After competing in six matches at the Colorado State Wrestling Tournament in Denver this weekend, Matthew Broughton of Montezuma-Cortez High School and Cameron Fury of Mancos stood atop the Pepsi Center podium in fifth place.
Dove Creek High School, in Dolores County, qualified two wrestlers for the tournament. Mancos and Dolores sent two to Denver, and Montezuma-Cortez sent one. Here’s a tournament summary.
Broughton places fifth for Montezuma-CortezBroughton, the lone representative of the Montezuma-Cortez High School wrestling team, dominated his first-round opponent on Friday, pinning Salida High School’s Alex Kimmons in 2:13 minutes in the Class 3A 138-pound division.
With the victory, the M-CHS junior moved to the second round of the Class 3A tournament to face Austyn Binkly of Berthoud, losing in an 8-3 decision. Binkly would go on to win the title, defeating Ariel Rodriguez of Eaton in an 8-4 decision.
Broughton would move to the consolation bracket, where he remained in the hunt for a bronze medal.
In the second-round consolation match, Broughton, with a 31-11 record, defeated Daniel Caddy of Moffat County (34-11), in a 6-4 decision. He then defeated Rieley Roskop of Weld Central (40-13) in a 13-7 decision in the third-round consolation match.
Advancing to the fourth-round consolation match, Broughton lost a hard-fought battle against Oswaldo Nunez of Brush (41-11) in a 9-6 decision. Nunez would go on to place third overall in the Class 3A bracket. Broughton would wrestle for fifth place.
That set up a showdown of Southwest Colorado boys, as Broughton met Bayfield’s Garrett Beebe (38-13). Broughton was able to out-point Beebe for a 10-2 major decision to claim fifth and send Beebe to sixth. Broughton finished the tournament with a 4-2 record and another season to improve. Beebe, a senior, wrapped up his high school career on the podium in sixth place, with a 3-3 record in six matches.
Broughton gained a berth to Denver with a second-place finish in the regional tournament. He dropped an 8-2 decision in the regional championship match to Olathe junior Clay Yarnell. As a team, Montezuma-Cortez finished the regional in 12th of 13 teams, with 66 points.Fury places fifth for MancosMancos High School senior Cameron Fury (29-10 on the season) pinned Dolores Huerta High School’s Timothy De La Cruz (14-16) in the opening round of the Class 2A 182-pound tournament in 4:37 minutes.
In the second round, Fury ran into the formidable Keegan Bean of Lyons (36-2) and lost by pin at 1:03 minutes. Bean would be the eventual overall winner in the 182-pound division, defeating William Gabriel of Nucla (34-9) in a 2-1 decision. Fury moved into the consolation round.
In the second-round consolation, Fury defeated rival Anthony Miller of Paonia (21-14) in a 5-2 decision. Fury then pinned Davis Shults of Simla (15-18) in 1:21 minutes in the third-round consolation match.
Still in the running for a third-place showing at the tournament, Fury entered the fourth-round consolation match against Tyson Martinez of Fowler (36-7), and in a high-scoring battle, Fury narrowly lost, 12-10.
Fury bounced back in the placement round by pinning Toby Waddell of regional champion Cedaredge in 53 seconds to win fifth place.
Fury got to Denver by placing second at the 2A regional. He lost the regional championship in a second-period pin to Nucla junior William Gabriel.Hargraves is out in threeThe 195-pound Mancos senior Kaleb Hargraves (25-12) pinned Rocky Ford High School’s Angel Estrada in the first round, but was pinned in the second round by Dahlton McGhee of Fowler.
In the second-round consolation match, Hargraves of Mancos was pinned by Noah Schroeder of West Grand (34-9) at 1:22.
Hargraves got to Denver by placing second in the 2A regional. He was pinned in 15 seconds in the championship match by Hotchkiss senior Devin Curtis.Chavez, Hackney go out early for DoloresCompeting in the Colorado State Tournament for the first time, Dolores High School junior Cameron Chavez pinned Rye High School’s Zack Ruiz in the opening round of the Class 2A 106-pound tournament.
Chavez’s victory represented somewhat of an upset as Ruiz entered the match with a 22-5 record on the season.
In the second round, Cole Rockwell of Wray (41-6) pinned Chavez at 3:26 minutes. In the second consolation round, Brody Despard of Byers (30-9) pinned Chavez at 4:45.
Chavez got to the state tournament by placing second at 106 pounds after a loss to Dove Creek freshman Gage Bailey.Also competing for Dolores was 120-pound senior Austin Hackney, who was pinned by Highline High School’s Dante Chirichigno in the first round.
In the first consolation, Hackney pinned Miguel Sanchez of John Mall at 1:51. In the second, Hackney won by a 6-2 decision over Dalton Wommack of Custer County. In the third consolation, Joziah Maestas of Rocky Ford defeated Hackney by a major decision, 10-1.
Hackney was fourth at the regional tournament after losing his third-place match via a first-period pin to Cedaredge freshman Trey Geyer.Dove Creek’s Quackenbush misses placement roundWrestling for Dove Creek were 106-pound freshman Gage Bailey and 113-pound senior Rhett Quackenbush. Both lost in the tournament’s opening round.
Bailey lost a 16-7 major decision to Center High School’s Juanitio Garcia.
Bailey then won his first-round consolation match by pinning Iley Tuttle of Peyton in 47 seconds, but lost his second-round consolation match by disqualification to Michael Romero of Swink.
Bailey got to the state tournament by winning the 2A Region title at 106 pounds with a 16-10 decision win against Dolores junior Cameron Chavez.Quackenbush, a senior, was pinned by Rye High School standout Michael Atencio in the first round, but in the consolation match pinned Michael Lopez of Ellicott at 1:28.
Quackenbush then won the second-round consolation match by pinning Harley Workman of Norwood at 1:32.
Quackenbush was knocked out of the tournament by losing a third-round consolation match to Jose Garcia of Dolores Huerta, in a 12-9 decision.
Quackenbush placed fourth in the regional at 113 pounds after losing a 10-0 major decision in the third-place match to Hotchkiss freshman Robert Cochran.
