Five wrestlers on the Pagosa Springs High School Pirate wrestling team qualified for the upcoming state tournament at the 3A Region 3 tournament last weekend as the team placed sixth.
Colton Lucero, Hudson Mazur, Devin Gonzalez, Jimmy Elledge and Hunter Martinez all placed top four individually in Delta on Saturday, Feb. 14, and punched their tickets to the state tournament in Denver this week.
“It’s been uphill all year for us, [but] they did wrestle better than they’ve ever wrestled, which is really what it’s about,” said coach Dan Janowsky.
The Pirates were led by last year’s state qualifier, Lucero. He wrestled at 157 pounds and placed first.
After receiving a first-round bye, he won by a 16-0 technical fall in his first match, a 19-3 technical fall in his second match and a 7-5 decision in the first-place match.
Lucero heads into the state tournament with a 30-3 record on the season.
Mazur was the Pirates’ next finisher, placing third while wrestling at 150 pounds.
He received a first-round bye and pinned his first opponent after 22 seconds, but lost in the semifinal by a 6-2 decision. Mazur pinned his next opponent after 3 minutes and 47 seconds to make it to the third-place match, which he won by fall after three minutes.
He heads into the state tournament with a 31-13 record.
The next three qualifiers all placed fourth at regionals.
Gonzalez wrestled at 165 pounds. He received a bye in the first round and pinned his first opponent after 1:21, but was pinned in the semifinal match after 2:32. He won his match by fall after 2:19, lost the third-place match by a 17-0 technical fall and won the fourth-place match by a no contest.
Gonzalez heads into the state tournament with a 24-16 record.
Elledge wrestled at 215 pounds. He received a bye in the first round and then lost his first match after being pinned in 5:30. He then received another bye, pinned his second opponent after 34 seconds, won his next match by a 9-4 decision and lost the third-place match by fall after 4:20. He won the fourth-place match by no contest.
Elledge is 36-13 on the season heading into the state tournament.
Martinez, the final state qualifier for the Pirates, wrestled at 285 pounds. He received a first-round bye and lost his opening match by fall after 3:55. He won his next match by fall after 4:06, lost in the third-place match by a 10-1 major decision and won by 10-1 major decision in the fourth-place match to qualify.
Martinez holds a 30-13 record heading into the state tournament.
“I was pleased with the way they wrestled and how hard they competed, and how much their skills have developed,” said Janowsky.
The Pirates who placed at regionals but did not qualify for state were Eric Smith, Stetson Osborn and Ty Garcia.
Smith wrestled at 132 pounds and placed fifth, just missing out on qualifying for the state tournament.
He won his first match, pinning his opponent after 47 seconds, but was pinned after 3:04 in his second match. Smith then received a bye, defeated his third opponent by a 17-2 technical fall and lost by a 16-1 technical fall in the consolation semifinal. He pinned his opponent after 2:24 in the fifth-place match, but lost by a 9-4 decision in the fourth-place match.
Smith finished the season with a 28-20 record.
Osborn wrestled at 138 pounds, placing sixth.
He won by fall after 1:31 in his first match and then lost by fall after 1:39 in his second match. He won his next two matches, the first by fall after 56 seconds and the second by a 17-2 technical fall, but lost by a 15-12 decision in the consolation semifinal. Osborn was pinned after 3:41 in the fifth-place match.
He ended the season with a 27-22 record.
Garcia, wrestling at 190 pounds, placed eighth for the Pirates.
Garcia lost both matches, the first by fall after 15 seconds and the second by a 7-2 decision.
Garcia finished with a 6-11 record on the season.
Garrett Elliot wrestled at 113 pounds. He lost his first match by a 13-3 major decision and his second by a 8-4 decision after a bye.
Elliot finished with a 9-12 record on the season.
Hawkin Kofke wrestled at 120 pounds. He lost by a 16-0 technical fall in his first match, received a bye and lost by a 21-5 technical fall in his second match.
Kofke finished 1-16 on the season.
Johnny Baker wrestled at 126 pounds. He lost his first round after being pinned after 4:43, received a bye and lost his second match by a 9-6 decision.
Baker finished 8-21 on the season.
Asher McKennie wrestled at 144 pounds. McKennie received a bye in the first round, but lost his first match by a 6-1 decision. He bounced back, winning his next match by a fall after a minute, but was pinned after 2:32 in his final match of the tournament.
McKennie finished the season with a 24-17 record.
Truman Vasek wrestled at 175 pounds. He won his first match by fall after 33 seconds, lost his next match by fall after 31 seconds, won his third match by fall after 3:34 and lost his last match by fall after 27 seconds.
Vasek finished with a 15-21 record on the season.
“There’s so many of them that, after the emotion has kind of passed, can kind of appreciate how far they’ve come,” said Janowsky about the wrestlers who did not qualify for state. “And to understand that in the end, that’s what it’s all about.”
The five Pirate qualifiers traveled to Denver on Wednesday, Feb. 18, for the state tournament, which will go from Thursday to Saturday, Feb. 19-21, at Ball Arena.
Janowsky emphasized that, in order to prepare, the boys would be working on strategy before the final tournament of the year, specifically wrestling on the boundary lines of the mat.
“The big venue, the large number of wrestlers and all those kinds of things are really distractions,” said Janowsky. “And then it still boils down to a circle that you’re wrestling is the same size as the circle that you’re wrestling back in the wrestling room.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
>