GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – When wrestling fans in Wyoming start talking about the best programs, Green River usually comes up. This past weekend, the Wolves made their mark in Colorado.
After placing third in Evanston to open the season, GRHS Wrestling took its show south this past weekend to Grand Junction, Colorado. Green River dominated, scoring a tournament high 178.5 to bring home the team title. The Wolves finished 16.5 points ahead of second-place Rocky Mountain and 25 points ahead of third-place squad, Central.
Pueblo East and Meeker rounded out the top five. Green River was the only Wyoming team in the competition.
Individually, the Wolves brought home several top-five finishes including a handful of second-place finishes. After taking the 106 title in Evanston, Cyro Montoya brought home the second-place Trophy at the Warrior Classic.
After a bye in the first round, Montoya cruised to a spot in the semifinals. He scored a fall in 46 seconds in round two and followed with a pin at the 1:16 mark in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Montoya scored a 12-5 decision over Central’s Jacob McClaskey. In the title match, Montoya would fall for the first time this season to Pueblo East wrestler Andrew Lucero. Lucero has only lost once this season in competition.
Shandon Welsh also brought home top honors at 160 in Evanston. In Colorado, Welsh wrestled at 152 and fell just short of his second individual title. Welsh opened with a win by pin and followed it with a major decision in round two. He won by sudden victory in the quarters and came out on top in a tough semifinal match.
Welsh beat Hotchkiss wrestler Austin Todd, 5-2, to earn a spot in the finals. It was only Todd’s third loss of the season. Welsh came up short in the finals as Josiah Rider of Grand Junction took the 16-7 win. Rider has a 12-1 record on the season.
Brendan Hopkins improved on his third-place finish in Evanston to start the season. Hopkins scored four falls to earn a spot in the finals. After a pin at the 2:18 mark in round one, Hopkins would only need 28 seconds in round two.
He followed it with a pin in 51 seconds in the quarter and only needed 53 seconds in the semifinals. In the finals, Hopkins faced a tough opponent in Moffat County’s Stelios Peroulis. Peroulis has a record of 16-1 on the season. Hopkins went the distance but came up three points short, 6-3.
Gage Byers was one of the busiest Wolves at the Warrior Classic. Byers wrestled seven times and when the smoke cleared, stood with a fourth-place finish. Byers won his first two matches by fall but came up short in a 7-3 decision in the quarters. He bounced back, scoring a technical fall and a pin in 38 seconds in round five. He earned a chance for third place as he rolled to an 11-5 decision in the consolation semifinals. Byers had a shot at a little revenge in the match as he faced Grand Junction’s Dylan Martinez. Martinez was the wrestler who beat Byers earlier in the quarters. In went the distance with Martinez again getting the best of Byers in a 5-0 decision.
Two Wolves came home with fifth-place honors from Colorado. After a bye in the first round, Jacob Olsen fell in the second round. He scored four falls in a row to move into the consolation semifinals. Like Byers, Olsen would get a second shot at the wrestler who beat him, Chayden Harris of Olathe. Harris, who has a record of 15-1, beat Olsen 11-0 in the first match. Harris got the win again. In the fifth-place match, Olsen came through with a 12-4 major decision win.
The final top five for the Wolves would come in the heavyweight division. Jordan Tucker made it to the semifinals with wins in his first three matches. He came up short in the semifinals in a 9-4 decision and fell in the consolation semis in a close 5-1 decision.Tucker ended on a strong note as he beat Andrew Larson of Douglas County, 6-3, to bring home fifth.
