The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate wrestling team had four grapplers compete in last week’s state finals tournament held at the Ball Arena in Denver Feb. 13-15.
“I thought we wrestled pretty well,” coach Dan Janowsky said in an interview, despite having to adjust to a newly reconfigured schedule compared to years past.
Janowsky mentioned that the Pirates’ assistant coaches were “crucial in coming up with solutions.”
He explains in an email to The SUN that “leading the way” was junior Colton Lucero, who competed in the 144-pound weight class, taking second place.
Janowsky notes that Lucero was the 38th Pirate in the school’s history to reach a state final first-place match.
Janowsky explained that Lucero was “dominant” in his early matches, winning his opening match on a 17-0 technical fall in one minute and 17 seconds.
“So, that was a great start,” Janowsky said.
Lucero then defeated his opponent in the quarterfinal match by a major decision of 11-2, and went on to pin his opponent in the semifinal match in 3:24.
He then lost his first-place match by a major decision of 11-0.
Janowsky explained that Lucero was down in the first-place match by a narrow score of 1-0 before giving up seven points in 10 seconds.
Janowsky mentioned that Lucero is “one of the best our program has had,” adding that he has an “impressive style of wrestling” that draws lots of attention from opponents in preparation for matches.
Lucero finished the season with an overall record of 32-7.
Three senior Pirates competed at state, with Anthony Manzanares competing in the 106-pound weight class, Taylor Hancey in the 165-pound weight class and Antonio Quezada in the 285-pound weight class.
Manzanares earned sixth place in a division Janowsky described as having some of the best wrestlers in the state.
He noted that Manzanares faced some adversity and had to work through some mistakes in his early matches.
“I thought he did an awesome job there,” Janowsky said.
Manzanares won his opening match on a 12-8 decision to move on to the quarterfinal match, where he defeated his opponent by a decision of 7-3.
Janowsky commented that Manzanares “had a really nice win” in the quarterfinal match, despite being “dinged” for some “strict” stalling calls.
Manzanares then lost in the semifinal match against the eventual 106-pound champion by a 19-3 technical fall in 5:10, sending him to the consolation semifinals.
“We wrestled tough and competitively,” Janowsky added.
Manzanares lost his following match by a narrow decision of 4-3, which sent him to the fifth-place match, where he lost by a decision of 11-4.
“He’s held down that 106-pound spot for three years,” Janowsky said, explaining that Manzanares “provided a lot of fun” for the fans during that time.
Manzanares finished the season with an overall record of 29-12.
Hancey got a “nice win” in his opening match in the 165-pound weight class, Janowsky noted.
Hancey pinned his opponent in the opening round in 1:44, and then lost in the quarterfinal match by getting pinned in 1:40.
Hancey was pinned in the following match in 3:50, finishing the season with an overall record of 16-10.
Janowsky explained that Hancey has dealt with a number of injuries throughout his career and that it’s a “great achievement” for Hancey to make it within the top 16 wrestlers in the state for his division.
Quezada lost his opening match in the 285-pound weight class by getting pinned in 36 seconds. He then lost his following match by getting pinned in 1:15, finishing the season with an overall record of 16-16.
Janowsky explained that Quezada is a “light” heavyweight and has competed against larger opponents all season long.
“He made the most of it,” Janowsky added.
Janowsky also commented that by the time wrestlers reach the state final tournament , most of their peers have been eliminated.
“They’re in there and they’re competitive,” Janowsky said of the Pirates.
He mentioned that the seniors were affected by COVID as middle schoolers and weren’t able to get as much mat time, but that “they grew by leaps and bounds.”
He noted that the junior high wrestling programs are a huge part of the Pirate wrestling program as a whole, and that he is “grateful” for those Pirates “hanging in there despite the challenges of the times” and “finishing the best they could.”
Samuel Kelly also traveled with the Pirate wrestling team, competing in the Unified division and winning his first-place match by pinning his opponent in 2:31.
Janowsky noted that Kelly “has good skills,” both mentally and physically.
clayton@pagosasun.com
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