Piedra Vista claims title at district duals
FARMINGTON – The Piedra Vista wrestling team remains the team to beat in District 1-5A.
The Panthers claimed another title, going 4-0 at the district’s dual meet Saturday in Gallup.
“It’s another rung on the ladder, but we’re not done yet,” PV head coach Michael Bejar said. “It was a team effort overall, and we were able to close the gap on some of the kids and avenge some losses from earlier in the season.”
PV’s closest dual was against Aztec, with the Panthers winning 42-26. The Panthers won every match against Farmington and Gallup, and beat Miyamura 61-10.
With a few of its regular varsity wrestlers dealing with lingering injuries, PV moved a few athletes up from the junior varsity team to fill the void.
“We were able to bump some kids up, and they wrestled well,” Bejar said. “In these tight duals, you need those bonus points, and having the flexibility to move some kids around really helped us.”
Seven Panthers finished the day undefeated, with another five going 3-1.
Aztec finished second, beating Farmington, Miyamura and Gallup.
“They wrestled well. We’re proud of them,” Aztec head coach Monte Maxwell said. “We saw a lot of good things. There are still some things we need to clean up, but overall, we’re proud of how they performed today.”
Maxwell said each wrestler has different aspects that need work, but the main focus is improving effort and committing to what they’re doing.
Tommy Fletcher, Brandon Trennepohl, Josh Snow, Melvin Benally and Tyler Robeson all finished the day undefeated for the Tigers.
“They all came through at crucial times. Every one of the guys who went undefeated had to battle for it,” Maxwell said. “All five wrestled tough.”
Farmington finished third after a slow start to the day.
“To be honest, we showed up in Gallup this morning and got outwrestled all day long,” Farmington head coach Jesus Mendoza said. “I’m happy for the team for finishing third, but as a team, we were outwrestled all day long, and we have a lot of work to do.”
The Scorps fell to PV and Aztec before beating Gallup and narrowly defeating Miyamura.
“We were tied at 36-36 going into the final match of the night, and our heavyweight, freshman Dante Norberto, pulled off the win to put us above them 39-36,” Farmington head coach Jesus Mendoza said. “He had a tremendous match. It was awesome.”
PV, Aztec and Farmington will be at the District 1-5A state qualifying meet, hosted by Farmington, on Saturday.
Karl Schneider is the sports editor for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4648.