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Dec. 31, 2008
Tragedy, triumph marked the year in sports
By DON McDERMOTT
Dockter dies in accident After Preston Dockter talked about the Pahrump Valley High School fast-pitch softball team he coached in spring 2008, he wanted a favor. "Be sure to say that my wife, Katie, and my parents ... have been highly supportive ... and that has to benefit me," said Dockter, on the eve of the Lady Trojans playing in a season-opening tournament at River Valley, Ariz., in early April. The Lady Trojans went on to give the rookie coach a marvelously successful season. They shared the regular-season Southern Nevada Class 3-A League title with Las Vegas Faith Lutheran, then knocked out the Crusaders in the regionals to advance to the state tournament at Bishop Manogue High School in Reno. The Lady Trojans didn't win the title, but with 30 wins in 39 starts, there were really no reasons for anyone to complain about the job Dock did last spring. Preston knew his way around the fields of competition, having played football and baseball, as well as wrestle for the Trojans. He went to Mayville State in North Dakota, where he played football for four years. He met his future wife, Katie, at Mayville State; they were married in June 2007; with a baby expected sometime in the fall, a baby shower was scheduled for Oct. 5. Preston and a couple of long-time friends decided to leave. It was on their return home that Dockter's almost new motorcycle crashed on East Calvada Boulevard; the 24-year-old was fatally injured ... "It is so sad ... for his family, his wife who is going to have a son ... and thousands of other kids he would have mentored and have a positive influence on, as a teacher, as a coach, and as a friend," said Leo Verzilli. "He was so excited to be a coach ... he had found what he wanted to do with his life." The head football coach at Pahrump Valley High School, Verzilli was named to that position last spring, and one of the first things he did was hire Dockter -- who had been the head coach at Rosemary Clarke Middle School in 2007 -- as his defensive coordinator. There is another fact as equally important as anything Dockter contributed to athletics and athletes in the Pahrump Valley. In 2002, Dock graduated from PVHS, went to school in North Dakota -- and returned to the valley to start his life as a family man and as a professional educator. He taught history at RCMS; one day, he had his students sit in the stands in the Sharks' gym during a basketball tournament. Their assignment: to write an essay on what they had witnessed. It was a clever way to get them involved in a current event, and not something they had read in a text book. The Pahrump Valley has not had that many high school student-athletes to make the decision to return here after graduating from college and to get totally involved in the community. Preston, who was born in Bismarck, N.D., lived in Pahrump 14 years. The Pahrump Valley was where he wanted to contribute, where he could use his expertise as a teacher and as a coach -- and most important, be a friend. Preston's son, Preston Zachariah Dean Dockter was born Oct. 28. PV matmen reign as state champions What better way to say goodbye to Nevada Class 3-A wrestling rivals than to win a state championship. And that's what the Trojans accomplished in February. The Trojans amassed 191- 1/2 points, more than half of them in the semifinals, as they claimed Pahrump Valley's first 3-A boys state championship in any sport and their third title in wrestling in the 35-year history of the school. The 1986 and 1987 Trojans won Class A titles, when there were just seven other teams competing in the sport. "It would have been different if we had won a title competing against teams not as good as we were," said a Trojan fan, wishing to stay anonymous. "But the boys beat the best teams Nevada has -- Spring Creek, Virgin Valley and Winnemucca Lowry." Virgin Valley coach Leon Durbin congratulated Craig Rieger, the Trojans' coach, after Pahrump Valley had dominated the semifinal round. Nine Trojans -- count 'em ... Elliott Owens, Elias Armendariz, Kyle Abreu, James Chapman, Anderson Floyd, Zack Weldon, Joe Colucci, Pierce Hankel and Frank Lopez -- won to advance to the finals. And Durbin did that, shortly before saying he would not return as wrestling coach at Virgin Valley in the 2008-2009 season. By scoring more than 100 points in that round alone and holding an overall 166 to 92 edge over Spring Creek, the Trojans could not lose the state team title, no matter what happened in the finals. Two won -- Chapman at 145 (that was his second title) and Weldon at 171 (by winning two incredibly exciting matches in the semifinals and finals). Chapman decisioned Boulder City's Steve Kaposta 12-4 and Weldon scored back points in the final three seconds of overtime to edge Spring Creek's Kamas Wing 3-1. Owens, a 103-pound freshman, and Lopez, a 285 senior lost one-point decisions in the finals. Owens fell 7-6 to Virgin Valley's mighty mite Cody Cannon and Incline's giant Jordan Cronin stopped Lopez 6-5, after the Trojan big man had been assessed a penalty point for allegedly stalling. "What Pahrump Valley did in the semifinals was unbelievable ... they just wouldn't stop winning," said Wade Pehrson, Spring Creek's veteran coach. "There was nothing we could do." "Last year, we did so well ... but finished second," said Rieger, in the post-tournament silence; a noisy, raucous crowd that reached capacity toward the end of the tournament, had departed. "It left us wanting to win, and that was one of the reasons why we went to the Spring Creek tournament in January. "We didn't do anything fancy ... all it was ... was hard work by all of the wrestler," said Rieger. "When I first started here, Ely White Pine set the bar. Then it was Leon and his Virgin Valley teams. Now, I believe it is us." The Trojans leave 3-A with four consecutive league and regional titles -- and now, the state championship trophy.
