Pueblo County has strong first day as 4A regional wrestling weekend kicks off

Chris Abdelmalek, The Pueblo Chieftain

February 13, 2022 at 10:35 AM·8 min read

Bryce Garcia of Pueblo County has his hand raised in victory over his first-round opponent in the CHSAA Class 4A Region 2 tournament held at Discovery Canyon High School on Feb. 11, 2022

Friday marked the beginning of the postseason for wrestling in Colorado. Many of Pueblo’s high schools made appearances all across CHSAA Class 4A tournaments.

The Chieftain followed along with Pueblo County at Region 2, which took place at Discovery Canyon High School in Colorado Springs.

The Hornets had 14 wrestlers competing for a chance at appearing in this year's state tournament. The day started off with one of their top wrestlers, Zion Mares (106 pounds), winning his first match by pinfall relatively easily.

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The next match-up for the Hornets saw Wyatt Faris (120 pounds) fall to a decision (2-1) to move him to the consolation bracket.

After that, Cole Dowling (145 pounds) stepped up and won his match by pin as well. Elijah Horton (152) and Jack Stangier (285) both would drop their first-round matchup which also sent them to the consolation bracket.

The other top wrestlers for County received byes in the first round.

The second round seemed to be much more favorable for the Hornets as it was almost a clean sweep for them.

Mares once again defeated his opponent by pin to secure his spot in the semifinals on day two. Izaiah Padilla (113 pounds), Chistofer Vazquez (126 pounds), Boden White (132 pounds), Thomas Velasquez (138 pounds), Bryce Garcia (170 pounds), Jadrien Weigel (195 pounds), and Joel Handford (220) all won their only match of the day and also secured their spot on day 2.

Farris would bounce back in the second round and win by major decision (10-0) to grant him another shot of making it to day two.

Dowling lost his second-round match in a decision (8-2) which sent him to the consolation bracket for the third round.

Cole Dowling of Pueblo County prepares for a restart against his second-round opponent in the opening day of the CHSAA Class 4A Region 2 tournament on Feb. 11, 2022

Horton, because of his original seeding, received a bye in the consolation bracket and was set to wrestle in the third round as well.

Vincent Sanchez-Vasquez (160 pounds) was one of two Hornets who had received a bye in the first round but lost in the second. His loss came by pinfall and Zach Sterkel (182 pounds) also lost by pinfall to be sent to the consolation bracket.

The third and final round of day one saw all of the Hornets, including Dowling, win to send them to day two of the tournament and a chance at placing third.

Dowling makes a run to qualify for state

Cole Dowling of Pueblo County is a junior for the Hornets and put himself in a position during the first round of the Region 2 tournament to place third and make an appearance at the state tournament.

Dowling has been wrestling since the sixth grade and it's something that was instilled to him by his family.

“My cousins and my aunts and uncles got me into it,” said Dowling.

Dowling has had a good junior year posting a 13-9 record overall including a first-place finish at the Bulldog Invitational back on Jan. 15. Although the season hasn’t been perfect for Dowling, he is happy to have gotten to this point and is looking forward to finishing strong for himself and his team.

“I definitely improved a lot,” Dowling said. “I didn’t use to be as good at the beginning of the season, and that just motivated me to get better every day.”

Cole Dowling of Pueblo County has his hand raised in victory in his first-round match of the opening day of the CHSAA Class 4A Region 2 tournament on Feb. 11, 2022

During Friday’s first round, Dowling started off strong with a pin of his opponent Jameson Cox of Evergreen in the first round. Then the second round began against Petey Ozuk of Denver North. Ozuk received a bye in the first round and that proved vital in this matchup.

Dowling lost to Ozuk by decision (8-2). Dowling was disappointed, but knew there was still a shot at placing if he could win one more match.

More: Jason Soto looks to surpass his father's legacy and put the Bulldogs on the map

“I got gassed early in the match,” Dowling said. “I wasn’t ready for it.”

The final match of the day for Dowling was against Zachary Voltura of Vista Peak. It was close to being over early in the first period as Dowling would get Voltura twice on a near fall.

Eventually, Dowling pulled out the win in the second period by pin to set up a shot at the third-place match on day two of the regionals.

Dowling was happy with the outcome of the final match.

“It’s either I win again or I’m out for the season,” Dowling said. “I just did everything I could, I was in go mode.”

