RANGELY I Rangely wrestlers Lucas Heinle and Ethan Allred went undefeated in matches last weekend in Rifle and Grand Junction. The Panthers will wrestle five duals in Meeker this Saturday in the final competition before the state-qualifying regional tournament Feb. 15 and 16.
The Panthers lost 9-60 in a dual meet against the 4A Rifle Bears last Friday, with Heinle winning by decision and Allred by pin to score Rangely’s team points.
Heinle and Allred both won individual titles in the 145- and 152-pound brackets respectively in the Grand Junction JV tournament featuring other small school varsity teams and large school JV teams. Heath Peters (113) and Caleb Lawson (138) also made the finals and finished as runners-up, while Colton Coombs was the consolation champion at 160. Taran Smedly, Ryan Barlow and Josh Bolding did not place but all will wrestle in Meeker Saturday.
“We are wrestling better than our records show but still making little mistakes, costing us matches,” head coach Jeff Heinle said. “There is not a single wrestler on our squad that isn’t getting the majority of the takedowns if not the first one. We are executing well but we are still coming up short.”