MHS opens season in Hotchkiss

MEEKER I The Cowboy wrestling team returned from Hotchkiss last Saturday with two champions under the leadership of new head coach J.C. Watt. Meeker will wrestle in another tournament this weekend in Oak Creek.
The tournament featured seven teams wrestling in a round-robin format with varsity and JV brackets in some of the 14 individual weights. Justin Hardy started his senior year with a title, pinning all four of his opponents to win the 182-pound varsity bracket and freshman Kyloe Goedert had three pins to win the 106-pound JV bracket.
The tournament featured teams from Hotchkiss, Rifle, Buena Vista, Norwood, Nucla and Del Norte, along with the Meeker Cowboys. Watt believes his team finished in the middle.
“There was no way to keep team points but I think we would have finished third or fourth,” Watt said. “Rifle was the toughest team there by far. The idea was to get kids as many matches as possible.”
Twelve other Meeker wrestlers also competed, with most getting three or more matches.
Meeker junior J.R. Crawford led the team with four pins but lost one match to finish second in the 195-pound round-robin bracket and freshman Austin Purcell also finished second in the 132-pound JV bracket.
Sophomores Aaron Cochran and Willis Begaye each won two matches and finished third in the 132- and 152-pound brackets, respectively. Freshman Anthony Watt recorded three pins and finished third in the round-robin at 138.
Freshman Tristan Pelloni (106) won a match in the tournament, as did sophomores J.C. Henderson (126) and Sebastian Clarke (145), and 160-pound junior Lathrop Hughes.
Freshmen Calvin Shepherd and Isaac Robertson competed but did not win a match. Senior Ethan Overton gave up several pounds and two losses to opponents in the 220-pound bracket.
Watt said his team will work on taking more shots from their feet and escaping from the bottom this week in practice.
“Some of our good kids got beat because they didn’t shoot and were taken down,” Watt said. “I don’t think you can be defensive and beat good kids.”
The Cowboys will wrestle in a bracketed tournament this Saturday in Oak Creek.