DENVER — Meeker senior T.J. Shelton, who is aiming for a fourth wrestling championship, cruised to the semifinals with a win on Friday morning.
Shelton, wrestling in Class 2A’s 170-pound bracket, pinned Edgar Pedigo of Custer County in 1:12 to secure the quarterfinal win. He also pinned his opponent in the first round.
Shelton is set to face Jeramiah Hillman in the semifinals, which begin around 7:15 p.m. on Friday. Hillman has also pinned both of his opponents in the first two rounds.
Colorado has had 18 four-time champions at this tournament. Shelton is aiming to be the 19th.
Greeley Central’s Ben Euresti rallies from down 12-0
Ben Euresti had himself a quarterfinal comeback.
He found himself down early to Pueblo County’s Nathan Bonham, a freshman who was favored coming into the 106-pound quarterfinal match. And in no time, Bonham showed exactly why. Before Euresti knew what had happened, he found himself down 5-0 and knew that he had to start turning things around.
“He was so long that I had to adjust my style to see what he was doing,” Euresti said. “He gave me a perfect little head right there and I took advantage of it.”
By that point, Bonham had a 12-0 lead. But Eurseti was able to get Bonham’s shoulders on the mat and register a pin despite nearly being the victim of a technical fall.
The Greeley Central junior will face Windsor freshman Will Vombaur in the 4A semifinals Friday night.
Eurseti, by the way, beat Mountain View’s Kaley Barker in the first round. Barker became the seventh girl to wrestle at the state tournament on Thursday.
Ponderosa’s Hunter Matney ends Tomas Gutierrez’s bid at third title
The plan for Ponderosa junior Hutner Matney was simple: keep it close.
He was able to do just that in his 5A 120-quarterfinal battle with two-time state champion Tomas Gutierrez. The Pomona senior held a 2-1 lead in the third period, but little did he know that Matney had him right where he wanted him.
“I could feel him start to wear down a little bit,” Matney said. “That’s when I turned it on and went full speed.”
This is Matney’s third year at the state wrestling tournament and he has never won a championship. He fell in the 106-pound finals in 2015 to Pomona’s Dayton Marvel.
After taking down Gutierrez in Thursday’s early session, he feels good about his odds at coming away with with the 5A 120 title.
“The kid I wrestle next (Poudre’s Job Greenwood) I’ve beaten so I should be good to go there,” Matney said. “Then it’s just one-by-one, match-by-match.”
Mountain View’s Kaley Barker wins in consolation bracket
Kaley Barker, who became the seventh girl to wrestle at the state tournament Thursday, won her first round consolation match on Friday afternoon.
Barker pinned her opponent, Evergreen’s Connor Williams in 4:00. She now advances to the second round of the consolation bracket and will face Thompson Valley sophomore Kasey Gault on Friday night.
Of the seven girls who have qualified for state, just two — Soroco’s Lauryn Bruggink in 2010 and Grand Valley’s Cody Pfau in 2013 — have ever won multiple matches.
No girl has ever placed at the state tournament.
2A team race stays close
Meeker trailed Rocky Ford by 2.5 points after the first day of competition on Thursday. But, with five wrestlers advancing to the semifinals and two more advancing in the consolation bracket, the Cowboys have jumped into the team lead with 63 points following the early session on Friday.
Rocky Ford, the defending champion, is now second with 59.5 points, while Centauri remains in third with 58.
Meeker has won eight team wrestling championships, the most recent coming when it captured 2A in 2005. That was actually the third of three-straight titles.
Valley aiming for a third-straight 3A title
Valley has won the past two team championships in 3A, and the Vikings seem intent on doing it again.
The team led the 3A race after the first day of competition, and it remains there following the quarterfinals. Valley has placed six wrestlers into the semifinals and has 64 points.
Dolores Huerta has moved up to second place in 3A with 51.5 points.
The most recent three-time champion was Paonia (2012-14) in 2A. And prior to Valley’s run in 3A, Alamosa won three-straight 3A titles from 2011-13.
Pueblo County in control of 4A
The Willits brothers aren’t going just for individual titles. Their run to the semifinals has Pueblo County in the lead for the 4A team title with 82 points as semifinals are slated to begin Friday night.
Greeley Central trails by only eight, sitting at 74 points.
Cheyenne Mountain, Mesa Ridge, defending 4A team champion Thompson Valley and Pueblo East are all locked in a battle for control of third place with the four teams being separated by only seven points.
Pomona has a grip on 5A race
Pomona was ranked No. 1 in 5A by On The Mat for most of the season. Through the first two sessions at state wrestling, the Panthers are living up to that billing.
Pomona led the team race after Day 1 action, and continues to do so following Friday’s early session. The Panthers have 59 points, ahead of second-place Legacy (46). Ponderosa sits third with 44.5 points.
Arvada West, the two-time defending champion, is 21st with 14 points.
The Panthers’ last title came in 2013, just prior to Arvada West’s recent run.
Returning champs, unbeatens continue to roll
Each of the returning champions in 4A and 3A moved to the semifinals. Likewise, all of the unbeaten wrestlers in each of those classes, as well as 2A, also advanced.
2A featured seven returning champions, and five undefeated wrestlers. Six returning 2A champions are still alive. On Friday, Limon’s Jayden Hilferty (285 pounds) lost in the quarterfinals. Only one 2A wrestler, Paonia’s Bo Pipher, a 145-pounder, is a returning champion who is also unbeaten at 46-0.
In 3A, there are six returning champions, as well, and three unbeatens. Likewise, the classification only has one returning wrestler who is unbeaten: Dalton Robertson of Weld Central, who is now 43-0 in the 182-pound field.
In 4A, there are 10 returning champions and five unbeatens. Two, Thompson Valley’s Parker Simington (160) and Fort Morgan’s Toby McBride (285), fit into both categories.
The 5A returning champions took a hit. As noted above, two-time champ Tomas Gutierrez fell to Ponderosa’s Hunter Matney. His teammate, Dayton Marvel lost to Riley Garner-Orr of Grand Junction Central on a 4-2 decision. Heading into semifinals, three returning champions remain.
There were no unbeaten wrestlers in 5A heading into the tournament.
Notables
- Pueblo County’s Grant Willits, on a mission after missing weight at state a year ago, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-0 win over Windsor’s Sam Zdenek in the 4A 126 bracket. Willits was a champion two years ago at 106 pounds.
- Willits’ twin brother, Hunter, himself a two-time champion, moved to the semifinals with a 10-0 major decision over Colin Saiz of Denver South at 4A 152.
- For the fourth year in a row, Cherry Creek will have at least one Finesilver brother wrestling in the semifinals. This also marks the third-consecutive tournament that at least two of the Finesilver brothers have made the semifinals. This year, twins Josh (126) and Matt (152) have both advanced.
- Of the schools with one qualifier, just five advanced their lone wrestler to the semifinals: Dolores, Holy Family, Centaurus, Douglas County, and Horizon.
- The semifinals in all classes will begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Pepsi Center. The 2A/3A consolation bracket resumes at 5:45 p.m., and the 4A/5A consolation does so at 7:15 p.m.
