Cowboys wrestle in only home match

MEEKER I “We were happy to see all the people there,” Cowboy wrestling coach Joe Gutierrez said of the big crowd gathered to watch the home team in its only home meet of the season.
Meeker did not win either dual against the Hayden Tigers or the Moffat County Bulldogs, but the Cowboys did give the crowd some matches to cheer about.
“We wrestled a lot better than we did against Rangely on Tuesday,” Gutierrez said of his team’s home performance. “The kids were pumped up.
“JR (Crawford) had the most exciting match of the evening and though we didn’t win it, it wasn’t from lack of trying,” Gutierrez said of the freshman’s comeback to send the match into triple overtime. “The crowd really got into it.”

Senior Pat Love, coming back from an injury, scored Meeker’s first team points against Hayden, pinning Koleman Williams in the first period at 152. Sophomore Justin Hardy also recorded a first period fall at 160 and junior Caleb Dodds got the crowd excited, pinning Will Valora in the heavyweight match.
Freshmen Cody Pfau (103), Logan Piper (145) and sophomores Ethan Overton (189) and Collin Cochran (215) were all pinned by their Tiger opponents.
Hardy was the only Cowboy to beat his Bulldog opponent and Moffat County did not have wrestlers in the 103 and heavyweight matches for Pfau and Dodds.
“That was a whooping,” Gutierrez said of the loss to Moffat County, which is coached by his oldest brother Roman, but the younger sibling remained hopeful and defiant.
“Once we get a solid team and we’re building to that, we’ll have the caliber of kids that he has and it will make for an exciting dual,” Gutierrez said. “Hopefully the dual will be here and hopefully he (Roman) is still coaching.”