Saturday night marked the conclusion of the Colorado High School Activities Association state wrestling tournament at the Ball Arena in Denver. Here's a recap of the matches that wrapped up the event.
Freshman CeJae Snyder capped off her debut season by securing third place at this year’s state girls Class 4A tournament. Although she was defeated in the semifinals of the 115-pound championship by Ivey McAlhany of Walsenburg High School, falling by pin, Snyder bounced back in the consolation semifinals. There, she pinned Moffat County's Ryleigh Hedman at 1:32, earning a spot in Saturday’s third-place match against Arianna Alvarado of Skyview. Alvarado scored a near fall in the first period, but Snyder responded with a near fall of her own around the 1:30 mark. Snyder ultimately won the match in the second period with a pin fall.
Senior Aubrey Rutherford closed out her senior year on a memorable note as she placed fourth in the girls Class 4A 145-pound bracket. After losing by pin at 2:23 in the championship semifinals, Rutherford bounced back with an impressive 3-0 streak, securing all her victories by pin fall which landed her a spot in the third-place matchup against Tairyn Lowenberg. Lowenberg scored a takedown in the first period then a reversal in the second, before winning the match at 3:46 via pin fall.
Bluejays senior Brandon Vannest ended his last visit to the Ball Arena by placing fourth in the Class 2A 157-pound bracket. After losing his championship semifinal match to Casey Midcap by pin at 5:27 on Saturday, Vannest moved to the consolation semifinals, where he secured a 4-2 decision victory over Wylee Lorimor of Cedaredge.
This win earned him a spot in the third-place match against Caden Ruggles of Center. The match started slowly for both athletes, and they ended the final period tied 1-1. In the tiebreaker period, Ruggles pulled ahead to win with a 13-1 lead, leading to Vannest's fourth-place finish.
Junior Jacob Martin bounced back from his 190-pound quarterfinal loss to Carter Stromer of Buena Vista with a 3-0 run on Friday. He won two matches by quick pin falls and one by a 12-0 major decision against Kai Wilcox of Colorado Springs, earning a spot in the third-place match against Stromer.
In the rematch, Martin struggled to score. Stromer scored early with a takedown in the first period and followed up with a near fall, leading 7-0 before pinning Martin at 2:10. Despite the loss, Martin placed fourth, marking his first podium finish.
Freshman Traycer White capped off his freshman season as he placed fifth in the state 106-pound bracket by a 7-4 decision over Monte Vista’s Mathieu Duncan. After losing his first-round match, White rallied to a 4-0 streak before losing to Fowler’s Stockon Sharon in the consolation semifinals to find himself in Saturday’s fifth-place match against Duncan. White scored first with a takedown in the first period then a reversal and a near fall to win by a 7-2 decision
Sophomore Teagan Larimore ended his impressive season with a fourth-place finish in the Class 2A 132-pound bracket. Larimore advanced to the championship semifinals on Friday’s round but lost to Wray’s Austin Collins in the 132-pound bracket but won his consolation semifinal match by a 6-3 decision over Jadiss Rodriguez of Rocky Ford to advance to the third-place match against Cedaredge’s Ethan Hice. Hice controlled most of the match as he scored off a takedown in the first period then a takedown and near fall combination in the second period before pinning Larimore at 2:38.
As a team, the Montezuma-Cortez 4A girls finished 15th, with 42 points in their first appearance at the Ball Arena, while the 2A Mancos boys finished 14th with 44 points and the 2A Dove Creek boys finished 32nd with 18 points.
Pueblo Central won the 4A girls title with 194 points. Cedaredge won the 2A boys title with 141.5 points.
