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Show Miner mat dwellers look good against Altamont, Green River n 1 V ' y - 4 " i ;( 1 .V . t . - . . . 5 of last season for Park City at the 138 pound class, winning two matches. Schaub said Leavitt has come along v. ith his conditioning program, and it is staging to pay off. He had two long matches, but didn't tire out. His first mtrh was against Todd Aldridge of Altamont. Leavitt lost the first takedown, ut got a quick reversal to even things up. Then in the second period Leavitt started on top, and did a good job of riding, according to Schaub. The referee didn't agree, however, and gave him a warning. In the third period Leavitt started on the bottom, but got a nice reversal. Then he continued to ride Aldridge, looking for an opportunity to go for the spin, while Aldridge did nothing but try to hang on, Schaub said. But it was Leavitt who was penalized for stalling, so the match , ended up 4-3 for the Miner wrestler, going the full six minutes. Often after a long match, the second match of a dual meet can be tough. But in Leavitt's second shot, against John Lovato of Green River, he had no trouble, nearly pinning him in the first period, before finally finishing him off early in the third. Mike Birch was the only other Miner who beat two opponents in the Altamont match. Birch made quick work of both of them. He first faced Jim Kruse of Altamont in the 132 pound class. After getting the opening takedown, Birch got two ' points for nearly pinning Kruse, but couldn't finish him off before the period ran out. In the second he was on top, got three nearfall points, but again couldn't quite go all the way. Then Birch used an "amazing move." according to Schaub, a move which the Altamont crowd thought was illegal, and got the pin in a hurry at 3:50 of the match. Birch's second effort was more of a formality, as he manhandled Ken Bastion of Green River in 1:35. At 155 pounds, Steve Jacobson also wrestled two matches, winning one and losing one. Against Wayne Loddy of Altamont, Jacobson was sharp, Schaub said. He got his third win of the year with a pin at 1 :48 of the match. Schaub said Jacobson, not the most practice oriented of his wrestlers, is doing well this year. "For the amount of time he puts in he's doing better than most of the others," he said. Maybe a bit more practice would have paid off in Jacobson's second match, where Dave Lucero of Green River pinned him in 30 seconds. Schaub said he has never seen a pin at so heavy a weight in so short a time. Matt Burnett had the other Park City win at 126 pounds. He faced Altamont's Victor Winner, but W inner was a loser one minute in the second round, thanks to a Burnett pin. Schaub said Burnett almost had the match early in the first round, earning three nearfall points, but couldn't put it away. In the second period, Schaub said Burnett did a "bad job of riding" Winner, but the Altamont kid made a stupid move. That move opened up the guillotine move for Burnett, and he followed it for the pin. The Miners also had two draws in the mat action. Schaub said the most exciting match came from Brent Adams in the 167 pound class. Adams was pitted against Tyler Thacker of Altamont, and the match was tied at two points apiece after the first round. The second round almost spelled disaster for Adams, as he lost his top position, and was ready pinned while Thacker racked up three nearfall points. Schaub said Adams "worked like hell to get out of it," but trailed 7-2 going into the third period. A technical violation on Thacker for locking hands gave Adams a single point. Then Adams got a reversal and had Thacker on his back with about 30 seconds left in the match. As he pushed Thacker's shoulders to the mat the referee counted if he had reached five counts Adams would've gotten three nearfall points to win the match (at that time the score was 7-5 for Thacker). But as the ref got to four counts, giving Adams two points and a tie. the buzzer rang, it ended 7-7. A couple of seconds longer and Adams would've had the win. The other draw came from Rob Bassett at 112 pounds. Bassett faced Derwin Priebe of Altamont. Priebe, who took first at 112 pounds in a six team tournament the week before, was leading Bassett 5-2 in the third period. But Bassett reversed him and got three nearfall points as time was running out. But Priebe reached down to get a reversal to tie the match just before the buzzer at 7-7. In other matches, Greg Reid at 1 1 9 pounds lost twice, getting pinned in the first period by Green River's Chad Pinnea and in the second period by Altamont's Clayton Thacker. Park City will next be in action on the mats on Thursday, Jan. 10 at North Summit. Mike Birch has been king of the mats this year at 132 pounds. by Randy Hanskat Dec. 19 at Altamont was a good one for the Park City High School wrestling team, as the Miners crushed both Altamont and Green River in team point totals, with many fine individual performances along the way. The Miners beat Green River 42-18 and Altamont 37-16. To appreciate that accomplishment, accomplish-ment, you must understand this: In the past few years of Miner wrestling the team hasn't had enough kids to fill most of the weight classes. This year, however, all but three of the 12 brackets are filled with able bodies for Park City. That is not the case with Altamont or Green River. Altamont had four empty brackets, while Green River had seven. In each weight class where the opponent has a wrestler but your team does not, your team loses six points. Thanks to a relatively large turnout, Coach Jesse Schaub said the Miners are off to a great start "teamwise." He said the team could end up with a winning record for the first time in several years. The kids are catching the spirit, he added. Many of the Miner wrestlers plan to drop a weight class to be stronger in the lower class. Such tactics worked for Mike Birch last season. Of the mat action last Thursday at Altamont, Schaub said, "We learned 'em how to wrassle." Of the 11 matches actually wrestled for points, Park City lost only three. Ocey Leavitt returned to his form |