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.
Photo by Tamie Meck Delta senior Shane Anderson wrestles Devon Zavala of Denver East on day two of the Warrior Classic. Delta advanced three wrestlers to the second day of competition.Shane Anderson was one of three Delta wrestlers to go 3-2 at the 35th annual Warrior Classic. Delta earned 50.5 points to place 28th in the 38-team tournament, held Dec. 14 and 15 at Grand Junction Central High School.
Anderson (132) opened Friday's matches with a pin in 1 minute, 36 seconds over Shandon Hadley of Moffat County. He went on to pin 10th-ranked Louis Guillen of Grand Junction in 1:31, then came up against eighth-ranked Devon Zavala of Denver East early Saturday. Anderson lost, 11-4, to Zavala, who went on to win Saturday night's championship match.
After winning by forfeit to Pueblo Center on Saturday morning, Anderson faced Fountain Fort Carson's Downey Wood. The match was tied at 4-4 at the end of round one. Wood scored a quick takedown and led, 4-6, at the end of two. The match ended in a 9-4 victory for Wood.
Anderson had the same loss at last year's Warrior Classic, said head coach Clayton Curtis. "Same round, same kid." Anderson, a senior and the team's only returning state qualifier, wrestled well, "But sometimes you run into those tough kids." The loss gives Anderson, who was 9-0 going into the tournament, something of focus on as the season progresses, said Curtis. "You always want your wrestlers to go undefeated," but sometimes losing can result in valuable lessons they can use later on in the season when it really counts.
Two other Panther wrestlers were 3-1 Friday, but ended the tournament with forfeits.
At 152 pounds, Hunter Brasfield opened with a pin over Tyler Lewis of Arvada West, then fell to Tierney Staley of Farmington, N.M. Brasfield pinned Eagle Valley's Davey Madrid in 3:25, and won by a 7-2 decision over Zach Milner of Paonia.
Junior 160-pounder Cordell Stroud opened with a loss to Jorge Quinonez of Paonia. Stroud won his next three matches, defeating Louis Morales of Fort Lupton, and winning by an 18-2 decision over Dustin Head of Hotchkiss. He finished Friday's competition by pinning George Grunden of Arvada West in 1:45.
But on Saturday morning, neither wrestler made weight. Both had started the season at higher weights — Brasfield at 160 and Stroud at 170, and had dropped a classification for the tournament.
For Brasfield, a senior, and Stroud, a junior, making weight had never been a problem before, said Curtis. At the higher weights, both were considered light. But Friday night's matches didn't wrap up until almost 11 p.m., and the team didn't get out of the gym until 11:30, said Curtis. They weren't watching what they ate, since it hadn't been an issue in the past, and by the time they discovered they might not make weight, it was too late.
Both had a good shot at placing, said Curtis. "It's disappointing, but it's a learning experience. It happened to a handful of other wrestlers, and Anderson opened day two with a forfeit." Several other Panther wrestlers had wins Friday.
Jayden Chynoweth was 2-2 at 106 pounds, with pins over Danny Fifer of Farmington, N.M., in 2:47, and 2:38 over Jake Hubbell of Hotchkiss. Chynoweth went three rounds against seventh-ranked Gabe Sandoval of Arvada West, with Sandoval claiming an 8-6 win.
Kory Mills, a freshman wrestling at 170, was also 2-2. Mills opened with an 8-4 win over Matt Williams of Rocky Mountain, then lost to tournament champion Jacob Seeley of Fruita.
Mills pinned Tony Ibarra of Hotchkiss in 2:45, then was eliminated by 10th-ranked Nathan Lightfield of Fountain Fort Carson.
David Brown (113) was 1-2 with an opening win over Andre Jaramillo of Centaurus. Brown, a sophomore, now has a 10-4 record and is ranked 12th in state.
Hayes McCracken (120) was also 1-2, with losses to Jeremiah Banuelos of Montrose, who placed sixth, and Tylar Francis of Roosevelt. McCracken's sole win was by pin in 2:23 over Parker Oliver of Montezuma-Cortez.
Delta wrestlers were two and out at 126, 138, 182, 195 and 285. At 182, Kyle Collins was pinned in his opening match against tournament champion Josh Semmler of Roosevelt.
Curtis said the team can use the experiences to improve on issues like consistency, "and beat some of the kids they lost to later on." It's disappointing that none of the wrestlers placed, he said, "But the goal isn't the Warrior Classic."
The Panthers will end the year with a dual at Olathe (3A, 4-2) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20.
