ST. GEORGE — Three falls in the first six matches carried Cedar City High to a close win at Crimson Cliffs on Thursday night, 39-36.
Cedar jumped out to a 24-12 edge halfway through the meet after Crimson forfeited the 145 lb. weight class to Cedar’s Jancen Payne. Before that, they had won the 113, 126 and 138 divisions by fall and held through to decision in 120 and 132 against the Mustangs’ Kaden Madsen and Brandon Norton.
The Mustangs battled back in the heavier weight matches and took a 30-27 lead as 160 Matthew Martinez, 170 Nic Baum and 182 Eldon Milton scored 18-straight for Crimson, the latter two by way of quick, first-round falls. But Bryan White and Payton Murray responded with 6-pointers of their own for the Reds in the 195 and 220 divisions, respectively to pull out to a 39-30 lead with only the 285 class remaining. Crimson’s Jason Ponausuia fell Ben Ellis in the final match, but their weren’t enough points on the table to come back.
“We’re just trying to get in shape,” Cedar coach Luke Payne said. “We’re trying to push ourselves to be peaked for the state tournament.”
Cedar moves to 3-1 against Region 9 teams after falling to Pine View 65-18 on Jan. 7 in its season opener.
Crimson Cliffs loses to a regional opponent on the second straight day after falling to Snow Canyon on Wednesday, 48-24. The Mustangs are now 3-2 in conference competition. In their second season, the Mustangs have a much improved record after going 0-6 in reported Region 9 competition in 2019-20, according to TrackWrestling.
Storm Singleton, filling in for normal head coach Courtney English, liked what he saw and the strides the team is taking.
“We’re right there with Cedar,” Singleton said. “We lose by three. It’s one match. One match swings one way or the other: we get the win; we don’t. I’m proud of our kids. They’ve been working hard. Coming from where we were a year ago to now, lots of improvements. They got a good attitude. The culture is changing.”
Both teams get a day of rest on Friday before taking part in the Enterprise Tournament at Enterprise High School on Saturday.
Here are the full results from Thursday night’s contest:
106 lbs: Corbin Hansen (CCHS) over Simon Heiner(CHS), Fall
113: Greg Melling (CHS) over Parker Johnston (CCHS), Fall
120: Kaden Madsen (CCHS) over Kaden Gilber (CHS), 6-1 decision
126: Lawson Black (CHS) over Tyson Marshall (CCHS), Fall
132: Brandon Nortan (CCHS) over Tel Hirschi (CHS), 9-8 decision
138: Cooper Anderson (CHS) over Owen Peterson (CCHS), Fall
145: Jancen Payne (CHS) over CCHS, forfeit
152: Rayce Zobell (CHS) over Gavin Carter, 8-5 decision
160: Matthew Martinez (CCHS) over Nicholas Tramontanas (CHS), Fall
170: Nic Baum (CCHS) over Jacob Giles (CHS), Fall
182: Eldon Milton (CCHS) over Tyler Ogden (CHS), Fall
195: Bryan White (CHS) over Mason Vazquez (CCHS), Fall
220: Payton Murray (CHS) over Daniel Ulrich (CCHS), Fall
285: Jason Panausuia (CCHS) over Ben Ellis (CHS), Fall
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