Status: Fini

Holy Cross may be in third place after the first day of competition at the 2014 Las Vegas Holiday Classic, but they have a great chance to improve on that come Saturday morning.

Victor Valley of California is in the lead with 129 points, but they scored a lot of those points in the consolation rounds as they have only five quarterfinalists.  Three possible quarterfinalists from the California team were knocked out by the Tigers' Jake Rando, George Benoit and Brice Duhe.  Jeffrey Argrave gets a shot to do the same thing Saturday morning. Liberty High School of Arizona is in second place with 112.5 points, but the Lions only have two quarterfinalists. The Tigers scored 110.5 points to rank third, but they have a decided edge going into Saturday's competition: the Tigers have nine quarterfinalists.  Tulsa Union is in fourth place with 106.5 points.  They should be watched, though, as they have six in the quarters.

The Tigers have the following quarterfinalists scheduled to compete Saturday morning (weight class-seeding): Chris Zea (106-1st), Jeffrey Argrave (113-3rd), Beau Bush (120-3rd), Colin Guerra (126-3rd), Dylan Soileau (132-14th), Jake Rando (145-3rd), George Benoit (152-3rd), Brice Duhe (170-2nd) and Travis Gardner (285-43rd).  Joey Foret, seeded 3rd at 138 pounds, received a bye and won his first match via a fall in 5:12, but fell 13-10 in his next effort.  Foret is still alive in the consolation rounds, however.  After receiving two byes Foret pinned his next opponent in 2:36.

Only two of the starting 12 Tigers have been knocked out of the competition so far, but each did their part to put the Tigers in contention for the team title.  Parker Wilkins, seeded 2nd at 160 pounds, did his part by scoring a 15-2 major decision and a fall in 5:23 before losing his next two efforts (the last only by a 4-3 score).  At 182 Mason Williams, seeded 39th, lost a close 8-6 decision in his first match but came back with a 7-3 decision and a fall in 4:06 before being knocked out.

The quarterfinals matchups provide the Tigers a great opportunity.  Zea, the top seed, will meet an eighth seed.  Argrave and Bush, both 3rd seeds, will meet 6th seeded opponents.  Guerra, also a third seed, will meet an 11th seed and Soileau, having already beaten a 3rd seed, will face a 6th seed Saturday morning. The third-seeded Rando will meet a 27th seed, followed by Benoit, seeded 3rd, who will compete against an 11th seed.  The second-seeded Duhe will face a 7th seed and Gardner, a 43rd seed who has already defeated the 22nd, 11th, and 6th seeds, will face a 14th seed Saturday morning.

Click here for the TrackWrestling page for the tournament.

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