Harvey first, Cowboy team second at championships

MEEKER | The Meeker Cowboys are the 2A runner-up team in the 2022 Colorado State Wrestling Championships. With only one Meeker wrestler left in the championship round, Judd Harvey needed a pin to seal the win that the whole team had worked hard for. The Cowboys were down 140-144 behind Centauri, and with no other wrestlers left for the Falcons, a win by pin for Harvey meant the team would be bringing home a trophy. Harvey pinned Xavier Livesay from Akron in 3 minutes and 26 seconds and the Cowboys sealed second.

Eleven Meeker wrestlers traveled to the state tournament: Trae Kennedy at 120 pounds, Clay Crawford (126), Ty Goedert (132), Abe Maupin (138), Connor Blunt (152), Cade Blunt (160), Kelton Turner (170), Brendan Clatterbaugh (182), Hayden Shults (195), Harvey (220), and Tanner Musser (285). The team placing was not a one-person job, each boy scored at least three points, had any one of them not won a match that they did, the Cowboys would not have brought home the trophy. It just happens that the big guys wrestle last and some extra team points were needed. At the end of the tournament Harvey led with 30 team points, Kennedy and Connor each scored 20, and Goedert scored 16.

“All of the kids wrestled well, and all of them contributed to the team score,” began head coach JC Watt. “We wrestled a tough schedule, and I think that was a difference at the state tournament.”

“We did what we expected to do,” commented assistant coach Stryker Lane, “We didn’t have anyone come out of nowhere and everyone did what they were capable of doing. They wrestled to their ability and wrestled with pride and the results spoke for themselves.”

“We were missing one wrestler, Zeek Gianinetti,” said Lane, “he sustained a concussion and wasn’t ready, and we hope he recovers quickly.”

Crawford went 1-2 in the tournament, scoring some vital points towards the team win.

Kennedy stayed on the top side of the bracket and took second in the tournament.

“Trae stepped up and showed us what he is capable of,” commented Lane, “and it has been fun to watch. He has wrestled hard and aggressively, going after his moves, and hitting it with expectations.”

“Clay caught a returning state champion in the first round, and came back to pick up a pin,” said Lane. “He then had to wrestle a guy who took 4th last year, but Clay is tough and going to be good, I am looking forward to seeing his growth as an athlete.”

Goedert reached the podium for the first time in his high school career, placing fourth with a 3-2 record for the tournament.

“I can say over the last couple of years he has grown into a great competitor, and we will miss having him on the team as one of our two varsity senior members,” commented Lane, “he wrestles so hard and brings intensity and passion each time he steps on the mat.”

Maupin at 138 ended the weekend 2-2 just shy of making the placing rounds in his first ever high school championship tournament. Meeker needed those seven points he scored for their team win.

“He is fun to watch and fearless out there, I think if you watch Abe at the end of the year and Abe at the beginning of the year, you will notice how much he has grown and has been very inspirational this year,” said Lane.

Connor went 3-1 on the weekend, facing off with Chavez from Centauri for the fourth time in the state championship match at 152 pounds.

“Connor is tough, he had a tough bracket and wrestled hard,” commented Lane, “Connor is a great wrestler and that Centauri kid was a tough competitor, we were hoping we could bring that one home this time.”

Cade, just a freshman, took sixth making it to the semifinals in his first ever state tournament.

“Cade made the semifinals and that is a big moment for a freshman, those lights get brighter in the semifinals, literally,” said Lane. “It is tough for a freshman, but he has fun, and he didn’t get pinned in this tournament.”

Turner wrestled in his final tournament of his high school career as one of the two senior leaders on the team.

“We can’t be more proud of Kelton, it’s a tough situation for him,” commented Lane. “We will miss having him on the team as he is our other senior.”

Clatterbaugh, losing in the quarterfinals, meant he wrestled more matches than any other one of his teammates to take the fifth place at 182, and beat Baker from Crowley County that had won by decision in their regional match.

“Buzz had the ankle injury at the Warrior and didn’t come back until the Meeker duals,” began Lane, “it was hard for him to miss our tough schedule and imagine were he could have been, we are spinning it positively for him as he came in and wrestled tough in a weight that was very competitive. For Buzz to miss most of the season and come in and do this well, I am very proud of him and looking forward to the next two years with him.”

Shults also scored those valuable team points while gaining experience in a high pressure tournament.

“Hayden is another one that I would love for him to be able to wrestle himself from the beginning of the season, so he can see what we are seeing and how much he has improved this year,” said Lane, “he placed third at regionals and belongs there, and again if he had not gotten that pin, we would not have brought home the team trophy.”

Harvey, a sophomore, the newest Meeker Cowboy state champion, pinned his way through regionals and state, and only allowed three escape points in the four matches at the state tournament.

“I think that Judd is tough, I wrestle with him and it always surprises me how strong he is and how well he wrestles,” commented Lane, “I think these last three weeks, Center, regionals and state we really saw Judd start to believe in himself and believe what we have been telling him about how good he is and it showed on the mat. He pinned everyone and no one took him down this weekend. We are not just catching people and pinning them, we are wearing them down and pinning them. We are pinning them because we are good wrestlers and we saw that in Judds semifinal match, the big strong kid from County Line and Judd wore him down and the kid didn’t want to wrestle anymore. There can be some pressure being a returning state champion but I think Judd will be comfortable with that, trusting his abilities and keep training. I am excited to see his growth over the next couple of years.”

Musser took fifth, losing to an undefeated Laith Ibrahim from Wiggins in the semifinals, who went on to win the tournament at 285 pounds. In his final match he was able to avenge a tough loss at the regional tournament when he beat Jake Armijo from Trinidad to take fifth.

“Our team money Musser, talk about someone else, with big improvement, he goes out and wrestles smart and with passion and knows where he is good,” said Lane, “he did a really good job, the Wiggins kid is an animal, so it was a tough matchup, but with some training Tanner can compete with him.”

In the end the Cowboys had eight boys make the podium, nine boys still wrestling on day three, and everyone scored those valuable team points.

“The main thing I took away was that all of the athletes wrestled with a positive attitude and an expectation to win” wrapped-up Watt.

By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times