Team Scores
- Green River 178.5
- Rocky Mountain 161.0
- Central 153.5
- Pueblo East 141.0
- Meeker 139.0
- Grand Junction 138.0
- Paonia 108.5
- Fruita Monument 107.0
- Olathe 98.5
- Moffat County 97.5
- Uintah 97.0
- Delta 96.5
- Denver East 92.5
- Norwood/Nucla 89.0
- Montrose 88.0
- Pueblo Centennial 81.5
- Arvada West 81.0
- Mountain Vista 80.0
- Hotchkiss 78.0
- Fort Lupton 68.5
- Douglas County 64.0
- Pueblo South 63.5
- Alamosa 61.5
- Palisade 59.0
- Cedaredge 46.0
- Eagle Valley 45.0
- Montezuma Cortez 37.0
- Rifle 37.0
- Monte Vista 33.5
- Grand Valley 33.0
- Centaurus 32.5
- Fountain Fort Carson 30.0
- Pagosa Springs 28.5
- Roosevelt 22.0
- Center 21.5
- Dove Creek 21.0
- Durango 20.5
- Coal Ridge 10.0
Warrior Classic Results for Green River
106 – Cyro Montoya (7-1) placed 2nd and scored 24.00 team points
Round 1 – Montoya (Green River) received a bye
Round 2 – Montoya won by fall (0:46) over Xavier Dammond (Denver East)
Quarters – Montoya won by fall (1:16)over Angelo Guillen (Grand Junction)
Semis – Montoya won by decision (12-5) over Jacob McClaskey (Central)
1st Place – Andrew Lucero (Pueblo East) won by fall (3:28)
113 – Caleb Nathan (4-4) place is unknown and scored 7.00 team points.
Round 1 – Nathan won by fall (1:33) over Matthew Carbajal (Grand Junction)
Round 2 – Jace Trujillo (Pueblo East) 9-1 won by major decision (15-2)
Cons. Round 2 – Nathan won by fall (0:42) over Garrett Hatch (Arvada West)
Cons. Round 3 – Chucky Montoya (Denver East) 8-4 won by fall (0:11)
120 – Gage Byers (7-3) placed 4th and scored 21.00 team points.
Round 1 – Byers won by fall (0:52) over Coby Greirson (Norwood/Nucla)
Round 2 – Byers won by fall (1:02) over Moises Juarez (Monte Vista)
Quarters – Dylan Martinez (Grand Junction) won by decision (7-3)
Cons. Round 4 – Byers won by tech. fall (16-0) over Gabe Ferguson (Paonia)
Cons. Round 5 – Byers won by fall (0:38) over Kemryh Smuin (Uintah)
Cons. Semi – Byers won by decision (11-5) over Terrell Banuelos (Montrose)
3rd Place – Dylan Martinez (Grand Junction) won by decision (5-0)
126 – Nathan McCann (3-5) place is unknown and scored 8.00 team points.
Round 1 – McCann won by fall(2:12) over Mark Bingham (Fruita Monument)
Round 2 – McCann won by fall (0:59) over James Franklin (Norwood/Nucla)
Quarters – Andrew Bench (Central)won by fall (2:17)
Cons. Round 4 – Jeff Dick (Montrose) 14-5 won by fall (3:00)
132 – Kaycee Cochrane (3-4) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.
Round 1 – Cochrane won by fall (0:49) over Isaiah Aragon (Palisade)
Round 2 – Erik Perez (Center) won in sudden victory (SV-1 8-6)
Cons. Round 2 – Sackett Chesnik (Paonia) 12-6 won by decision (5-4)
138 – Jacob Mortensen (5-5) place is unknown and scored 3.00 team points.
Round 1 – Brandon Chadd (Central) 8-4 won by fall (4:57)
Cons. Round 1 – Jacob Mortensen won by fall (0:51) over Jesus Vasquez (Monte Vista)
Cons. Round 2 – Colton Davidson (Douglas County) 11-6 won by decision (7-0)
145 – Eric Clingenpeel (3-3) place is unknown and scored 9.00 team points.
Round 1 – Clingenpeel won by decision (9-5) over Chase Harding (Montrose)
Round 2 – Clingenpeel won by fall (5:32) over Nolan Stritchko (Mountain Vista)
Quarters – Bo Pipher (Paonia) 16-0 won by fall (0:39)
Cons. Round 4 – Clingenpeel won by fall (1:50) over Tim Suwyn (Uintah)
Cons. Round 5 – Marcus Martinez (Pueblo South) 14-5 won by fall (2:55)
152 – Shandon Welsh (8-2) placed 2nd and scored 23.00 team points.
