Alamosa, Centauri each place second at regionals

Wyatt Gardner cranks on his Buena Vista opponent, David Arellano, during regional tournament competition in Blanca over the weekend. (Vibrant Valley Photography)

Alamosa, Centauri each place second at regionals

It was an eventful weekend for regional wrestling. Sierra Grande High School hosted the 2A Region 2 tournament while the 3A Region 1 wrestling tournament was held at the Montrose Event Center in Montrose.

Two talented programs, Alamosa and Centauri would each take second place at their respective tournaments. Pagosa Springs finished in first place ahead of Alamosa in Montrose while John Mall took first in Sierra Grande ahead of Centauri. Despite that both squads finished well, each qualifying at least ten wrestlers to the State Tournament this weekend.

Alamosa got down to business in 3A regional competition in Montrose sending two wrestlers to the top of the podium when all was said and done. Not only that, of thirteen competing wrestlers Alamosa would send 10 to the state tournament. Davion Chavez and Hunter Smith each earned first-place finishes in regional action over the weekend. Chavez picked up two pins and a technical fall on a campaign that saw the Alamosa junior dispatch the No. 7 wrestler in the state in Caden Call (OnTheMat – Week 11). Smith was equally dominant going 3-0 picking up two pins before taking down No. 5 Rueben Samuelson of Basalt by a 6-0 decision.  Also punching their tickets to the Pepsi Center were Kyler Liddell, Brandon Reveles, Trevor Maestas, Colton Liddell, Austin Trujillo and Zaq Bernal with third-place finishes as well as Zeke Rangel and Logan Garcia with fourth-place finishes.

Centauri did equally well at 2A regional competition in Blanca. Five Falcon wrestlers would work their way to the top of the podium on the second day of competition. Eyan Chavez breezed his way to a first-place finish getting two pins to make it to the championship round and finishing off Richard Atencio of Sierra Grande-Centennial by a 17-0 technical fall to take first place.  Byron Shawcroft also went a perfect 3-0 in regional action taking out Kaleb Rehm of John Mall with a 14-8 decision to take first place.  Adam Chacon’s first-place finish came over Jim Gabriel of Buena Vista who he pinned at 3:06. Jownes Archuleta bested Tyler Martin of John Mall to take first at regionals while Remi Lucero got a fall over the No. 4 heavyweight Scott Torres of Lotus for his top placing. Zach Buhr and Jordan Martin also qualified for state with second-place finishes. Along with teammates Mario Vigil and Eric Mestas finishing in third and Joseph Moreno and Ivan Lopez in fourth.

Monte Vista qualified four wrestlers for the state tournament. Ethan Hotz made it to the top of the podium in the 220-pound class going 3-0 at the tournament all three wins coming by fall. The championship came over Josiah Trujillo of Dolores Huerta. Fellow state qualifiers from Monte Vista included Dominic Lopez, DeAngelo Archuleta and Jason Duran who all earned fourth-place finishes at regionals.

The Del Norte Tigers will be sending three wrestlers to the Pepsi Center this weekend. At 106 pounds Malachi Gallegos was Del Norte’s top placer finishing in second place, falling in the first-place match to Chris Hutchings of Buena Vista. Hutchings was ranked second overall in the Week-11 On The Mat Rankings. Fellow Tigers going to state will be Preston Terrell and Anthony Balderas who finished with third and fourth placings respectively.

The host Panthers also had success and will be sending three wrestlers to the state tournament. The Sierra Grande-Centennial wrestling team had Richard Atencio earn top placing at regional competition finishing in second place. Atencio earned a fall and a technical fall en route to the first-place match with Eyan Chavez, On the Mat’s first ranked 2A 132 pounder. Also qualified for state competition under the Sierra Grande-Centennial banner were Brady Kuhns and Ryan Tijerina who earned third and fourth place finishes respectively.

Center sent two wrestlers to regional competition over the weekend. The Vikings qualified both for the state tournament. Pablo Valencia couldn’t get past Brady Kuhns in the third-place match and would qualify for state with a no contest in the fourth-place match. Elezar Aguilar went undefeated in the consolation bracket with a major decision and a fall before taking down CJ Nix by way of fall in the fourth-place match.

Mountain Valley also qualified for state tournament competition. Wyatt Gardner battled to a fourth-place finish picking up a victory by fall over Zander Ross in the third-place match before earning a no contest over Nathaniel Juarez of Monte Vista in the fourth-place match.