For the week of December 24 - 30, 2003

Hailey matmen
reach some goals

4-0 in duals, third at Caldwell

---

Step-by-step progress is high on the priority list for the Wood River High School wrestling team—and the Wolverines have already attained some of their goals prior to Christmas.

Robert Wiesen, Wood River senior 152-pounder, gets a lift out of last Wednesday’s match against a Twin Falls wrestler. Wiesen had a second-round pin as Wood River beat the Bruins 50-21 on the Hailey mat. Express photo by David N. Seelig

Wood River is 4-0 in dual meets and, last weekend, placed third of 12 teams at the Caldwell Invitational meet. Coach Danny Turner said, "The team has achieved each of our pre-Christmas goals.

"We wanted to be 4-0 and place in the top three of the Caldwell tournament. The kids wrestled great. Of our 36 wins, 28 were by pin or technical fall. We came through the back door and pinned just about everyone in the consolation semis."

Highlights for Wood River’s 16 wrestlers at Caldwell were the undefeated first-place efforts of brothers Duane Miller and Murdock Miller.

"The Miller boys were outstanding," Turner said.

Senior team captain Duane Miller (8-0 season, 6 pins, 1 technical fall) won four matches at 145 pounds at Caldwell. Freshman prospect Murdock Miller (8-0, 5 pins, 1 TF) also went 4-0 with three pins and a technical fall at 103.

Placing second with 3-1 records at Caldwell were senior Robert Wiesen (7-1) at 152 and junior Greg Lyons (6-2) at 189.

Ten Wood River wrestlers placed first through fourth in the tournament including six who placed fourth. While happy with the efforts, Turner sounded a cautionary note about the fourth-place results.

"We’ve got a long ways to go to win our district championship. We’ll have to win those third-place matches to do it. Only the top three in our district go to state," he said.

Fourth places at Caldwell went to Sid Watson (3-2 tourney, 6-4 overall) at 112 pounds, Josh Orchard (3-2, 6-3) at 130, Brandon Silvia (3-2, 6-3) at 160, Russell Adams (3-2, 5-4) at 171, Dustin Selner (2-2, 5-3) at 215 and Brad Dussell (3-2, 5-4) in the unlimited weight class.

Freshman Levi Stinnett (6-3) also had a good meet with two pins and three wins at 152. Steve Fields had a first-round pin at 135, and Tim Vert won a match at 145. Also wrestling were Jordan Vert, Bronco Bravo and Donald Sluder.

Turner said, "Fields had an exciting pin in his first tournament action, Lyons beat the #2-seeded kid from the four-time Oregon state champion Nyssa team, Dussell had three pins on his way to a fourth-place finish, and Stinnett gained valuable experience by winning three matches and just missing out on a medal."

Homedale won the two-day tournament with 262.5 points as second-place Nyssa had 259. Wood River was third, 176.5.

Wood River resumes action Jan. 7 with a triangular at Challis against the two-time defending State 2A champs Challis and Salmon. The 30th Buhl Invitational is Jan. 9-10.

Last week’s dual meet:

WR 50, Twin Falls 21

145—Duane Miller pin 1:12 (6-0). 152—Robert Wiesen pin 3:17 (12-0). 160—Brandon Silvia pin 3:07 (17-0), one point deducted for misconduct. 171—Russell Adams pin 4:28 (23-0). 189—Greg Lyons lost 11-1 (23-3), one point deducted for misconduct in the 160-pound match. 215—Dustin Selner won 9-7 (26-3). Unlimited—Brad Dussell was pinned 1:28 (26-9). 103—double forfeit. 112—Murdock Miller pin 1:59 (32-9). 119—Sid Watson pin 1:20 (38-9). 125—Jordan Vert won by disqualification (44-9). 130—Bronco Bravo was pinned 1:27 (44-15). 135—Josh Orchard pin 0:48 (50-15). 140—Steve Fields was pinned 4:50 (50-21).

Twin Falls summary—WR won 7 by pin, 1 by decision, 1 by disqualification.

JV matches—Tim Vert pin first round; Levi Stinnett pin first round; Donald Sluder was pinned third round; and T.J. Squires pin second round.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.