MEEKER | The Cowboys’ varsity wrestling team ended the regular season last weekend, winning four of six duals wrestled all in front of hometown fans. They will now enter the state-qualifying Region 5 tournament starting Friday in Delta.
Meeker fans were given the opportunity to watch the boys and girls play basketball last Friday against Caprock Academy, then Meeker’s wrestling team took on 2A’s second ranked Cedaredge Bruins the same evening.
“It was nice for the fans to have wrestling after the basketball games,” Meeker head wrestling coach J.C. Watt said of the dual against the Bruins, which the Cowboys lost 19-58. “Our kids wrestled hard, Cedaredge is just a really good team this year.”
Meeker won four of nine matches wrestled, including two pins from Tannen Kennedy and Tevin Pelloni (145), along with a major decision from Ridge Williams at 195 and senior Garrett Frantz won his match by decision at 132.
Saturday the Cowboys hosted the Meeker Duals and won four of five duals wrestled, beating Coal Ridge, 45-21, Basalt 40-39, Summit 54-18 and Grand Valley 36-34 but losing to Palisade 27-36.
Frantz won all of his matches wrestled last week, as did Kennedy, who is currently the number one ranked 2A 138-pounder according to On the Mat Rankings. Jacob Pelloni won all four of the matches he wrestled Saturday, James Amick pinned all three of his opponents, while Colby Clatterbaugh (170), Kesston Hobbs, (182) and Williams all got a pin Saturday. Jake Shelton lost the only match he wrestled Saturday at 152.
“We wrestled good Saturday too, all the kids got matches and all of our seniors got a win in their final home matches,” Coach Watt said of seniors Jacob Pelloni, Frantz and Christopher Strate at 145. “It feels like the kids are wrestling with confidence, which is one of the goals of the program, to get our kids wrestling their best at the end of the year.”
The Cowboys will need to wrestle their best this weekend, in arguably the toughest 2A region in he state, featuring four of the top 10 teams, including No. 2 Cedaredge, No. 4 Paonia, No. 6 Hotchkiss and No. 8 Soroco. The top four wrestlers in each weight will qualify for the 2018 Colorado State Wrestling Championships, held in the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver.
“We always have a strong region and I think that’s good because if you qualify for the state tournament, chances are good of placing,” Coach Watt said.
Meeker’s regional tournament will be held at Delta High School and start Friday at 5 p.m., then continue Saturday at 9 a.m.
