Competing at the Class 2A Region 1 Tournament in Grand Junction on Feb. 14, the Dove Creek High School wrestling team placed seventh out of fourteen and qualified three wrestlers for state.
Bulldogs head coach Shane Baughman said the results could have been better.
“We had an average day,” said Shane Baughman. “We had five qualified for state, but we lost some wrestle-backs, and that hurt us.”
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was 126-pound junior Case Baughman, who won two of his three matches and qualified for state by finishing second overall.
Baughman, who owns a 37-9 record and is ranked second in the state, lost a 5-3 decision to Paonia’s three-time defending state champion Jesse Reed in the finals.
“Case looked really good throughout the day,” said Shane Baughman. “He has a lot of confidence right now, and he’s ready to go.”
Also finishing second and qualifying for state was 138-pound senior Chance Randolph, who won his first two matches of the tournament before being pinned by Paonia’s Bo Pipher in the finals. Pipher defeated Randolph in last year’s 132-pound state championship match.
“Up until the finals, Chance was wrestling the best that he wrestled all year,” said Shane Baughman. “In the semifinals he looked really good. In the finals, he got pinned in a move that isn’t a real tight pinning combination, so I was a little disappointed with that.”
Rounding out the Bulldogs state qualifiers was 106-pound junior Colin Hobbs, who won his first two matches before dropping a 20-8 decision to Dolores High School’s Brandon Ward in the finals.
“Colin looked real good until the finals, and then he got sloppy,” said Baughman. “He avoided the one move that had been costing him, but he got caught with some other things. Credit to Brandon, he had a good game plan.”
Other Dove Creek wrestlers attending the tournament, but narrowly missing out on state, included 195-pound senior Tyler Knuckles and 132-pound freshman Derek Kibel. Both wrestlers finished fourth overall, but lost wrestle-backs that cost them berths in the state tournament.
Junior Ricky Adams finished sixth in the tournament at 160 pounds. Rhett Quackenbush, Rejelio Keedah and Donavan Trudeau failed to place.
Next up for the Bulldogs will be the Class 2A State Tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Feb. 19-21.
“We have to go up and wrestle one match at a time,” said Baughman. “It’s kind of a crap shoot because a lot of the schools you’re seeing are near Kansas or Nebraska. You don’t see them all year, so you just have to take care of your individual game plan and enjoy the experience.”
Live coverage of the tournament can be found on the Cortez Journal’s Facebook page and at www.cortezjournal.com. Live updates will also be available via Twitter @imac_34.