MHS hosts wrestling exhibition

MONTROSE —The Montrose High wrestling team showed signs of summer fatigue during an exhibition duel Thursday evening.

MHS lost four out of the first five matches against the Clark High School wrestling team out of Las Vegas at Lloyd McMillan Gymnasium, but picked it up late in the exhibition.

New head coach Kevin Passehl decided before the duel that shorter periods would benefit both teams as each squad has been out of competitive wrestling since February.

"If we would've went two minutes everybody would have been dying out there," Passehl said.

Montrose 112-pounder Geordon Hudson recorded the Indians' first victory on the evening with a solid win. Hudson dominated Kira Espinoza through two periods before he finally pinned her at the 4:27 mark.

The pin falls didn't stop there. Montrose's Keegan Harmon battled his opponent through two periods before finally pinning his man at the 4:10 mark.

That followed with solid victories from MHS wrestlers. Kordell Bradshaw pinned his opponent at the 1:43 mark. Drew Schumann had a dominant showing, defeating his opponent with a major decision, 10-2.

"This exhibition is just to keep the kids interested so that we're not just practicing against each other all the time," Passehl said. "This broke it up and gave us a chance to wrestle against kids we've never seen before."

With a total of 17 matches throughout the evening, Passehl had various wrestlers on his squad wrestling multiple times.

"Were always looking for mat time," he said. "Anytime we can get matches, it's a good thing. Were going to try and do this one more time before summer is over."

The final three matches of the evening were Indian veterans and soon-to-be seniors Jordan Passehl and Braxten Franz. Both Passehl and Franz showed no signs of summer fatigue as they cruised to easy victories. While incoming varsity wrestler Bryce Gaber defeated his opponent 11-2.

The exhibition duel raised funds for the MHS wrestling program, as $2 was charged at the door