Last weekend, the Pagosa Springs High School Pirate boys’ wrestling team traveled to Central High School in Grand Junction for the Warrior Classic, a Western Slope tradition that saw more than 50 teams come together and compete.
The tournament was composed mostly of 4A and 5A programs, but the Pirates finished 20th, which was high amongst the 3A programs competing.
The Pirates’ top finisher was Colton Lucero, who finished second. Jimmy Elledge was the only other Pirate to place in the tournament.
Lucero wrestled in the 157-pound bracket for the Pirates, scoring 29.5 points for the team with his second-place finish.
He started quickly, pinning his first opponent after one minute and two seconds. He pinned his second opponent after 2:59 and his third in 51 seconds. In the quarterfinals, he won by a technical fall score of 18-1 in four minutes to reach the semifinals, where he once again pinned his opponent, this time in 39 seconds.
Lucero was pitted against a state champion from Green River with an undefeated record in the championship match. He lost the match by an 8-1 decision. With 10 seconds left on the clock the score was tied 1-1, Lucero took one last deep shot on a takedown and was countered by his opponent.
Lucero now heads into the break with a 9-1 record.
“Lucero had been the aggressor the entire match,” wrote coach Dan Janowsky in an email to The SUN. “The fans were treated to some very high level wrestling skill and athleticism in the final bout.”
Elledge was the only other Pirate to place in the tournament, taking sixth while wrestling at 215 pounds.
Elledge won his first three matches of the tournament, pinning his first opponent after 1:49, pinning his second opponent after 3:55 and winning his third match by a 4-0 decision. Elledge then dropped his next three matches, getting pinned in the semifinal, losing by a 4-3 decision in the consolation semifinal and getting pinned in the fifth-place match.
Elledge scored 13 points for the Pirates and clearly belongs in the conversation for a state medal in February, wrote Janowsky.
Johnny Baker, wrestling at 126 pounds, did not place and scored two points for the Pirates. Baker won his first match via a 8-4 decision, but was pinned in his second match and lost his final match in the first tie breaker round by a score of 13-10.
Eric Smith finished the tournament with a 2-2 record while wrestling at 132 pounds. Though he did not place, he scored five points for the Pirates.
Smith won his first match by pinning his opponent in 52 seconds. He then lost by technical fall score of 24-6 in 3:58. Smith bounced back, pinning his next opponent in three minutes, but lost his final match by a major decision score of 15-3.
Stetson Osborn wrestled at 138 pounds and did not place. Osborn lost his two matches, the first by a technical fall score of 18-2 after 4:06 and the second by a fall at 2:22.
Asher McKennie wrestled at 144 pounds and did not place, but scored five points for the Pirates.
McKennie won his first match by pinning his opponent after 1:34, but lost his second match by a major decision score of 12-1. He came back and won his third match by a 10-3 decision, but his tournament came to a close when he lost his fourth match by being pinned after 3:52.
Hudson Mazur wrestled at 150 pounds and did not place, but scored three points for the Pirates.
Mazur was pinned in his first match after 47 seconds. He came back and won his second match by pinning his opponent in 2:07, but was pinned in two minutes in his third match and was eliminated from the tournament.
Devin Gonzalez wrestled at 165 pounds for the Pirates. He did not place, but scored seven team points.
Gonzalez won his first match by pinning his opponent after 1:29, but lost his next match after being pinned in 46 seconds. Gonzalez came back and won his next two matches, defeating his third opponent via a technical fall score of 15-0 after 2:51 and defeating his fourth opponent by another technical fall score of 18-3 after 3:49. Gonzalez was eliminated after he was pinned in 3:43 in the next match, but Janowsky emphasized that Gonzalez made big strides from the previous week.
Truman Vasek wrestled at 175 pounds and did not place, earning three points for the Pirates.
Vasek lost his opening match after being pinned in 2:26. He won his first match in the consolation bracket via a forfeit, but lost his next match after being pinned in 1:54 and was eliminated.
Hunter Martinez wrestled at 285 pounds for the Pirates. Even though he did not place, he went 2-2 and scored seven points for the Pirates.
Martinez pinned his first opponent after 5:15, but was pinned by his next opponent after 53 seconds. Martinez pinned his first opponent in the consolation bracket after 1:55, but was eliminated after being pinned in his fourth match after 1:26.
“One of the best surprises of the early season is sophomore 285 lb Hunter Martinez, who moved up from junior varsity last year and has finished the early season with a 7-5 record,” wrote Janowsky.
The Pirates now have the winter break to rest up before the second half of the season starts in January.
The Pirates will host the Rocky Mountain Duals and then the Rocky Mountain Invite on Jan. 9 and 10, 2026.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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