PV opens new football stadium Pahrump Valley High School's revitalized 1,700-seat stadium opened March 11, when the Trojan track team hosted Class 4-A Las Vegas Durango and Chaparral and 1-A Laughlin in a quadrangular meet. A major step toward the completion of the $600,000 project was taken in early March, when the 9,000-pound, 3,600 cubic-foot press box was lifted into place. The press box was already fitted with electrical outlets and other equipment required for it to function as intended. "It's great to be part of this," said Steve Figgins, a senior estimator and a Pahrump Valley liason to the project, "When the press box was built, we made sure that the people who will work on top of it would have easy access." A 16-square foot hatch was built into the roof of the press box and safety rails will be installed. The press box, constructed by Whitley-Evergreen in Marysville, Wash., was transported to Pahrump by Bennett Truck Transport of Woodburn, Ore. Equipment and crew from Suiter's Crane LLC of Las Vegas completed the task in less than 30 minutes, once everything was in place to insure the massive lift was accomplished without incident. HCI of Las Vegas is the general contractor and was represented by Dan Bailey, with the bleachers created by Hansen Sports of Kentucky. Hopkins resigns as hoops coach Bob Hopkins, the Pahrump Valley High School girls basketball coach for the past 10 seasons and 13 overall, resigned as coach, following a 25-8 campaign and a state semifinal trip. From 2001 through 2008, the Lady Trojans were 198-44, winning two state Class 3-A championships and dominating Southern Nevada League opponents. In 25 seasons, Hopkins-coached teams in Nevada and South Dakota were 479-176, which means he leaves the profession 21 wins shy of 500 in his career. "Coaching basketball has been part of my life for a long time," said Hopkins, who directed a state championship team in Bennett County, S.D., before heading to Nevada. "Now, I am going to be able to devote more time to my family." Leo Verzilli to coach football When Leo Verzilli met with parents and football prospects in April 2008, he said that accountability and discipline would be major factors in the success of the Trojans -- both on and off the field. Unfortunately, moving into the tough Sunset Region Southwest Class 4-A Division proved to be even more difficult than anticipated. The Trojans were 0-7 in the division and 1-9 in all games; in the last three seasons, PVHS is 4-24-1 in the sport. But the words he used last spring are still important today. "Mom ... Dad ... accountability ... it will be up to you as a parent to get your son to the weight room ... to practice." said Verzilli at that first meeting. "Players ... accountability ... you have to do the little things and give your best effort to do whatever needs to be done for you to be on this team "I went to a Class 4-A football coaches meeting in Las Vegas," said Verzilli. "I didn't know anybody there, but there was one thing they were all talking about ... and that was weightlifting programs and how important they are in football. "You, as players and parents, and we, as coaches, will be held accountable. I do not believe in entitlements ... no player is entitled to start ... everything on this team will be earned. We want these boys to be young men when the season ends." And the most important element is academic and disciplinary eligibility. Study and behave. "Remember, you are 'student' athletes," said Verzilli. "Last season, eligibility problems were a nightmare." * Brian Hayes was named to succeed Gus Sullivan as head football coach at Beatty High School, which played in a newly-aligned Southern Nevada Class A Eight-Man league. Pahranagat Valley Alamo won the regular-season title, then edged Tonopah 22-18 for its third state championship in four years. Tonopah had won the 2007 title. PV Speedway closes forever The Pahrump Valley Speedway, after more than 20 years of operation on East Basin, was closed permanently. But motorsports did not disappear from the area. Death Valley Raceway, a one-third mile dirt oval located at Amargosa Valley, opened last spring, offering competition in several classes of race cars. What will happen to Willow Creek? The Willow Creek Golf Course, formerly the Calvada Country & Golf Club, ceased operations in 2008. Whether Willow Creek will once again operate as a golf course -- as it had since 1979 -- has yet to be determined. At one time, Willow Creek was one of the more spectacular golf courses in Southern Nevada. Now, the 7,000-yard course is sorely in need of repair. 2000-2008 Year W-L State results * 2000-2001 21-3 L, Semifinals * 2001-2002 24-3 L, Regionals * 2002-2003 19-7 L Semifinals * 2003-2004 32-1 W 3-A title * 2004-2005 29-5 W 3-A title * 2005-2006 18-13 L Regionals * 2006-2007 30-4 L in Finals * 2007-2008 25-8 L Semifinals This decade: 198-44, two championships, one runnerup. Pahrump Valley girls from Class of 2004 won 96, lost 14. * Class of 2005: 104-16 * Class of 2006: 98-26 * Class of 2007: 109-23 * Class of 2008: 102-30 The Trojans were 55-23 against Class 4-A or bigger opponents in last seven seasons. |
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