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Rifle's Brandon Kittle sticks Coal Ridge's Devon Godeski in a “Nasty Cradle” during the 138 pound bout at the Rumble in the Rockies Duals on Jan. 21 at Rifle High School. Rifle finished third overall in the dual.
Coach John Wisniewski always tells his Rifle wrestling team that every point is precious in a dual team tournament.
On Saturday, the Bears learned firsthand just how true Wisniewski's words were.
Rifle pieced together a 5-0 record at its own Rumble in the Rockies tournament. Typically, that'd win you a tournament.
But, because of a points tiebreaker, the Bears wrestled for third in the finals and not first.
Both Delta and Hotchkiss entered the championship round with perfect records, too. Both teams racked up more points than Rifle, vaulting them into the title match, which Hotchkiss won, 46-28.
Still, 5-0 made for a pretty good day for the host Bears, who defeated Grand Valley, 37-27, in a showdown for Rumble in the Rockies bronze.
“It was an excellent day,” Wisniewski said. “A lot of the guys were disappointed we weren't going for first or second. I explained to them that, with the dual team tournament format, every point you get is important. We didn't score enough points as a team, but to go 5-0, that was great.”
On its path to the third-place dual against the Cardinals, Rifle defeated Moffat County (52-18), Pueblo West (41-36), Coal Ridge (57-9) and Montezuma-Cortez (42-21).
Isaac Rider (120 pounds) and Saul Cerros (195) both had 5-0 days for the Bears.
Rider, a freshman, pushed his season record to 28-3. Two pins and a win by major decision were his tourney highlights.
“There were some tough kids [here],” said Rider, who started wrestling when he was 6 and is a veteran of many a national tournament.
Dallas Rohrig (126), Frank Rivas (145), Tony Galaviz (160), A.J. Cordova (170) and Clayton Coombs (182) all went 4-1.
Rogelio Navarro (113), Coy Zang (132), Brandon Kittle (138) and Austin Shepherd (152) all had 3-2 days.
On Saturday, the Bears learned firsthand just how true Wisniewski's words were.
Rifle pieced together a 5-0 record at its own Rumble in the Rockies tournament. Typically, that'd win you a tournament.
But, because of a points tiebreaker, the Bears wrestled for third in the finals and not first.
Both Delta and Hotchkiss entered the championship round with perfect records, too. Both teams racked up more points than Rifle, vaulting them into the title match, which Hotchkiss won, 46-28.
Still, 5-0 made for a pretty good day for the host Bears, who defeated Grand Valley, 37-27, in a showdown for Rumble in the Rockies bronze.
“It was an excellent day,” Wisniewski said. “A lot of the guys were disappointed we weren't going for first or second. I explained to them that, with the dual team tournament format, every point you get is important. We didn't score enough points as a team, but to go 5-0, that was great.”
On its path to the third-place dual against the Cardinals, Rifle defeated Moffat County (52-18), Pueblo West (41-36), Coal Ridge (57-9) and Montezuma-Cortez (42-21).
Isaac Rider (120 pounds) and Saul Cerros (195) both had 5-0 days for the Bears.
Rider, a freshman, pushed his season record to 28-3. Two pins and a win by major decision were his tourney highlights.
“There were some tough kids [here],” said Rider, who started wrestling when he was 6 and is a veteran of many a national tournament.
Dallas Rohrig (126), Frank Rivas (145), Tony Galaviz (160), A.J. Cordova (170) and Clayton Coombs (182) all went 4-1.
Rogelio Navarro (113), Coy Zang (132), Brandon Kittle (138) and Austin Shepherd (152) all had 3-2 days.
Cards take fourth in Rifle
Grand Valley had a decent day in Rifle, going 2-3 and finishing fourth.David Witt continued his season-long tear, improving to 29-0 with five more wins. He wrestled three matches in his normal weight class, 170, and a couple at 182.
“He did a nice job for us,” Cardinals coach Rick Gallegos said. “He had some real tough matches.”
George Stagg went 5-0 for Grand Valley at 132 pounds. He ended his day with a pin of Rifle's Zang.
At 106 pounds, Cody Pfau pieced together a 5-0 day. Her perfect record included a pin of Hotchkiss' Vikash Hypio, who is ranked No. 3 in 3A at 106 pounds in the latest On the Mat Rankings release.
As a team, the Cardinals recorded wins over Montezuma-Cortez (34-24) and Moffat County (46-18). They lost to Hotchkiss (39-25), Delta (44-25) and Rifle (37-27).
Titans place sixth
With a 2-3 record, Coal Ridge's wrestlers placed sixth in Rifle.Michael Shaw went 4-1 at 132 pounds, Collin Carbone 4-1 at 120s and Christian Keith 3-2 at 145s to pace the Titans.
“We had some really good successes,” Coal Ridge coach Mike Mikalakis said. “A lot of younger kids stepped up. We just had some tragic missteps and accidents that really brought us down today — just injuries and things like that.”
The Titans' wins came against Hayden (33-24) and Montezuma-Cortez (46-18). Coal Ridge lost to Delta (70-6), Rifle (57-9) and to Hayden in the fifth-place dual (30-27).
“It was a good day,” Mikalakis said. “It's a tough tournament. I like this one. Five matches, that's perfect.”
