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Moffat County wrestling places seven athletes at Tournament of Champions

Miki Klimper places highest in 4th at Vernal, Utah; Elias Peroulis wins Second Chance event

Andy Bockelman
Moffat County High School's Chris Moschetti works to contain Hayden's Devlyn Mosman during a dual between the Bulldogs and Tigers. The two 120-pound athletes were matched up again during the Tournament of Champions in Vernal, Utah, with Moschetti winning the rematch following Mosman's previous win. MCHS varsity placed seven wrestlers and was 10th as a team.
Andy Bockelman

A weekend that included a little sweet revenge here and there as well as a return to the mat for one of their own had one common denominator for all Moffat County High SchoolMoffat County High School wrestlers: a great weekend in the sport. wrestlers: a great weekend in the sport.

Moffat County High School wrestlers: a great weekend in the sport.

MCHS varsity wrestlers placed 10th of 27 scoring teams and placed seven individuals at Tournament of Champions, Friday and Saturday in Vernal, Utah, a three-state event that brought together Utah, Colorado and Wyoming schools for a full grappling extravaganza.

“It’s a fun meet for us because we get to see competition we don’t see very often, a bunch of new teams we don’t know much about and they don’t know much about us,” assistant coach Daniel Cramblett said of TOC before the event, adding it’s one of few tourneys that offers both varsity and junior varsity.



The opening day was a tough one for the varsity roster, as one by one, the Bulldogs were eliminated from championship contention. The defeat may have been the hardest for Miki Klimper, pinned in the quarterfinals of the 170-pound bracket by Trenton Armintrout of the Norwood/Nucla team, the same opponent who beat him in December’s Warrior Classic.

Recent rankings from On the Mat put Armintrout at third in the state among 2A grapplers in the weight class, while Klimper was put fifth in 3A.



Klimper went on to take the highest Moffat County ranking Saturday, making it all the way through the consolation rounds to the third-place match, where he took fourth after an 8-4 loss by decision to Maple Mountain’s Brandyn Van Tassell.

Klimper finished 4-2 in the tourney with one bye round and two falls to make him 21-5 overall this season.

The Bulldogs earned a trio of fifth-place honors for 113’s Daniel Caddy, 120’s Chris Moschetti and 152’s Drake Zimmerman.

Caddy, ranked 14th in his class, found himself in the consolation semifinals as a result of a 3-0 decision against teammate Jay Carrico, who went on to place eighth. Though Caddy missed out on a shot at third place, he finished the day with a 4-2 victory over Duchesne’s Colby Harper for a 4-2 weekend and 18-7 overall.

With no bye rounds, Moschetti had more matches than any MCHS athletes, going 6-2 during the two days, gaining three pins and eventually finding himself face to face with Hayden’s Devlyn Mosman, against whom he had lost Thursday during a dual meet with the Tigers.

Moschetti, ranked seventh in 3A 120, won the rematch in a 6-0 decision against Mosman, who placed sixth at TOC to match his No. 6 standing in 2A rankings.

Moschetti’s record is now 19-9.

17-9 Drake Zimmerman went 5-2 in Vernal with one bye, with both losses coming against Delta competitors, though he earned four falls and finished strong with a victory against Damon Mac Dodson, of Pleasant Grove.

Moffat County put three more on the podium as 13-9 Ethan Powers went 4-2 placed seventh in 132, while 7-5 Toryn Hume joined 12-6 Carrico for a 2-3 weekend and eighth place, Hume in the 195 class.

Also getting back in the game was Hugo Hernandez, entering his first wrestling event this year following recovery from a tib-fib fracture incurred during the Bulldog football season.

At 195, Hernandez finished the weekend 2-2.

Bulldog junior varsity placed 11th Friday in the Tournament of Champions JV event, with Dagan White placing second at 2-1 in the 106 class, while at 170, Chace Marshall went 3-2 for fourth, all Friday wins by pin.

Day two was much better for many of the Dogs, particularly Elias Peroulis, who took back-to-back losses Friday only to come back hard in Saturday’s Second Chance tourney, claiming two pins, two major decisions and first place in the side event’s 182-pound bracket.

At 120 and 126, Isiaih Herod and Ryan Zimmerman also came out fighting after being knocked out of contention in the double-elimination opening day for varsity, both making it to the Second Chance championships and ending as runner-up.

Also on the Moffat County roster for the Vernal weekend were Dario Alexander (106), Greg Hixson (132), John T Peroulis (138), Drake Doherty (220) and Lee Graham (285) for varsity and on JV, Jeremiah Ziegler (113), Keaton Durbin (120), Miguel Zaragosa (145), Jordan Vorland (152) and Connor Winn (160).

MCHS hosts a Tuesday dual against Basalt before getting back into tourney mode with the following weekend’s Mel Smith Husky Invitational in Florence for varsity and a visit to Rangely for JV.

Contact Andy Bockelman at 970-875-1793 or Contact Andy Bockelman at 970-875-1793 or abockelman@CraigDailyPress.com or follow him on Twitter @CDP_Sports.Contact Andy Bockelman at 970-875-1793 or abockelman@CraigDailyPress.com or follow him on Twitter @CDP_Sports.


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