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Show C12 Wednesday, February 6, 2008 Vernal Express " 1 asketball. keeps i i i ) i Derek Bunderson takes the ball to the hoop, and throws it at the rim with a karate-like move. He led the Utes in the Waterford game with eight points. Vernal Junior High wrestlers take third at state tournament On the weekend of Jan. 25 and 26 Vernal Junior High wrestlers traveled to Richfield, to wrestle in the annual state junior high meet. Vernal Junior High wrestling placed third at the state tournament tour-nament despite only taking 38 wrestlers to compete in 44 weight classes. They finished behind Delta and Wasatch. This year the team lost of sever sev-er al key wrestlers to year-ending injuries before the season even started. Other wrestlers were not able to compete because of eligibility problems and Vernal Junior High only ended up taking 38 wrestlers to state. Of the 38, 22 were able to place in the top six of their individual weight classes. Five placed first, six took home silver, one took third, five placed fourth, four placed fifth and one placed sixth. Taking first were Bennett Oscarson at 76 pounds, Kayden Williams at 80 pounds, Tanner Merkley at 83 pounds and Jake Mair at heavyweight, all in the junior high division. Taking first in the middle school division was Rowdy Farn-sworth Farn-sworth at 145 pounds. Placing second in the junior high division divi-sion were Keyan Branom at 73 pounds, Robert Thomas at 120 pounds and Colton Prisbrey at 128 pounds. The Middle School division had three silvers, Parker Morton at 80 pounds, Dillion Christiansen Chris-tiansen at 100 pounds and Cole Mair in the 180 pound division. Brock Bowden brought home the team's only third in the 60 pound middle school division. Isaac Stromsa at 86 pounds, Matt Batty at 124 pounds and Brandin Murray in the 190 pound class all placed fourth in the junior high division. Corbin Evans, 96 pounds, and Braxton Lance, 104 pounds, placed fourth in the middle school division. Taylor Williams at 70 pounds, Cody Merkley at 73 pounds and Landon Reynolds at 112 pounds all placed fifth in the middle school division, Jackson Evans did so in the 210 pound junior high division. Justin Jaques brought home the only sixth place finish in the 155 pound junior high division. Head Coach Ed Johnson and Assistant Coach Derek Jaramillo both mentioned that they believe they would of made a hard run at first place with a full team. "The kids that went to the state tournament, for the most part, wrestled hard and did a great job," said Johnson. "But at the state tournament it is all about the number of kids you have in the tournament." Between the junior high and middle school divisions there are 44 weight classes. "If you don't have the numbers num-bers it's hard to take first," said Johnson. Vernal finished behind Delta and Wasatch, the Rabbits had 54 and the Wasps has 48 wrestlers. wres-tlers. "We have outstanding young people wrestling with a lot of talent tal-ent and if they will stay with it they have abright future in front of them," explained Johnson. "The junior high team wants to thank all the many supporters of the wrestling program in our great community; it's been a great year." Tiger league Sign-ups for wrestling's Tiger League Age Group will end on Feb. 6. The sign-ups last from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Uintah High School. The cost per wrestler is $25. Head Coach Gregg Stens-gard Stens-gard said Tiger League is an important step for any athlete interested in the sport. ' current strea k By Casey Chbistemsen Express Writer Uintah's boys' basketball team played two games and extended ex-tended the present losing streak to four games. The first loss of the week came at the hands of the Cougars 58-43, the second loss was to the Waterford Ravens 48-45. Even with the losses, Uintah is currently in fifth place position which gets them into the playoffs. The Union re-match was another case of Uintah giving up to much size and quickness. In the first meeting between the two team Uintah was able to keep the game close, 59-52 "To their credit," said Head Coach Scott Mansfield. "They played great. We didn't bring our best effort or energy to that came defensively and they capitalized." capi-talized." The game started off on a good note for Uintah with the first quarter ending 14-14. However, from then on Uintah struggled to shutdown the other team's offense. Only outscoring Union in the fourth 15-10. Uintah has always needed solid defensive play to win games, said Mansfield. "When we play great defense we also play better offensively," the coach explained. Uintah's scoring was led by Derek Bunderson and Dax Upton, each had eight points. Cylor Morgan scored seven, Ky-ler Ky-ler Monsen had six, Josh Curtis had five. Lance Hansen made four and Charles Denny threw in three. The Raven rematch, which Uintah won in the first meeting 42-40, was a case of the same story different night in Mansfield opinion. "We lacked intensity and energy en-ergy at times," he said. "I think part of that is we worry about the out come of the game, we play not to lose, when the game is being played rather than focusing and playing our game." The Utes struggled to contain the glass, a key part of any basketball bas-ketball game. "By giving up rebounds to your opponent they get extra possession pos-session that your team doesn't get," said Mansfield. "Our lack of size has hurt us at times this season trying to rebound the ball. Usually, we are able to compensate for our lack of size by being physical and aggressive, but there are times we give up crucial second chance points that hurt us." "All of that being said we came back to give ourselves a chance to win." Uintan fought hard to get back into the game finally getting the chance after the Raven's coach blew a six point lead by arguing a call to heatedly and receiving a technical. Bunderson was already at the line for the foul and made both his shots, Monsen took the other two shots and missed the first but drained the second. Uintah got the ball back with 49.3 seconds left on the clock. Mansfield called a timeout. "We drew up a play that gave us some options and a chance to score," he said. "I thought we executed the play fairly well and gave ourselves a chance to win." Uintah chose to run out the clock and try getting the last shot, but missed the shot and had to put the Ravens player on the foul line. "I really liked our chances of getting a good shot," explained Mansfield. "I would do the same thing again if put in that same situation." The Utes will face Wasatch on Feb. 8 at Uintah High School. "We match up a little better bet-ter with Wasatch than we do other teams because their scoring comes form the perimeter instead of the post," explained Mansfield. "We need to play with passion, aggressiveness and confidence. Sometimes playing in a tough region like we have we lose sight of how good we are and can be if we play well." ' . " : ' ! "v V f ' ,. . , VI "I ' ' V . - ----- i Parker Seitz looks to pass the ball to one of the post players during the game against Waterford. Seitz got some playing time during the loss. ' i simmm sees sierra's mmmrnm 1 TO! 1 Flat Bed Duramax - Diesel 4X4 MSRP MSRP $41,805 CREW CAB, SILVER, LOADED, LEATHER T r v r ' -j x f -v III II "mm J ;jjyu mm 1 !3 Qcct Coverage is riplo ovorarjo 100,GOOmile 5YEAR POWERTRAIN LIMITED WARRANTY 100,000 MILE 5YEARS OF COURTESY TRANSPORTATION ,' , nfcaia , , t I , To-" ,rr-IWiln; , j ' j $42,881 Kp) r ' f ' ruYkYvv-' f(YTY, I - . -nrrirn g&l n ram mtl'if ivri ' g wim yjmm SEE DEALER FOR DETAILS '. 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