RHS ready for regionals

RANGELY I The Rangely Panthers wrestled five dual meets in Meeker last Saturday in the final matches of the regular season and will now compete in the state-qualifying regional tournament this weekend at Grand Junction High School. The Panthers had seven varsity wrestlers and won one of the five duals.
“It’s tough winning in a dual format having to start with seven open weights before you even step on the mat,” head coach Jeff Heinle said. “If you lose one match you probably just lost the dual.”
The Panthers beat Soroco 36-12 but lost to Battle Mountain (33-24), Glenwood Springs (40-36), Hayden (36-33) and Meeker (48-0).
Heath Peters, Ethan Allred and Colton Coombs all went 4-1 on the day, Caleb Lawson finished with a 3-2 record and Lucas Heinle won all three of the matches he wrestled. Taran Smedly won two and lost one, Ryan Barlow went 2-3 on the day and Josh Bolding wrestled three JV matches against “some tough varsity wrestlers,” according to his coach.
“We wrestled well for the most part,” coach Heinle said. “There were some close matches that would have been nice to see go the other way but now we know what we need to do next week when it counts to go to the Big Show (the Colorado State Wrestling Championships).
Heinle (145) and Coombs (160) are both seeded No. 3 in their respective weights, while Peters (113), Smedly (120) and Allred (152) are all seeded No. 4 in the regional tournament.
The regional tournament will start this Friday at 6 p.m., where a championship round and two consolation rounds will be wrestled at Grand Junction High School. The Region 1 tournament will continue Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. The top four wrestlers in each weight will qualify for the Big Show, starting Feb. 21, 2013, in the Pepsi Center.
“We will be ready and we are looking good,” coach Heinle said. “I feel we should be able to compete at regionals and hopefully qualify all of our wrestlers to go to Denver.”