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.
The Paonia Eagles earned 215 points, placed 11 wrestlers and claimed two championships to win the annual Montrose Invitational.
Morgan Rieder won at 189 pounds, and Myles Cumpston pinned his way to the championship round at 220, pinning Josh Karnath of Evergreen for the title.
Placing second were Josh Altman (106), Jesse Reed (113), and Adrian Lopez (138).
Altman and Reed, both freshmen, faced Olathe wrestlers in the championship round — Altman against Austin Shank and Reed against Trenton Piatt. For Altman, it was his third time this season to lose to Shank, a freshman who is ranked seventh in 3A competition. For Reed, who was 3-1 for the tournament, it was his second time to face Piatt, who placed third at state in 2011 and came into the season ranked first.
Lopez also faced an old haunt, losing in a 5-2 decision to Dylon Thompson of Grand Junction High School. The 5A wrestler is ranked second in state and has handed Lopez half of his losses this season, all by decision, including a close, 2-3 win in the quarterfinal round of the Warrior Classic.
Placing third were Dustin Braslin (145), Kyler Bear (160), and Tony Darling (285). Darling's only loss was to Casey Childs of Olathe in the second round. Now 15-4, three of Darling's losses this season have been to Childs. Ty Coats (132), William Austin (170) and Joel Simianer (195) placed fourth.
In week four of On the Mat rankings, the Eagles remain at No. 1, followed by Baca County and Rocky Ford. Individuals and their rankings are: Altman, 6th; Reed, 4th; 126 Cody Clawson, 9th; Coats, 3rd; Lopez, 1st; Braslin, 3rd; 152 Jorge Quinonez, 6th; Bear, 6th; Austin, 6th; Rieder, 4th; Cumpston, 3rd; Darling, 6th.
Paonia has a busy week ahead. The team duals Hotchkiss this Thursday, at Hotchkiss (see related story), host Cedaredge on Friday at 6 p.m., and will compete at the Palisade tournament Saturday.