Round 1 – Welsh won by fall (3:23) over Drake Zimmerman (Moffat County)
Round 2 – Welsh won by major decision (15-6) over Laramie Brough (Uintah)
Quarters – Welsh won in sudden victory (SV-1 6-4) over Jose Lopez (Monte Vista)
Semis – Welsh won by decision (5-2) over Austin Todd (Hotchkiss)
1st Place Match – Josiah Rider (Grand Junction) won by major decision (16-7)
160 – Edgar Alatorre (5-3) place is unknown and scored 4.00 team points.
Round 1 – Alatorre won by fall (Fall 1:58) over Rielly Birch (Montezuma Cortez)
Round 2 – Chase Rule (Meeker) won by fall (2:18)
Cons. Round 2 – John Marsh (Denver East) won by fall (1:46)
170 – Dylan Vangieson (7-3) place is unknown and scored 8.00 team points.
Round 1 – Vangieson won by fall (1:16) over Emery Ware (Fruita Monument)
Round 2 – Jake Hansen (Rocky Mountain) won by fall (3:29)
Cons. Round 2 – Vangieson won by fall (0:39) over Robert Shenk (Central)
Cons. Round 3 – Vangieson won by decision (8-3) over John Needham (Montrose)
Cons. Round 4 – Trent Rose (Olathe) won by decision (4-0)
182 – Blake Waite (4-5) place is unknown and scored 8.00 team points.
Round 1 – Waite received a bye
Round 2 – Waite by major decision (16-2) over Chance McReynolds (Pagosa Springs)
Quarters – Devon Pontine (Meeker) won by fall (3:19)
Cons. Round 4 – Waite won by fall (1:40) over Tom Kerwin (Montezuma Cortez)
Cons. Round 5 – Hugo Hernandez (Moffat County) won by decision (5-2)
195 – Jacob Olsen (8-3) placed 5th and scored 18.00 team points.
Round 1 – Olsen received a bye
Round 2 – Chayden Harris (Olathe) won by major decision (11-0)
Cons. Round 2 – Olsen won by fall (1:40) over Kade Santiago (Central)
Cons. Round 3 – Olsen won by fall (0:55) over Miguel Maldonado (Roosevelt)
Cons. Round 4 – Olsen won by fall (1:26) over Dillon Frantz (Meeker)
Cons. Round 5 – Olsen won by fall (2:46) over Dillon Gutierrez (Pueblo Centennial)
Cons. Semi – Chayden Harris (Olathe) won by fall (1:12)
5th Place – Olsen won by major decision (12-4) over Tre` LaBossiere (Cedaredge)
220 – Brendan Hopkins (7-2) placed 2nd and scored 28.00 team points.
Round 1 – Hopkins won by fall (2:18) over Evan Hoff (Grand Valley)
Round 2 – Hopkins won by fall (0:28) over Kyle Aumiller (Pueblo South)
Quarters – Hopkins won by fall (0:51) over David Etz (Durango)
Semis – Hopkins won by fall (0:53) over Domenic Vecchiarelli (Arvada West)
1st Place – Stelios Peroulis (Moffat County) won by decision (6-3)
HWT – Jordan Tucker (4-2) placed 5th and scored 14.00 team points.
Round 1 – Tucker won by major decision (13-5) over Victor Perez (Montezuma Cortez)
Round 2 – Tucker won by fall (1:00) over Joseph Gillen (Durango)
Quarters – Tucker won by decision (2-1) over Sam Distel (Montrose)
Semis – Clayton Voytilla (Fruita Monument) won by decision (9-4)
Cons. Semi – Logan Church (Delta) won by decision (5-1)
5th Place – Tucker won by decision(6-3) over Andrew Larson (Douglas County)
