Grapplers battle at Rollie Lane Invitational
By Argus Observer sports staff
Sunday, January 6, 2008 3:46 AM PST
Nampa - It’s only one of the biggest wrestling events of the season for the area grapplers.
Six local schools are in attendance with Ontario, Fruitland, Vale, Nyssa, Payette and Weiser.
Last year Weiser fared the best finishing with 24 team points and a 15 place finish, while Fruitland ended the two day event with 11 points, Nyssa totaled 10 and Ontario did not log any team points.
Ontario had five grapplers advance to the bracket portion on the match, and two of those placed in the tournament.
At 130 pounds, Tom Martinez placed third and at 140 pounds Andres Hernandez took sixth place.
Tiger head coach Charlie Anthony said the competition was the best they will see all year and the Rollie Lane Invitational was the best tournament around.
“We had some athletes wrestle well, and some did not,” Anthony said. “The boys found out how good of shape they are in and they now know what they need to work on as we prepare for districts.”
Weiser’s Jake Scharbrough was the only local athlete to win his weight class in 2007, and after the first day of competition, he is undefeated.
Another top finisher from 2007 that will be looking to finish better than last year is Fruitland’s Michael Villalpando, who placed sixth in 2007 and after the opening day of competitor is undefeated.
The first day of competition is pool play, where the athletes are divided into pools of four. Upon completing the pool they are seeded into a double elimination bracket based on how they finished in pool play.
Results for the final day of wrestling were not available at press time.
See the Argus Observer scoreboard for day-one pool results.
Look in Monday’s Argus for final results of the 2008 Rollie Lane Invitational.
