Tiffany Jehorek Photo
“We beat some good kids and wrestled well in both duals,” Meeker head coach J.C. Watt said of the 57-19 win against Norwood and the 38-42 defeat to Hotchkiss, who is currently ranked ninth as a team in 2A.
Norwood forfeited several weights but Meeker’s Kaleb Nielson (113), Tyson Portwood (132), Dax Sheridan (152), Colby Clatterbaugh (170) and Kesston Hobbs (182) all won matches they wrestled against the Mavericks.
Meeker senior Tannen Kennedy, currently ranked number one at 145 in 2A, along with Clatterbaugh, senior classmate James Amick (195) and junior Reese Harvey (220) were the only winners against the Bulldogs. Kennedy won by technical fall, while Amick and Harvey pinned their opponents.
Paonia easily won their own tournament with 228 points, John Mall was second with 175.5, Hayden finished third with 148, while the Cowboys and Bulldogs tied with 147.
Kennedy was the only Cowboy to win his bracket. Jeremy Woodard (170) and Amick (195) both wrestled in the championship match of their respective weights but both finished as runners-up. Clatterbaugh placed third at 170, Hobbs was fourth at 182, while Harvey and Ty Goedert (106) placed fifth in their respective weights.
“It was good competition and an opportunity for us to prepare for regionals,” coach Watt said. “We still have to figure out some weights, where we have several good kids in the same weight. They push each other everyday, so the one who ends up on varsity will be well prepared, because they had to come through the room.”
The Cowboys will travel to Palisade today to wrestle the 3A Bulldogs at 5 p.m., then take on the fifth ranked 2A Paonia Eagles at 6 p.m., in the same gymnasium.
By BOBBY GUTIERREZ | Special to the Herald Times
