“We got a lot of competitive matches, which was good, and our kids wrestled well,” head coach J.C. Watt said.
The Cowboys filled 10 of 14 brackets and won 24 matches in the 32-man bracketed tournament, placing four individuals and placing eighth as a team.
“The four who placed wrestled really well, and Caleb Bradford had a good tournament too,” coach Watt said.
Harvey received a first-round bye then won four, including two pins and a 3-0 victory in the championship match over Tyren Castonguay of Grand Junction.
Shelton wrestled five matches, winning three by pin fall, then he defeated William Kishpaugh of Evanston, Wyo., 8-4 in the finals.
Casey Turner lost in the second round and had to wrestle five more matches to win the consolation championship. Turner lost 6-3 to Dylan Jaure of Casper’s Kelly Walsh in the second round then avenged the loss by beating him 4-0 to advance to the consolation championship, where he won 6-2.
Tristin Pelloni advanced to the quarterfinals, where he lost, then wrestled back to finish eighth in the 120-pound bracket. Pelloni’s younger brother, Jacob, won a match in the 106-pound bracket but did not place.
Bradford, a sophomore, won two matches in the 182-pound bracket and Kyloe Goedert (126) also won two matches. Sophomore Chase Rule also won a match in the 160-pound bracket. Hunter Garcia (138) and Cody Nielsen (145) were unable to win a match in their first Tournament of Champions.
The Cowboys wrestled the Moffat County Bulldogs on Tuesday (results after press time) and will wrestle in the second annual Vern Rose Memorial tournament in Rangely on Saturday.
“We’re improving, but we have a lot of hard work left to do,” coach Watt said.