He will face off against Trevin Brannon of Palisade on Day 2 of the Class 4A Region 2 tournament.

Other Pueblo Schools results

Class 4A

Region 1

Pueblo South

Braden Medina (106) 1-0 advances to day 2
Myka Oliva (113) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Isaiah Algien (132) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Jerry Griego (145) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Santiago Martinez (152) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Marco Oliva (285) 1-0 advances to day 2

Pueblo Centennial

Ryan Martinez (106) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Jace Almaraz (113) 1-2 out
Jason Soto (126) 1-0 advances to day 2
Josh Yard (138) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Immanuel Hanrahan (145) 1-2 out
Blake Roberts (152) 2-0 advances to day 2
Rodney Trujillo (160) 1-2 out
Alan Perez-Padilla (195) 1-1 advances to day 2
Adrion Lopez-Vigil (220) 1-0 advances to day 2
Salvador Mendoza (285) 1-2 out

Pueblo West

Ethan Hagan (113) 1-2 out
Maison Deherrara (120) 1-0 advances to day 2
Dakota Sutton (126) 1-1 advances to day 2
Caleb Duran (132) 1-1 advances to day 2
Jacob Chrisman (138) 1-0 advances to day 2
Camden Simpson (145) 1-2 out
Zach Kottenstette (160) 1-0 advances to day 2
Matthew Holdredge (170) 1-0 advances to day 2
Dominic Derting (182) 1-0 advances to day 2
Samuel Clark (195) 1-1 advances to day 2
Thomas Mayer (220) 1-0 advances to day 2
Augustine Lujan Cordova (285) 1-1 advances to day 2

Region 3

Pueblo East

Manuel (Pocky) Amaro (106) 1-0 advances to day 2
L.J. Herburger (113) 1-0 advances to day 2
Julian Espinoza (120) 1-0 advances to day 2
Niko Fernandez (126) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Isiah Garcia (132) 2-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Tatum Rivera (138) 1-0 advances to day 2
Weston Dalton (145) 2-0 advances to day 2
Sebastian Freeman (152) 1-0 advances to day 2
Sullivan DeHerrera (160) 2-0 advances to day 2
Daniel Badillo (170) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation matches)
Zach Aldaz (182) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation matches)
Dominic Benavidez (195) 1-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Xavier Freeman (220) received a bye qualified for the semifinal
Daniel Duarte (285) 1-0 advances to day 2

Class 3A

Region 4

Pueblo Central

Onesimo Rodriquez (106) 2-0 advances to day 2
Joseph LeGrand (120) 1-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Peyton Hernandez (132) 0-2 out
Cameron Piper (138) 1-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
David Sanchez (145) 1-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Damian Plascencia (152) 0-2 out
Genaro Pino (160) 2-0 advances to day 2
Brenden Caliz (170) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Luke Johnson (182) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Ethan Baker (285) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)

Class 2A

Region 2

Dolores Huerta Prepatory

AJ Jaramillo (106) received a bye qualified for the semi-final
Daniel Apodaca (126) received a bye qualified for the semi-final
Glean Beeman (132) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Omar Soto (145) 1-0 advances to day 2
Josh Wisthoff (152) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Josiah Trujillo (195) received a bye qualified for the semifinal
Sean Marquez (220) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Leo Banuelos (285) double-bye advances to finals

Region 4

Rye High School

Andy Prichard (106) 0-2 out
Cody Dodge (132) 1-1 advances to day 2 (third-place match)
Gage Schaap (138) 1-0 advances to day 2
Jose Martinez (160) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)
Remmington Peterson (195) 1-0 advances to day 2
Devin Samuelson (220) 0-1 advances to day 2 (consolation match)

More: 'Iron sharpening iron': Freshman Kenna Pino brings leadership to Pueblo girls wrestling

Girls Wrestling

CHSAA Girls Region 3

Pueblo Central

Arella Ontiveros (100) 0-2 out
Breonna Ayala (105) 1-2 out
Gabby Dowling (127) 2-2 placed fourth
Roxie Rodriquez-Benabides (136) 3-2 placed fourth
Kenna Pino (147) 3-2 placed fifth
Emma-Lea Cabral (161) 3-1 placed third
Lauren Martinez (185) 3-1 placed third

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter @chowebacca

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo-area high schools regional state wrestling weekend begins

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