By Adam Triplett ’10
THE ROUNDUP
As the weather begins to cool, the wrestling room is heating up.
The Broncos’ wrestling team started this season placing first, second and fifth at the Deer Valley tournament in December.
They also took first place in the Jerry Benson Invitational during the Dec. 12-13 weekend.
Connor Devereux ’11, Mashall Varner ’13 and Paul Looper ’10 all took first place for their weight division in that tournament, according to coach Mr. Brad Frank.
“This year’s team is full of hard workers,” said Mr. Jose Leyba ’94, one of the team’s coaches. He also went on to say that the members of the team worked very hard during the off-season and have “more potential” than any of the previous year’s teams he has coached.
“Paul Looper ’10 is this season’s best chance for a second state champion,” Mr. Leyba said.
Freshman Marshall Varner ’13 is, “tough to take down,” and has a good chance of being the first four time state placer on Brophy’s team.
Other notable players are junior Conner Devereux ’11 and Kevin Molloy ’11, who is a transfer from Pinnacle High School and “fills an experience and leadership gap” left in the wake of last year’s graduating seniors.
The only weak point of the team, according to Mr. Leyba, is how young the team is overall. The team lost several members, including captain Brian Click ’09.
However, Mr. Leyba also said that although they are in fact a young team, they have much more depth then previous years with two to three players in each weight division.
Also, the 18 freshman on the team are the “best freshman team in 10 years” and are “both aggressive and mentally tough.”