He is only a fifth-grader at Meeker Elementary School but Devon Pontine won another national wrestling title, the latest being the Rocky Mountain Nationals, held last weekend in Denver.
Pontine won four matches and the championship in the 10-and-under division, in the 100-pound bracket. Classmate TJ Shelton also wrestled well in the RMN and finished fourth in the same bracket as his classmate.
Pontine and Shelton have been have been wrestling with the Bad Dog wrestling club from Craig the past two years and have been traveling to several tournaments in Colorado and other western states. Pontine recently won the Beehive Brawl national tournament in Utah, where Shelton was third. The two fifth-graders have wrestled more than 80 matches since starting last October.
Shelton’s younger brother Jake, along with high school freshmen Ean Barrow, Justin Hardy, Ethan Overon and Christopher Ruckman also competed in the RMN last weekend.
“I was really pleased with how they wrestled and how they are coming along,” Meeker High School wrestling coach Joe Gutierrez, who attend the tournament with his high school wrestlers said.