second round. An escape and a takedown by Murray cut Hodges' lead to 4-3 after two rounds. Murray pocketed a reversal in the third round for a 5-4 victory. Murray also . defeated Eddy Muinz and Bryan Gazewood of Rock Springs. The Vernal fans were treated to ! . , i -,,-'-1 i - VERNAL JUNIOR HIGH captured first place in the Vernal 7th and 8th Grade Wrestling Tournament, Tourna-ment, Saturday. Members of the Vernal teams are: front row, left to right, Shelton Humphries, Ryan Siddoway, Craig Funk, first; Mike Smith, Shane Gross, Gary Murray, first; second row, another come-from-behind win by the Panthers in the 105 pound championship cham-pionship contest. Bobby Byrd of Green River leaped out to a 4-1 lead in the first round due to a takedown and a two-point two-point near fall. Two escapes gave the Wyoming wrestler a 6 to 2 lead after two rounds. Kary McNeill pocketed first place, 7-6, when he blanked Byrd in the third round, 5-0, on an escape, penalty point and a takedown. Willjert Woody. Vernal, wasted little time in claiming the 112 pound crown as iie roared out and dropped Randy Albat of Rock Springs flat against the mat for a pin in 27 seconds in the first round. Woody also pinned Brad Bolton of West and Kick Reed of Rangely. Vernal's Neldon Smuin garnered first place in the 126 pound class when he decisioned Kevin Moore of Green River, 8 1. Smuin gained a takedown in the first round and had a 2-0 lead after two rounds. Smuin added a reversal, two-point near fall and a takedown in the third round. Smuin also downed Mike Rohr of West Junior High. Mike Robbins, 132, captured first place for the Vernal Panthers when he pinned Sam Lamorie of Green River after only 30 seconds of wrestling action in the first round. "Our kids did a super job this year. They are a real fine bunch of kinds. We have an outstanding group of 7th graders and the 8th graders that we have are tough," stated Vernal Junior High wrestling coach, Leon Smuin. Jerry I mgey, Devin Bailey, Leslie Gorman, first: Mike Robbins, first: David Gurr, Robert Merrell, and back row, Mike Slough, Greg Cobbs, Troy Oaks, Chad Ocdcll, Dave Wankier, coach; Kary McNeill, first; Neldon Smuin, first; Wilbert Woody, first and Leon Smuin, head coach. |