4th annual tournament features 50 ranked

wrestlers



By LLOYD ENGEN

LA JARA — On the strength of 10 ranked wrestlers, including six among Class 2A’s top 3, coach Mike Jurney’s Rocky Ford Meloneers were pretty much in control of their destiny at Saturday’s Centauri Duals Classic tournament.

As a result, not only did Rocky Ford win the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record, it did so by beating four of Class 3A’s top 10 ranked teams.

The Meloneers started out in the “A” pool with their closest dual of the tournament, defeating No. 6 ranked Gunnison 42-27. They followed with a win over Buena Vista, then knocked off No. 10 ranked Centauri, 54-24, as the Falcons forfeited at a number of weights.

That put Rocky Ford in the championship bracket for the finals, defeating the “B” pool’s second place No. 5 ranked Monte Vista, 52-20, then stopping No. 3 ranked Olathe in the final, 51-18.

It was runner-up Olathe’s only loss in the tournament. Olathe took wins over Pagosa Springs 58-13, Dolores Huerta 63-13, Monte Vista 43-36, and Gunnison 42-30 to advance to the final.

Two teams finished with three wins against two losses — Gunnison and Buena Vista. Monte Vista had two wins, defeating Dolores Huerta 42-39 and Pagosa Springs 59-24, while Centauri defeated Pagosa Springs, 38-28.

In all, 20 duals were wrestled, with the eight teams represented by 50 wrestlers who are ranked in Tim Yount’s On the Mat Rankings.

Naturally, there also were the problems inherent in dual meet competitions — forfeits, and the fact that some teams simply don’t match up with each other. Nevertheless, it was an excellent all-day competition — a chance for many of the wrestlers to compete in five matches in one day to help prepare them for the grueling regional and state tournaments ahead in which being able to handle non-stop action such as this becomes the key to success.

The hosts and volunteers at Centauri High School once more did an excellent job of seeing that things ran smoothly, that the concession stand was ready with the food, snacks and beverages needed, and that the hospitality room offered an array of excellent food to satisfy the nutrition needs of busy coaches and staff workers.

Although Centauri (see Monte Vista’s results and photos in Saturday’s Valley Courier) forfeited a half dozen of the 14 weight classes, the Falcons gave their fans a lot to cheer about. Junior Mitchell Polkowske, ranked No. 1 in 3A at 135 lbs. and now unbeaten in 39 straight matches, cruised right through his competition. After receiving a forfeit in his first dual of the day, Polkowske took an 11-3 major decision over No. 3 ranked Levi Tredway of Gunnison, a 13-3 major decision over No. 3 ranked Travis Schwindt of Rocky Ford, pinned Ryan Hamilton of Pagosa, and finished the day by pinning Larry Maez of Dolores Huerta.

Also unbeaten for the day was Centauri sophomore Phillip Sheridan at 119 lbs. Ranked No. 3, Sheridan upped his record to 33-5 with decisive victories — pinning Sam David of Buena Vista, pinning Calyn Miller of Gunnison, pinning Grant Suto of Rocky Ford, taking a 19-4 technical fall over Cole Mastin of Pagosa, and receiving a forfeit.

Ranked No. 3 at 112, Falcon freshman Cahlen Keys was stopped just once. Keys’ record went to 30-7 as he took a 17-2 technical fall over Adam Marsburch of Buena Vista, a 20-5 technical fall over Calyn Miller of Gunnison, a 15-0 technical fall over Tyler Lundquist of Rocky Ford, and a pin of No. 6 ranked Steven Smith of Pagosa, before getting caught on his back by No. 2 ranked Domingo Abraham of Dolores Huerta.

Ironically, Smith edged Abraham 3-2 in the final round of duals competition.

With those three Falcons accounting for 19 wins and just one loss, five teammates delivered a dozen more victories for the Centauri cause. Jared Holman went 3-2 at 140 lbs., coming back from two heartbreaking losses on pins in very close matches to defeat Mike Shreeve of Rocky Ford 7-4, and pin Waylon Lucero of Pagosa.

Justin Hamilton picked up three more wins at 130, winning his final two matches on pins over Dillon Sandoval of Pagosa and Victor Guerrero of Dolores Huerta, in which he came from down 7-4 to turn the pin.

No. 8 ranked Justin Rogers started right out by pinning Mike Rucker of Buena Vista at 160, but this was a fierce weight class, and Rogers was pinned by No. 4 ranked Justin Grosse of Gunnison. Next up, he was pinned by No. 2 ranked Chris Schweizer of Rocky Ford, then lost a 14-5 major to No. 4 ranked Mike Smith of Pagosa.

The Falcons’ Mario Espinoza at 125 came back from pins at the hands to two ranked wrestlers to take a 17-11 decision over Caleb Pringle of Pagosa. Devin Romero at 103 was pinned by No. 4 ranked Spencer Smith of Buena Vista and No. 2 ranked David Garcia of Rocky Ford, but bounced back to pin Andrew Clark of Pagosa.