Cowboys open season with 5 duals; host Buena Vista Friday at 5 p.m.

MEEKER | The Meeker Cowboy wrestling team opened the season last Saturday, with the varsity wrestling five duals in the Colorado Mesa University Maverick Duals and the JV wrestling in a tournament in Olathe. Meeker’s varsity won one of the five duals and they crowned one champion in Olathe. The Cowboys will host the Buena Vista Demons Friday at the elementary school, then wrestle Saturday, in a bracketed tournament in Delta.
“We are young and we have lots of room for improvement,” Meeker head coach J.C. Watt said.
The Cowboys wrestled a team from each of the Colorado’s classifications, losing to 1A/2A Cedaredge (15-63), beating 3A Gunnison (48-18), losing to 4A Montrose (30-38) and 4A Grand Junction Central (17-56) and to 5A Grand Junction High School (64-17).
“We’re trying to build some competitive spirit,” coach Watt said about wrestling some of the bigger and better schools on the western slope. “We were behind when it came to conditioning but that’s kind of usual for us, as it is a long season and our program is designed for us to peak at the end of the year. Coach Bobby Knight (former basketball coach for the University of Indiana), used to say, ‘The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.’”
Meeker junior Tannen Kennedy won all five of his matches at 138 and senior Jacob Pelloni (126), won four by pin fall, while senior Garrett Frantz won two matches at 145, as did Keston Hobbs at 182. Junior James Amick won a match at 170 but freshmen Carter Strate and Cooper Main, along with sophomores Jake Shelton (160) and Ridge Williams (220) and senior Christopher Strate (152), did not.
“Jacob and Tannen looked really good,” Coach Watt said.
Coach Watt said Cowboy freshman Colby Clatterbaugh won the 160-pound bracket of JV tournament in Olathe and sophomore Tevin Pelloni advanced to the finals in the 145-pound bracket but forfeited because of an injury.
The Cowboys will host the Buena Vista Demons at the Meeker Elementary School this Friday at 5 p.m., before both teams wrestle in Delta Saturday. Meeker’s JV team will wrestle in a tournament in Rifle Saturday.