MEEKER | A busy two weeks for Cowboy wrestling in a 10 day stretch they had three duals and two tournaments traveling over a thousand miles.
“Our kids have been working really hard in practice as we have been pushing them, “ commented assistant coach Stryker Lane, “with all the meets and duals we have attended they are tired, we will start to cut practice a bit to get them well rested for regionals.
Last week opened with senior night and a dual against Grand Valley, the Cowboys came out of top 60-24 with wins by Owen Hanneman 120 pounds, Clay Crawford (126), Ty Goedert (132), Abe Maupin (145), Trevor Keys (152), Trinden Powell (170), Kelton Turner (182), Hayden Shults (195), Judd Harvey (220), and Tanner Musser (HWT).
The following evening the team traveled to Palisade to win another great dual 50-27. Cowboys bringing home wins were Zeek Gianinetti (106), Bow Muxlow (113), Goedert, Connor Blunt (152), Cade Blunt (160), Powell, Teagan Sheridan (182), Harvey, and Musser.
A mid-season add to the schedule the team turned their focus on the Valley Classic in Center. With regionals this year just seven miles from Center in Del Norte, this tournament was going to be a preview of what they had to look forward to at regionals.
The Cowboys showed up with 13 of the 14 spots filled and won the tournament with 164 points.
Centauri with 160.5 points took third, North Fork (159) took fourth, Gunnison (129) 5th, Buena Vista (127) 6th, and Crowley County (115.5) 7th.
“Not all of the teams were full,” commented Lane, “both Centauri and Buena Vista were missing kids too.”
Other teams at the tournament were Mancos, Piedra Vista, Fowler, Center, Las Animas, Monte Vista, Rye, Norwood, Trinidad, Salida, Olathe, Merino, Swink, La Veta, Sargent, West Grand, Custer County, Sierra Grande , Rifle, and Del Norte. The only teams missing from regionals were Lotus, Sanford, Mountain Valley, Hanover, and Colorado D&B.
Nearly everyone on the team scored points that led up to the win and nine of the 13 boys placed. All of the fifth and sixth places were determined not by actually wrestling but by forfeit or coin flip as the boys had maxed out their matches for the day. Placing at the tournament were, Gianinetti – 5th, Goedert – 3rd, Maupin – 6th, Connor – 2nd, Cade – 6th, Turner – 6th, Shults – 6th, and there were two champions, Harvey at 220 pounds and Musser at 285 pounds, both of whom were undefeated for the week. Harvey scored 30 points and Musser scored 24 points for the team.
This week the team will wrestle off for their varsity positions for regionals and are looking forward to the dual tournament they will be hosting in Meeker. The tournament is scheduled to begin at 9:30 am and will feature two Meeker teams, Basalt, Coal Ridge, Delta, Grand Valley, Hayden, Olathe, Rangely, and Soroco.
Following the duals, the Meeker Wrestling Club, not to be confused with the high school wrestling team, will be hosting a fundraiser from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mexican House for their trip to Nationals in Virginia during spring break.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
