DON McDERMOTT / PVT The Pahrump Valley High School wrestling team won the Nevada Class 3-A State championship Saturday at Moapa Valley High School in Overton. Coach Craig Rieger's team scored 191 1/2 points to beat four-time defending champion Spring Creek, which had 157 1/2 points. It is the first Class 3-A title for a boys' team from Pahrump Valley, which claimed back-to-back 1-A state championships in 1986 and 1987. RELATED STORY How Pahrump Valley matmen fared at state Advertisement

Pahrump Valley reigns as Nevada's Class 3-A state wrestling champions.

What better way to say goodbye to its 3-A rivals than with that signature accomplishment.

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.

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. Ownes 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," said Rieger. "We wanted to see the Northern teams wrestle ... and not just Spring Creek." In the prestigious Kiwanis Invitational, the Trojans edged Spring Creek by 1.5 points and no one got close to them the rest of the season.

"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.

"Congratulations to the Trojans ... they deserved it," said Durbin, who then said he has retired as the Virgin Valley coach. "It's time for me to move on to other things." Former Bulldog wrestler Skyler Woods will take over.

Again, irony surrounded the PVHS success.

In the 2007 state tournament, the Trojans did not have a 103-pound wrestler -- and finished second, eight points behind. The Trojans did have three individual winners -- 112 Elias Armendariz, 135 Chapman and 152 Jeremiah Ward.

This year, freshman Elliott Owens emerged as a title threat at 103 pounds, a weight class which produced two state champions in this decade -- Jake Towles in 2002 and 2003, and Armendariz in 2005 and 2006.

Armendariz lost 9-2 to Spring Creek's junior sensiation Cameron Hopper in the finals, ending his quest for a fourth state championship. "(Hopper) was just better," said Armendariz.

Chapman rehabilitated from a serious brain ailment to get into shape to wrestle this year. The recovery period prevented Chapman from competing in track last spring and in football last fall; he got medical clearance shortly before preseason workouts began in November.

Weldon has been wrestling for more than seven years, including several campaigns with the Pahrump Valley Powerhouse program.

"And one of the more important things we did this season was change the way we trained during the season," said Rieger. "We did all of the drills, but we also continued to weight-lift."

Owens, Josh Armendariz (119), Paul Miller (125), Chris DeMille (130), Steven Schmidt (152), Anderson Floyd (160). Weldon (171) and Colucci (189) return next season, when the Trojans move into the Class 4-A Sunset Region Southwest Division.