The Cowboys wrestled two duals Friday and a bracketed tournament Saturday in Paonia, splitting the duals, then placing 10, including two champs and finishing third as a team in the Screaming Eagle tournament.
Meeker was ranked No. 3 by On the Mat Rankings when they wrestled the No. 2-ranked team, Norwood, and the rankings did not change after the dual, which Norwood won 39-36.
Meeker won four of 10 matches wrestled: Jacob Pelloni (106), Sheridan Harvey (113), Casey Turner (152) and T.J. Shelton (170) against Norwood, then won eight of 12 matches wrestled against Hotchkiss to beat the Bulldogs 39-25.
“We lost some close matches against Norwood,” Watt said. “It was a good competitive night for us.”
Meeker remained competitive in the Screaming Eagle Tournament, which coach Watt called a “preview of the regional tournament,” but the team could not catch defending state champions and team champion, host Paonia, or Norwood and finished third as a team.
Meeker placed 10 in the top six, including six finalists and two champions. Turner and Shelton won their brackets while Harvey, Tristin Pelloni (120), Anthony Watt (145) and Devon Pontine (182) all finished second. Kylloe Goedert was fourth at 126, Jake Henderson (160) and Caleb Bradford (195) both finished fifth, and Jacob Pelloni finished sixth. Turner pinned all four of his opponents in the tournament.
“Casey just wrestled well, he has really turned it on, and T.J. is just better than his competitors,” coach Watt said. “I was happy we placed 10. A couple of years ago we only placed one or two.”
“Every year at that tournament, we’ve gotten better,” he said.
