Meeker Sports, MHS Wrestling, Sports

Cowboys take second in Paonia

MEEKER | The defending state champion Meeker Cowboy wrestling team, currently ranked No. 2 behind Rocky Ford by On the Mat Rankings, may move down a notch after losing a dual to the Hotchkiss Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 3 last week, then finishing second to the Bulldogs in the Screamin’ Eagle tournament in Paonia last Saturday. Meeker wrestled the Moffat County Bulldogs Tuesday and will wrestle a dual in Palisade Friday for the weekend’s only action.
“We wrestled flat Friday but wrestled a lot better on Saturday,” Meeker head coach J.C. Watt said of his team’s duals against Hotchkiss, which they lost 27-41 and Norwood Nucla (ranked No. 4), which Meeker won 53-24, wrestling in Hotchkiss the night before the tournament in Paonia, which featured most of the teams from the Cowboys’ region, including the host Eagles, who were ranked No. 5 last week.
The Cowboys split matches with Hotchkiss, winning six of 12 matches wrestled, including three by pin fall but Meeker gave up two forfeits and were pinned in three matches. Sheridan Harvey, Casey Turner and Chase Rule all pinned their Hotchkiss opponents, while Tannen Kennedy, Hunter Garcia and Tyler Ilgen all won.
“Hotchkiss is well coached, has a good wrestling program and a good team this year,” Coach Watt said.
Meeker lost three matches in a row against the Mustangs from Norwood/Nucla, including the first loss of the season for defending state champion Casey Turner. Turner, who spent the first half of the season recovering from a football injury, lost 3-11 to Armantrout, a wrestler he pinned earlier in the Tournament of Champions. The two would advance to the championship match of the 170-pound bracket at the Screamin’ Eagle, where Turner was re-injured and defaulted the match.
Five Cowboys advanced to the championship match of their respective weights in the Screamin’ Eagle tournament but only Harvey won the gold medal.
Harvey pinned both of his opponents the night before, then recorded two more pins while advancing into the championship match in the 138-pound bracket, where he would face the 2A state’s No. 1 ranked wrestler Chesnik from Paonia. Harvey would avenge a loss earlier in the season to Chesnik at the Warrior Classic, defeating him 2-0 in the championship match of the Screamin’ Eagle.
Jacob Pelloni (113) and Kennedy (126) also wrestled in the championship match, after each pinned three opponents in their respective weights and finished as runners-up, as did Turner and heavyweight Tyler Ilgen.
Chase Rule was the consolation champion in the 182-pound bracket, while teammates Caleb Bradford (195) and Garrett Frantz (132) both finished fifth. Frantz pinned four opponents and lost one but had to forfeit his final two matches because a wrestler cannot wrestle more than five matches in one day.
“Garrett is improving at the right time,” coach Watt said.
The Cowboys will wrestle in Palisade this Friday then host their annual tournament the following week in the final action of the regular season.
“We have a lot of work to do between now and the regional tournament but we have a good idea of where we are right now,” coach Watt said.

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  • Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
  • The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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