Ponderosa High Wrestlers Dominate Duals
By Scott Warden | Democrat correspondent | December 14, 2008


RIP TO THE FACE - Bruin Alex Greybill, top, silences his opponent at Friday's Ponderosa Duals wrestling tournament. Democrat photos by Megan Jeremica

SHINGLE SPRINGS — When the weather turns cold and rain and snow pelt the ground in much of the country, things begin to heat up in Shingle Springs as the Ponderosa High wrestling teams gears up for another successful season.

The Bruins got off to an impressive start Friday, totally dominating the competition in the annual Ponderosa Duals. The Bruins won all five rounds to win the championship and six members of the squad were named to the all tournament team.

“We’re happy that we wrestled well today,” Ponderosa coach Tyson Escobar said. “It’s great to win all our duals and hopefully this is something we can build on for the rest of season.”

The Bruins made quick work of Del Campo in the opening round, using pins and forfeits to post a 57-13 victory.

Winning by seven points or less awards a team three points; four are awarded for an eight to 14-point win; technical falls (winning by 15 or more points) are good for five team points and six points are given for pins.

Erik Greybill got things rolling against Damonte Ranch with a pin and the Bruins continued to pressure their oppoinent en route to a 53-19 victory.

Ponderosa’s strength was in its lower weights as Greybill, 103 pounds, Kyle Meniketti (112), Colby Haley (125) and Brycen Carlson (130) won all their matches and were named to the all tournament team.

Lincoln had no chance in the third round of pool play as Ponderosa moved on to the semifinals with a 59-18 win over the Zebras. With state-ranked wrestlers on the team, Bella Vista mounted the toughest competition but the end result had the Bruins winning 45-27 thanks to two more all-tourney selections, Lyndell Scarr (189) and Paul Buchanan (HWT), whose wins made the difference in the outcome.

Often the semifinals are the more competive rounds and that was the case Friday as the Bruins manhandled Will C. Wood 52-18 in the finals to win the tournament.

The El Dorado wrestling team competed for the first time in several years. Although the Cougars didn’t have a lot of success, Aaron DeMay was named to the all-tourney team.

“We had a great tournament but now we have many challenges to look forward to for the remainder of the season,” Escobar said. “There are going to be many tough opponents for us, but if we continue to practice hard hopefully we can continue to do what we did today.”

Ponderosa opened the Sierra Valley Conference schedule Thursday with a lopsided 66-9 victory over Christian Brothers.