Early December provides a glimpse of what February just might be once the postseason rolls around.

Some individuals are just coming off football, others are fighting through that plateau that hits a month into the season and weight classes are place holders until the allowances kick in and wrestlers drop a weight class.

Regardless of the date on the calendar the results still count. No getting around it. The wrestlers toe the line, and someone is going to get their hand raised.

In the tri-meet Wednesday night at Desert Vista, it was Highland boys and the Desert Vista girls that impressed the most as both teams came away with two wins.

“I don’t know the last time we beat Desert Vista,” Highland Cliff Gustafson said. “We wrestled tough all through the lineup. It was a good test to see where we are at and what we need to do headed in January.”

The Hawks topped Desert Vista 53-27 and Shadow Ridge 53-18. Desert Vista took five of the last six matches to beat Shadow Ridge 50-27 after being tied at 22.

On the girls side, the Thunder won 53-42 over Highland and 42-30 over Shadow Ridge. The Hawks beat Shadow Ridge. Sophie Jimenez, a junior 126-pounder, was one of the top performers for the Thunder girls team as she had two pins to improve to 10-5 on the year.

One of the boys matches that both coaches in the night cap – Highland and Desert Vista – as a pivotal match was at 144 pounds. The Thunder’s Jackson Ibert pinned Ezariah Torres in 3 minutes and 10 seconds at 138 to pull Desert Vista within 23-9.

Highland’s Kreed Case, who is 6-3 on the season, recently picked up a new move – so fresh he didn’t know the name of it. It was taught to him by Bryce Meredith, a three-time All-American from University of Wyoming, at recent camp.

And it, regardless of name, was rather useful against Desert Vista’s Zane Spencer as he pinned him in 36 seconds into the second period.

“I was behind him and, and I used a .….. I don’t know what it is called. (Meridieth) taught me that,” Case said. “It was really nice. It boosted my confidence now.”

Not counting forfeits the Thunder were only able to win one more match the rest of the way as sophomore state-placer Jaiden Finger pinned Trace Shellabarger at 157. He won by major decision against Shadow Ridge and is 11-4 on the season.

“He’s wrestling pretty good, but he needs to clean some things up,” Desert Vista coach David Gonzalez said. “He’s beating the kids he should be. There’s a lot of talent there. Some God given gifts. He’s going to be one those special kids.”

Desert Vista has a younger, and less experienced lineup compared to most years. It was made more of an issue as the Thunder were wrestling without two of their top competitors – three-time state qualifier Asher Stubbs at 126 and state placer Drew Hoyt at 215 – due to illness, but the lineup still had to be filled out.

“The young guys are competing and being thrown into the fire,” Gonzalez said. “We haven’t been in this spot in a long time. It’s not about winning duals right now. I want them ready at the end of the year.”

Highland looked strong as the Hawks were able to earn a ton of bonus points with seven pins against the Thunder and five against the Stallions.

“We have one more tournament before taking some time off,” Gustafson said. “We’re off to a solid start and we have a lot to build off of going forward.”