The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate wrestling team took fifth overall in the Columbine Varsity Invite on Saturday, Dec. 13 — their second straight top five finish as a team.
The Pirates also had seven individual top-six finishes.
“Took some steps forward but still left some winnable matches ‘on the table’ so to speak,” wrote coach Dan Janowsky in an email to The SUN. “Solid, strong performances from Colton Lucero and Ryker Hansen.”
Lucero and Hansen each took first place in their individual brackets.
Lucero, wrestling at 157 pounds for the Pirates, won every match he wrestled in on Saturday and earned 28.5 points for the team.
He pinned his first two opponents, the first after 1:43 and the second after 42 seconds. He then won his third match by a technical fall score 17-2 after 1:43 to get into the championship match. Lucero took first place after winning by a major decision score of 12-1 in the first-place match.
Janowsky emphasized that Lucero is the stalwart of the program and is gunning for the state title this year after finishing as the runner-up last year.
Hansen wrestled at 175 pounds for the Pirates and, like Lucero, won every match he wrestled in, earning 28 points for the team.
He won both of his first two matches with technical fall scores of 16-0, the first after 2:38 and the second after 4:22. In the semifinal match, Hansen pinned his opponent after 1:13 to advance to the first-place match. In the championship, Hansen won by a major decision score of 9-0.
Hansen did not give up a single point in the four matches that he wrestled in.
The others placing in the top six for the Pirates were Hudson Mazur (third in the 150-pound bracket), Hunter Martinez (fifth in the 285-pound bracket), Jimmy Elledge (sixth in 205-pound bracket), Eric Smith Jr. (sixth in the 132-pound bracket) and Stetson Osborn (sixth on the 138-pound bracket).
Mazur lost his first match, received a bye in the first round and then won his next three matches pinning all three of his opponents. He then won the third-place match by a 11-10 decision. He earned 19 team points for the Pirates.
Martinez received a bye in the first round and then lost in the quarterfinals. He then pinned his next two opponents, lost his fourth match and won in the fifth-place match by pinning his opponent. He earned 13 team points.
Elledge won his first match, pinning his opponent in after a minute, but lost in the quarterfinal. He then pinned his next two opponents, lost in the consolation semifinal match and lost in the fifth-place match. He earned 13 points for the Pirates.
Smith won his first two matches, the first via a 9-1 major decision and the second via injury default. He then lost in the semifinals, the consolation semifinals and the fifth-place match. He garnered 10 points for the team.
Osborn pinned his first opponent and seated his second opponent via a 11-8 decision. Like Smith, he then lost in the semifinal match, the consolation semifinal match and the fifth-place match. Osborn earned nine team points.
Truman Vasek wrestled in the 190-pound bracket and lost both of his matches.
Devin Gonzalez wrestled in the 165-pound bracket and was pinned in both his matches.
Gabe Ramirez wrestled in the 144-pound bracket and lost his first match in overtime, won his second and lost his third match via a major decision. He earned one point for the Pirates.
Johnny Baker wrestled in the 126-pound bracket and lost in both his matches.
Janowsky commends his wrestlers’ performances on Saturday.
He notes that Elledge’s sixth-place finish was impressive because he wrestled at the toughest weight based on rankings, with nine ranked wrestlers in his bracket.
Janowsky also emphasized that Martinez had another good performance and is learning the tricks of wrestling big guys, while Mazur bounced back from Bayfield, winning four out of his five matches.
The Pirates will travel to Grand Junction for the Warrior Classic this weekend, where action will begin at noon on Friday, Dec. 19, and 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Janowsky notes that the tournament will be a big test for his wrestlers, and is the last tournament the Pirates will compete in before the winter break.
“This tournament has a large field of Western Slope teams we will face at our regional and state tournaments along with strong programs from Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona,” wrote Janowsky, calling it a “great tournament for finding out where you are and what you need to work on.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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