IGNACIO – Fifteen wrestlers from the San Juan Basin League, including four each from Mancos and Dove Creek and one from Dolores, will compete at the Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday after advancing from the regionals this weekend at Ignacio High School.
The Colorado High School Activities Association hosted the Class 2A Region 2 regional tournament Friday and Saturday at Ignacio High School. Last year, Mancos and Dove Creek sent 11 wrestlers to state.
Stiff competition challenged every team as No. 1-ranked Cedaredge, which placed first 251 points, picked up five wins. Monte Vista was second with 165 points, and Meeker was third with 133.5.
Local wrestling powerhouse Mancos will be represented by a seasoned majority in the 2A bracket, with Traycer White (106), Brandon Vannest (157), Jacob Martin (190), and Colten Vannest (285) hitting the mats at Ball Arena.
White, a freshman, advanced to the championship match in the 106-pound division, where he faced Jarod Roberts of Cedaredge. Despite his efforts, White struggled against Roberts’ dominant performance, and lost by technical fall with a score of 18-0 at the 4:29 mark. White placed second in the regionals to earn his first appearance at state.
Senior Brandon Vannest squared off against a tough Zane Pontine of Ignacio in his 157-pound championship bout. Their intense clash led to an overtime period, which Pontine won by sudden victory 12-9 to lock in first place. Vannest placed third at state in the 150-pound bracket last year and looks to build upon that success in his final visit to the Ball Arena.
Bluejays head coach Travis White said Brandon’s leadership and dedication have been invaluable to the team’s success.
“Brandon’s an amazing leader for our team,” White said Saturday. “His work ethic is something I look up to, and he sets the example for the younger guys, so it’s been amazing having him around. We’ll have him ready for state.”
Junior Colten Vannest fell into the consolation bracket Saturday after being defeated by Cedaredge’s Travis Gill in the 285-pound division, but he fought his way into the fourth-place qualifying match and pinned Nucla’s Jacob Davis to secure his state ticket again.
Junior Jacob Martin flew past his competition in the 190-pound bracket at regionals with a bye in the first round and a victory via pin against Eli Mock of Olathe in the first 21 seconds of the match. Going head-to-head with Cedaredge’s Kolter Mann, Martin maneuvered his way into winning via pin at the 1:17 mark to place first.
Martin, ranked No. 2 in this week’s Class 2A state individual rankings by Mile High Prep Report, qualified for state last year but did not place. This year, he said he aims to change that.
“For the past two years, I qualified for state but struggled. I didn’t place, even though I was ranked high,” Martin said. “This year, I feel like I’ve grown more into my skills and strength, and I’ve had a lot of support that helped get me here. I just need to keep the mentality that I can beat anyone.”
Coach White said he plans to fine-tune things in practice and believes each state qualifier has a place at the podium this year.
“We only end up with three days of practice (before state) and a full day of traveling so it’s just cleaning up small mistakes,” he said. “We’d like to see all four of them hit the podium, and they all have the opportunity and ability to do that.”
Dolores had three wrestlers place at regionals and looks toward a bright future, with underclassmen gaining valuable experience this year. Sophomore River Wickstrom earned fifth place in the 157-pound bracket, just one spot shy of qualifying for state. Daniel Jacket finished seventh in the 215-pound division.
Junior Nathan Hill, who had overcome a knee injury from the Bears football season, struggled with it again Friday night. Despite this, he became the first Dolores wrestler in a few years to qualify for state.
Hill earned his spot at state by securing fourth place in the 150-pound bracket, winning by no contest over SJBL rival Keegan Tackett of Norwood. He then faced Dove Creek’s Konner Spigner for third place.
The two had competed Friday night, where Hill was pinned by Spigner at the 3:41 mark in the quarterfinals. Hill dropped into the consolation bracket, where he made a strong comeback, defeating Lance Eisenman of West Grand by technical fall 16-1 and pinning Tim Bedell of Soroco High School to advance.
In the rematch with Spigner, Hill fought hard through all three periods but was ultimately pinned again at 4:50. This will be Hill's first appearance at state.
Dolores head coach Kasen Eldredge said he has pride in his team's persistence and progress, particularly in Hill's resilience.
“We started out a little slow, but we came prepared today (Saturday). We made the necessary adjustments and I’m proud of the boys,” Eldredge said on Saturday after the tournament. “Nathan ended up tweaking his knee a bit. He easily could have called it, been done, and still qualified (after Tackett), but he dug deep with a lot of heart and battled back. There’s no giving up in him.”
Dove Creek is being led by a promising group of young underclassmen. Sophomores Cael Beanland (126), Teagan Larimore (132), along with senior Frankey Montoya (215), will all return to the 2A state championships this year. This year, Konner Spigner (150) joins the statebound squad.
Head coach Colten Huskey said despite his team facing some nerves heading into regionals, they were able to pick up multiple victories.
“They were a little nervous, but they kept their head up and pushed through it,” said Huskey about Friday night’s overall performance.
And the Bulldogs continued to push forward.
Beanland made it to the semifinals but lost to Cedaredge’s Josh Martinez on Friday. He secured a win over Ignacio’s oshua Kerrigan in a 7-4 decision to be in the fourth-place qualifier where he picked up a victory against Bluejay Tegan Mestas by way of no contest.
Larimore, who finished fifth in last year’s 126-pound state bracket, advanced to the 132-pound first-place match on Saturday against Cedaredge’s Ethan Hice. The match was tense, with Larimore battling through the final period, where Hice led 10-3. Larimore ultimately had to concede due to a medical forfeit but will make his return to the Ball Arena on Friday.
Spigner won his first three matches, making it to the semifinals before falling to Hayden’s Ethan Silva to enter the consolation bracket and earned a spot in the 150-pound third place match against Hill, where he won via pin to seal his first state appearance.
Montoya delivered an impressive performance at regionals, earning a victory over Cedaredge’s Frankie Gargus to advance to the first-place match against SJBL rival Paxtin Caruso of Nucla. Montoya lost by major decision, 15-3, but secured second place, and earned a berth to Denver in his final season.
State championship action will commence at the Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday, Feb. 13 and end on Feb. 15.
