Cowboys take on bigger schools, beat Hotchkiss

MEEKER — The Cowboys used six pins and a forfeit to defeat the 3A Hotchkiss Bulldogs last Friday in front of their last hometown crowd of the season.
“We needed a lot of them,” Meeker’s head coach Willy Theos said of the pins that allowed the Cowboys to win the dual 42-27.
The Cowboys also wrestled and lost to the 4A Glenwood Springs Demons the same night and the 5A Wildcats in Fruita last Saturday. The Cowboys will now prepare for the state-qualifying regional tournament this weekend at Grand Junction High School.
Clint Sampson (119), Josh Prescott (145), Andrew Aldridge (152), J.C. Chintala (152), Aaron Webster (171) and Dillan Pearce (189) all pinned their Bulldog opponents and Nick Smith (140) won by forfeit.
Jared Doll (112) and Tory Green (125) both lost against Hotchkiss.
The Cowboys won half of the eight matches wrestled against the Demons but lost the dual 18-45 and only won three against the Wildcats in a 19-50 loss.
“We had some good matches against Glenwood and Fruita and we beat a couple of Glenwood kids who had beaten us a couple of weeks earlier,” Theos said.
Smith and Aldridge avenged losses against Demons, while teammates Doll and Chintala also beat their Demon opponents. Sampson, Webster and Pearce won their matches in Fruita Saturday.
Theos named Aldridge the “Gorilla of the Week” for his efforts.
“Andrew has been wrestling well and this is the time to do it,” Theos said. “Actually, everyone is wrestling well and these next two weeks are the ones that count. This is what we have been working for all season.”
“I want to thank our managers too,” Theos said of Megan Prescott, Jessica Mullins and Chanler May. “They’re great!”
The Cowboys will compete in the regional tournament beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and at 10 a.m. Saturday. The top four wrestlers in each weight will advance to the ‘big show’ in the Pepsi Center the following week.