Alamosa takes inaugural Gary Ramstetter Classic

Former Alamosa Wrestling coach Gary Ramstetter was honored on Saturday when the Alamosa Invitational was renamed to the Gary Ramstetter Classic. (Courtesy Erik Melgoza)

ALAMOSA — Welcoming some heavy hitters from the 2A class Alamosa held the Alamosa Invitational on Saturday morning. Touting three first-place finishes the Mean Moose were able to take their home tournament with a team score of 200.

Before the action got underway, Alamosa High School honored wrestling legend Gary Ramstetter by dubbing the annual Alamosa tournament the ‘Gary Ramstetter Classic’. Prior to stepping down this fall, Ramstetter oversaw all of the State Championships the Mean Moose wrestling program would bring back to the San Luis Valley. Alamosa’s back-to-back wins at state these past two years have the Moose tied for the most in the state with 12 team titles. With the tournament now bearing the moniker of the undisputed father of Alamosa wrestling the Moose were sure not to let anyone spoil it.

At 106 pounds and 120 pounds respectively, Kyler Liddell and Brandon Reveles took third and fourth-place finishes. From there Alamosa was never far from the top of the podium garnering second-place finishes from Trevor Maestas, Brooks Anderson, Hunter Smith and Zeke Rangel in their respective weight classes.

The maroon and black would take first in three weight classes. Davion Chavez breezed his way to the top of 113 pounds with two falls and one technical fall picking up two of his wins in the first minute. Chavez pinned Avelino Mota of Widefield, No. 10 in 4A, to claim first place.

Colton Liddell claimed the second of Alamosa’s three first-place finishes at 132 pounds. Liddell got past Adams City’s Jace Long for the second time in two days, having met 4A’s seventh-ranked 132 pounder in the Alamosa Duals the night before. This time, Liddell got by Logan with a 7-5 sudden victory. Clearing the path for a 4-0 win by decision over 2A’s sixth-ranked 126 pounder in the first-place match.

Alamosa’s final first-place finish came courtesy of Logan Trujillo at 220 pounds. Trujillo’s path to pay dirt would involve a 3A top ten meeting. Trujillo (No. 5) faced off with Bennett’s Casey Harvey (No. 7). Trujillo controlled the match and took an 8-2 decision moving on to face 2A’s second-ranked 220 pounder Jesse Tapia, who Trujillo pinned in 1:44 to take first place. Alamosa’s 200 team points were enough to keep Rocky Ford at bay. 2A’s second-ranked team, Rocky Ford, finished in second place with 195.5.

Alamosa will continue to log plenty of mat time, Thursday the Moose will be at Monarch for a dual and will close the weekend off in Lafayette for the Top of the Rockies Tournament at Centaurus High School.