AT A GLANCE
What: U.S. National Wrestling Championships
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center
When: Wednesday (11 a.m.-10 p.m.); Thursday (11a.m.-10 p.m.); Friday (9 a.m.-10 p.m.); Saturday (9 a.m.-3 p.m., Finals begin at 6 p.m.).
Tickets: Four-day passes are $150 (VIP), $65 (preferred), $45 (general admission) and $20 (students 6-17) -- call 866-418-0372 or 360-3739. Daily tickets, available at the door, are $35 (preferred), $25 (general admission) and $15 (students). Admission to Saturday night's finals are $25 (preferred), $20 (general admission) and $10 (students).
As the patriarch of one of the city's most acclaimed wrestling families, Eddie Gifford Sr. has not regretted a decision he made more than 25 years ago.
Instead of exploring an offer to wrestle at the University of Nebraska, he chose to start his family.
That's what keeps Gifford, a concrete mason, going when the summer temperature hits triple digits for long stretches. His company's current job is laying a new parking garage at Green Valley Ranch.
"It keeps you tough," he said.
Senior has passed that toughness to sons Eddie Jr., Greg and Chris, all former 4A champions at Las Vegas High.
That trio has taken part in the U.S. National Wrestling Championships, which will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday-Saturday, for the past two years.
This week, Chris, a junior at Las Vegas High, will miss the tournament because he will be participating in the National Science Olympiad in Columbus, Ohio, with a group from his high school.
Monday afternoon, he was busy perfecting a lightweight boom lever that must lift 35 pounds. Chris had just hoisted 25 pounds with his 14-gram crane.
The Giffords are all about leverage.
Eddie Jr. is a fifth-year senior at Fresno State who placed eighth at the Convention Center last year at 185 pounds. He is ranked 14th, at 174 pounds, in NCAA Division I by The Wrestling Mall.
However, according to Eddie Sr., weight loss will likely force Junior to compete at 163 in the U.S. Senior Freestyle competition at the Convention Center.
Greg is a Bulldog, too, a true freshman, and he might be the most dangerous of the three rasslin' Giffords.
"He's real mean," said former Las Vegas High coach Joe LaRocco.
"He's kind of an animal, all the way around," Eddie Gifford Sr. said of his middle son. "He just loses his cool a little bit and digs himself a hole that he sometimes has to crawl out of. He does some pretty dumb things.
"He might get thrown to his back, get five points down and have to come back out of that. At a state junior tournament two weeks ago, he was down 6-0. And he came back, beat the kid 8-6 in overtime. When he keeps his cool, he's one of the best."
Greg Gifford might need all the moxie he can muster to advance through the 185-pound freestyle division this week.
Cael Sanderson and Lee Fullhart, ranked first and second in their class by TheMat.com, are among the foes Greg might encounter.
"He wants to win two or three matches," Eddie Gifford Sr. said. "It will be a whole other level for him, even over the college level. Every level is a big step, from high school to college, etc. This will be Greg's first open freestyle competition, so it will depend on his draw."
Eddie Sr. wrestled at Cheyenne (Wyo.) East High. At the state tournament as a senior, he had a gaudy 22 points in one match when he was disqualified for stalling.
"I was so mad," he said, "I went into the locker room, busted my wrist and had to pull out of the competition."
Eddie Sr. and his wife, Kathy, got Junior interested in the sport when he was 5, Greg at 6 and Chris at 7.
"You learn a little as you grow, not trying to push them maybe as hard," said Eddie Sr., who admitted that the three grapplers did their damage on the home in their youth.
"They wrestled all over the back yard and in the living room. It got pretty mean, and there were a few broken lamps."
Eddie Sr., 44, might only ponder a little bit about what might have happened if he had become a Cornhusker when he watches his two sons this week.
"I chose to start a family and go to work," he said. "Sometimes, I hit myself a couple of times when it's 120 (degrees) out there and I'm working. But I made the right choice. I got to have my kids and grow up with them."
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