Wrestling: Pride have strength in numbers

Mountain Pointe wrestlers should know their way around a mat this season.

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The Pride have nine seniors in the lineup this season and four of them qualified for the state tournament last season.

"I've never had nine seniors before," Mountain Pointe coach Shannon Radford said. "So we should be pretty solid from 119 to 135 pounds and from 160 to 215 (weight classes)."

Mountain Pointe also had 32 newcomers show up for tryouts this season.

"A lot of them are sophomores who didn't come out as freshmen," Radford added, "so we've got some rookies at the beginning and the end."

Among the seniors coming back are Tony Michel, a 125-pounder who went through four rounds of the state tournament last season, and 145-pounder Hans Larson, who was 14-10 as a junior and was chosen as the Homecoming King this fall.

"That's a first too," Radford said. "I never had a Homecoming King before."

Larson's twin brother, Shane, is returning to the mat after playing with the Pride football team this fall and could earn the Pride some valuable points in the 189-pound class this season.

The Pride lost Nate Charles and Chaz Call in the heavier weight divisions to graduation and T.J. Porti, who had a 22-9 record at 189 pounds last season, has been sidelined this season with a football shoulder injury.

Senior Jeremy Reichart has stepped into the 215-pound class and sophomore rookie Bijan Musgrove is expected to anchor the heavyweight spot.

Dylan Miller, another sophomore, is getting experience at 112 pound, but Radford is still looking for a lightweight to fill the 103-pound class.

"That's usually the hardest spot to fill," he added.

Other seniors include Angel Escobedo (160 pounds) and Raymond Paul. Paul is battling junior Thomas Gibson, who qualified at 152 pounds last season, for a starting spot at 171 pounds.

"Those have been some of the best challenge matches we've had this year," Radford said.

Nick Youngblood, another senior who qualified for the state tournament at 140 pounds last season, is back along with junior Anthony Navin (130 pounds), another Pride state tournament qualifier last season who has moved up to 135 pounds.

James Carroll (130 pounds) is another junior with state tournament experience while sophomore Robby Link is the front runner at 132 pounds.

Sophomore Jorge Garcia, who made it to the state tournament at 119 pounds last season, brings that experience to the 125-pound division this season.