Delta coaches Luis Meza, center, and Clayton Curtis congratulate 152-pound senior Hunter Brasfield after an upset win sent him into the 4A Region 4 semifinals.
Hotchkiss senior Joe Boyle controls Ruben Chagoya of Basalt to win a 3A Region 1 title. He is one of 7 Hotchkiss state qualifiers.
Hotchkiss and Paonia boys will square off this week on the basketball courts. Both are 6-4 in league play.
Delta senior Brooke Taylor scores two of her 12 points against Summit after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Paonia 195-pounder Tyler “TK” Kendall sets Rangely’s Drew Collins up for a pin.
Paonia freshman Bo Pipher sets TJ Richard of North Park up for a pin in Saturday’s regional semifinal round. He is one of 13 Paonia wrestlers headed to state!
Surrounded by coaches and his dad, Conner Beard signs Letter of Intent to play football for the University of Nebraska Kearney.
Hotchkiss' Jacobe Galley signed a Letter of Intent to play football and study engineering at Colorado Mesa University.
Hotchkiss senior Cody Bartlett signed his National Letter of Intent to run cross-country for Hawaii Pacific University.
Cedaredge senior Cole Caywood controls Buena Vista’s Koby Close in the 182 pound division at the 3A wrestling tournament in Denver. Caywood, who placed sixth overall, was one of four Bruin seniors to qualify for the state tournament.
Cole Caywood finally got his medal.
The senior 182-pounder from Cedaredge placed sixth at the state 3A wrestling tournament in Denver, ending his senior year with a 22-15 record.
"He's been wrestling for Cedaredge his whole life. It's good that he got to end it by coming here," said head coach Ted Schanen. "It's real nice that he's going out the right way."
Caywood first came to state as a sophomore, and wrestled two-and-out. Caywood's junior year he got a win. This year, Caywood won his first two matches before drawing top-seed Jaden Olearnick of Eaton, who defeated Caywood 8-5. He lost to Thane Smith of Salida to place sixth.
"He's been wrestling for Cedaredge for a heck of a long time," said Schanen of Caywood. "He's done a lot in the off season to try to get better. He's getting what he deserves."
Caywood was one of four seniors to wrestle at the Pepsi Center. Sam Williamson (113), Ely Fritchman (220) and Tylor Balistreri all wrestled two-and-out.
Schanen complemented all of his athletes. Another five wrestlers placed fifth at regionals. "We were awfully close to sending the majority of the team," said the third-year head coach. "It's always a work in progress."
"Sam Williamson, he's done everything I asked him to do from the first time I met him," said Schanen. "It's great he got to experience this." In his final match, Williamson had Macky Sandoval on his back but just couldn't finish it. "He went out fighting," said Schanen. "Just doing everything he could."
Fritchman, who also wrestled his whole life for Cedaredge, wrestled up his senior year. "It's good that he got to end it by coming here to the big stage," said Schanen.
This was only the second year of competition for heavyweight Balistreri. "He's done the right things this year," said Schanen.
Cedaredge's program is growing, noted Schanen earlier in the season. Five of his team members placed fifth at regionals — one of their best showings in recent history, and the middle school program is gaining momentum. "It's always a work in progress," said Schanen.
"Obviously we all wanted to win, but it's the kind of experience these kids will remember for the rest of their lives," said Schanen. "So often everything is judged by rankings. Growth is hard to measure sometimes. It's easy to measure wins and losses. I really feel like all of our guys, whether they're here or not, are making progress."
