The Pagosa Springs High School Pirate wrestling team will return to action this week when they host the Rocky Mountain Duals and Rocky Mountain Invitational.
“I’ve lost track of how many years we’ve done it, but it’s in the neighborhood of 50 years we’ve run this tournament,” said coach Dan Janowsky. “It’s a very exciting event for us.”
The boys will first compete in the duals on Friday, Jan. 9, with the wrestling starting at 5 p.m. Rocky Ford, a top-ranked 2A high school, and 4A Durango will be competing against the Pirates with the possibility of a third team joining, Janowsky explained.
The Rocky Mountain Invitational will then kick off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10.
There will be 17 teams traveling to compete. The teams making the trip to Pagosa Springs are Antonito; Bayfield; Center; Durango; Farmington, N.M.; Harrison; Ignacio; Kirtland, N.M.; Mancos; Montezuma-Cortez; Nucla; Monticello, Utah; Olathe; Rocky Ford; Sargent; and Taos, N.M.
Janowsky emphasized that both the duals and the tournament will be great ways to get going after the winter break.
Over the break, the Pirates got some rest in, but also made good use of the voluntary workout sessions, Janowsky noted.
He emphasized that the boys were able to work on their skills and got a lot of wrestling in over the break.
With students heading back to class this week, regular practices have started back up. This week the boys will be working on getting acclimated after the break with a lot of live wrestling reps, as well as touching up on fundamentals and working on stamina, Janowsky explained.
Heading into the second half of the season, Janowsky has two wrestlers, Colton Lucero and Jimmy Elledge, who he noted he feels have started to solidify their reputation.
The guys right below them are one to two matches away in a tournament setting and if they can improve the team can take the next step, the coach added.
“We’ve lost a lot of close ones,” said Janowsky. “We give away points at the wrong time, we make some mistakes that allow our opponents to get some easy points and if we can eliminate those easy points and make our guys work for everything, I think we can take another step up with the guys.”
Lucero has a 9-1 record wrestling at 157 pounds and Elledge has a 11-6 record wrestling at 215 pounds heading into the Rocky Mountain Invitational.
Jonathan Baker sits at 1-4 wrestling at 126 pounds, Eric Smith at 6-7 wrestling at 132 pounds, Stetson Osborn at 4-7 wrestling at 138 pounds, Asher McKennie at 2-6 wrestling at 144 pounds, Hudson Mazur at 6-6 wrestling at 150 pounds, Devin Gonzalez at 6-5 wrestling at 165 pounds, Truman Vasek at 4-6 wrestling at 175 pounds and Hunter Martinez at 7-5 wrestling at 285 pounds.
“We have a full weekend of wrestling here in our gym and, you know, we’re excited about it,” said Janowsky.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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