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Show Wrestling fans look to Birch, Leavitt in region tournament by Randy Hanskat The wrestling season, which is fast coming to a close, has been good for the small Park City squad. Most of the team members have improved noticeably throughout the year, and going into the Region 11 Tournament Thursday in North Summit, two of the five Miner varsity wrestlers appear to be among the favorites. For those who follow Miner wrestling, the two standouts are obviously Mike Birch and Ocey Leavitt. Head Wrestling Coach Jesse Schaub thinks both are the ones to beat in their weight classes in the region. They showed why in the team's last regular season action last Thursday in Miner Gym. Altamont, Duchesne, and Manila all brought wrestlers to Park City for the four-way match. Birch's first match was against Manila's Weyland at 126 pounds. In that match Birch got the opening takedown almost immediately, then quickly put on the pin for the first period wipeout. Birch's other match was against Herrera of Duchesne. This time the Miner standout couldn't pin his opponent quite so fast, but built up a large point lead while trying. The opening takedown, coupled with three near falls, gave Birch an 11-0 lead before he pinned Herrera midway through the third period. Leavitt only wrestled once Thursday because he became sick and was unable to continue. But in his match against Manila's Meinard, Leavitt was impressive. He took the opening takedown, then put together three near falls and two reversals for a convincing 15-3 victory. ' Schaub said Birch has beaten all of his region opponents op-ponents already this season, with the strongest competition com-petition coming from South Summit's Joe Ryder. He added ad-ded that Birch hasn't lost a match since dropping from 132 pounds to 126 pounds. Schaub said Leavitt also has beaten all of his region opponents. He easily pinned the South Rich and South Summit wrestlers in addition ad-dition to the decisive point win over Manila. His toughest match was against Ovard of North Summit. Ovard led Leavitt on points in the final period of their match, but Leavitt pinned him with one second remaining. Schaub said the region will most likely be decided between those two. Greg Reed at 105 pounds, Eric Robinson at 132 pounds, and Geoff Palmer at 145 pounds are the other three varsity wrestlers for Park City. Schaub said all three have good chances to take third in the region, which will allow them to continue on to the Region 11Region 13 Tournament where the state wrestlers are selected. In last Thursday's match Reed started off against Keedy of Manila. He narrowly escaped a pin in the first period then went on to rack up offensive points for an 8-5 victory. But against Altamont Reed's luck was not so good. He was taken down and quickly pinned by Priebe of the Longhorns early in the first period. Robinson didn't have a good end to his regular season. Against Manila he was pinned early in the match, and against Duchesne it was the same story early in the second. Palmer didn't get to wrestle against Manila, so his first match was against Reinhardt of Duchesne. Reinhardt got the first takedown, then never relinquished his lead, going on to a 10-3 decision. Against Fisher of Altamont Palmer was pinned late in the first period. Thursday spelled the end of the season for the junior varsity wrestlers, as there will be no more exhibition matches this year. Three of the young Miners saw action Thursday. Grant Thomas at 119, and Mike Brose at 145 pounds were both pinned in the second round of their matches. But John Vetterli at 112 pounds closed out his season with a bang. Vetterli got the initial takedown, and then nearly pinned Bird of Altamont in the first round. In the second Bird got a near fall of his own and closed the score at 7-5 Vetterli. But the Miner added five third-period third-period points to run away with a 12-6 decision. The Region 11 Tournament will be held this Thursday at North Summit. The top three finishers from each weight class will then progress to the Region 11Region 13 Tournament to be held Feb. 4 at Park City to decide who goes on to state. |
