PROVO — It was senior night at Provo High, and the Bulldog grapplers wanted to go out in style. Bolstered by four wins by forfeit and five pins along with a major decision victory, the Provo Bulldogs bested rival Timpview 58-18 in prep wrestling action Thursday night.
Jesse Shepherd (152 pounds), Donavan Minutes (220), Schafer Heiner (106), Andrew Giles (126) and Brandon Evans (138) won by pin to pace the Bulldog attack.
The matches started at 152 pounds, with Shepherd winning with a second-period pin over Caleb Zaugg to start off the night right for Provo.
Tristan Torgersen (160) then won by forfeit to put the Bulldogs out in front 12-0.
The Thunderbirds actually took the lead in the dual with three straight wins, two of which were by pin.
Timpview's Haroune Shahed and Provo’s Hunter Tellez hooked up in a hotly contested battle at 170 pounds. Tellez actually led 6-4 in the final minute before Shahed took Tellez down to his back, earning the pin.
At 182 pounds, Timpview’s Noah Avila built an 11-0 lead before Provo’s Kevin Torgersen put on a furious comeback to fall short 12-7.
Then at 195 pounds, Nate Richardson secured a second-period fall against Frankie Valle to put the Thunderbirds out in front 15-12.
Provo stormed back with a pin by Minutes and forfeit wins by Dylan Thomas (285) and Peyton Griffin (113). Sandwiched between these two forfeit victories was a first-round pin by Heiner at 106 pounds.
Timpview’s last victory came at 120 pounds in the most entertaining match of the night when Jose Perez outlasted Provo’s Tim Giles, winning in overtime 7-5 and cutting the Bulldog lead to 36-18.
Provo then rallied to clinch the victory with a pin at 126 pounds by Andrew Giles, a forfeit win by Taggart Greenhalgh at 132 pounds followed by a second-period pin by Evans.
Then in the final bout at 145 pounds, Provo senior Roberto Elguera won by major decision over Timpview’s Tanner Prince, pushing the final margin of victory for the Bulldogs to 58-18.
Brian E. Preece is a freelance prep sports writer.