In terms of wins and losses, the Class 2A Western Region Tournament was unkind to the Mancos High School wrestling team, which placed 13th in the 14-team field.
Bluejays head coach Grant Hobbs said that wins and losses are not the sole determinant of a season's success, and he emphasized that he was pleased with his team's improvement.
"Overall, I'm proud of the kids," Hobbs said. "They wrestled with their hearts, and they showed up every day. I'm disappointed that we didn't punch our ticket to state, but our kids put in a lot of hard work and it showed. We improved massively."
Among the Mancos wrestlers who competed in the regional tournament was 113-pound senior Rudy Archuleta, who lost both of his matches on the day after qualifying for state last season.
Assessing Archuleta's performance, Hobbs said that while he was disappointed before adding that he was thankful for the opportunity to coach the senior the past two seasons.
"Rudy is a great kid, and for the two years that I had the opportunity to have him in my room, he continued to improve every time he stepped on the mat," Hobbs said. "It's going to be really sad to walk into the wrestling room next year and not see his face."
Also competing in the tournament was 170-pound senior Austin Howerton, who lost both of his matches, but made a positive impression on his head coach.
"Austin really impressed me on and off the mat," said Hobbs. "When he was eliminated, I don't think he wanted to be done yet. He stayed focused on the tournament, and he showed me that he was a little upset that he did not accomplish his goals."
The lone Mancos wrestler to win a match on the day was 145-pound senior Andrew Morgan, who defeated Hayden's Koa Cash 13-8 before losing his next two matches.
Kaleb Hargraves, Nicolas Valdez, Bowen Strazza-Whalen and Cameron Fury all finished the day 0-2.
"Everyone set goals before the season and as a coach, I did the same thing," said Hobbs. "We fell a little bit short of those goals, and I fell short on my side of things because I didn't have the kids to the point that they should have been."
As for his team's plans for the offseason, Hobbs said that he plans to keep many of his wrestlers active through practices and activities in the weight room. Hobbs said that members of the team would also wrestle in several tournaments.
"Maybe this season's adversity is what we needed to have," Hobbs said. "I've made it clear to my kids that we're going to do a lot of summer wrestling because summer wrestling makes winter champions. I have no doubt that we'll come back stronger next year."
