Midway through the season and the Rivals have started things back up again by attending the Savage Invitational in Lamar this past weekend.  The team still having trouble getting everyone healthy and back on the mat also the weight shifting is taking a little longer for some. They will have to have all this managed and put in place by the Regional Tournament that is approximately one month away.  Even with this the Rivals still managed to pull off a 4^th place team finish at a very tough tournament. 

The Rivals are still missing the services of Ken Cox who has been unable to get on the mat due to an injury he suffered at the end of the football season but might be able to see his first action this coming weekend as Eads will be hosting their annual tournament.  Gaining Ken Cox will be good because we have lost freshman, Zack Fowler who is having some back issues, so he is out at least for another week.  Sickness has also plagued the team as Colton Whiting was unable to wrestle in Lamar as he was under the weather this past week. 

Individual results from the tournament are as follows.

106 pounds – This freshman just keeps getting stronger and it shows on the mat as Tate Krentz took Fernando Salazar from Fowler the end of the allotted time but lost a squeaker, 10-8.  He then pinned Daniel Gracida from Highland in 4:20. The match against Gavin Graham from Highland was closer than it ended as the Wiley wrestler fought hard but gave up a few points at the end of the match and lost by decision, 9-4.  Going now for 5^th/6^th, Krentz found himself up against Kellen Kappel from Limon.  The Rivals got a few extra points as the 106-pounder pinned Kappel in 3:42 and got the 5^th place finish.

126 pounds – Jonathan Burbank has showed so much improvement and hustle but was just one match shy of the placement round.  He lost his first match by major decision to Jesus Gonzales from Lamar, 13-3; he then fought back and pinned Evan Judd from Dumas in 2:27 and followed with a pin over Charles Balderas from Merino in 3:43.  He was eliminated from the tournament by a close decision to Matthew Mendoza from Swink, 7-4. 

126 pounds, JV Bracket – Samuel Adams found himself in a round robin in the extra 126 weight class.  Adams got valuable mat time with his matches and came away with a 4^th place finish.  He lost by major decision to Gilbert Pena from Dumas, 13-0; won by fall over Adriane Jones from Trinidad in 1:19; lost by decision to Jorge Salazar from Lamar, 7-4; and lost by TF to Christian Hernandez from Lamar, 17-0. 

132 pounds – Aiden Michael showed the fans some exciting matches, but he too fell one match short of placing.  Michael got the major decision victory over Robert Ruiz from Dumas, 13-5; lost by pin to Hector Flores from Highland in 2:26; quick 0:30 pin over Brenden Harmen from Trinidad; and a tear jerker decision lost to Bradyn Tacha from Limon, 5-3.

138 pounds – Sam Wollert advanced to the quarters with a 1-0 decision over Caleb Wertz from Highland; suffered a major decision to Gianni Trejo from Yuma, 13-1; and was eliminated with an exciting match but a loss to David Salazar from Fowler, 4-2. 

145 pounds – Cade Zordell is showing great strides but just gets put in the wrong place on the bracket as he is pinned by Jaden Harris from Crowley County in 3:33 and suffers another pin to Kyle Linnertz from Highland in 1:39. Zordell has a never give up attitude so he should get some needed wins to improve his record and that will help with his placement on the brackets. 

152 pounds – With the injury to Zack Fowler we had to leave this bracket open.

160 pounds – Trevor Randel who has been wrestling the weight class above finally got the break to wrestle his own weight and he came away with the 1^st place finish.  He pinned Jesus Reyes from Lamar in 1:38; pinning Edgar Apodaca from Yuma in 2:39; and pinned Anthony Martinez from Lamar in 4:41. A Merino Ram, Trent Elliott, took him to the final buzzer but wasn’t able to score a point on the Eads’ senior who won by major decision, 9-0. 

170 pounds – A.J. Wilk made a great showing in his varsity role at this weight class getting a first-round bye and then exciting the crowd with a 1-point squeaker getting the victory over KeKoa Smith from Lamar, 9-8.  He then faced tournament champion Jesus Diaz from Trinidad and lost by major decision, 16-5.  Next opponent was Jakob Beakley from Lamar and Wilk pushed his shoulder’s down in a quick 1:16. It often happens in tournament where you wrestle back and face the same opponent you faced in an earlier match.  This was no exception as Wilk had KeKoa Smith from Lamar yet again and this time the Savage got the 9-4 decision.  Wilk finished the day with a 4^th place finish.

182 pounds – Dawson Roesch had a great day as he pinned his first challenger in 5:28. That was Pedro Gomez from Lamar.  He got a tight decision victory over Wyatt Weining from Trinidad, 4-3, to put him in the semis.  Lucas Tinnes from Lamar couldn’t finish the Rival off before the final buzzer, but he was able to get the decision over Roesch, 8-1.  Roesch brought home the 2^nd place medal for the Rivals.

182 pounds unattached – Here is where the shifting comes in.  Jaime Ibarra just couldn’t quite get down to another weight class, so he found himself in the same bracket as teammate Roesch.  Ibarra got a quick 1^st period pin over Luis Bueno from Yuma in 0:42 for his first match.  Was unable to overcome Tyson Martinez from Fowler and lost by pin in 4:34 for his next match.  He came back strong and got an unbelievably fast pin over Kriss Rice from Limon in 0:16 and then followed with another fast 0:58 pin over Emanuel Medrano from Dumas.  Ibarra had to work a little longer with Wyatt Weining from Trinidad but in 4:12, Ibarra got himself another pin.  Due to the match limit, Ibarra was not able to wrestle for 3^rd/4^th place, so he had to give up his chance to wrestle Tyson Martinez from Fowler for a rematch.  Although Ibarra didn’t score any team points, he was still able to bring home the 4^th place medal in this weight class.

220 pounds – Jayce Bauer worked his way to the semis with a 7-2 decision over Chris Delatorre from Dumas.  He then was surprised by Cade Sires from Baca County going down in 0:36. (Can’t wait to see what happens when they meet again!!) Bauer then got a quick 0:52 pin over Caleb Armijo from Trinidad.  Wrestling for 3^rd/4^th place was his next match and Bauer decided he would bring home the 3^rd place medal with a 2:08 pin over J.J. Horn from Fowler. 

Our annual tournament was to be the last weekend of the month but with small numbers and Walsh cancelling their tournament this next weekend the coaches decided they would get on the phone and call area teams to see if this would be a good weekend to come to Eads.  As it turns out, they got several teams to commit to come and wrestle, so the Eads Wrestling Tournament will be held January 13, 2018 right here in Eads, Colorado.  Should be some exciting matches so you might want to come check out the action.  The start time is set at 10:00 a.m.

Go Rivals!!

Photos courtesy Rhonda Uhland. Top: Tate Krentz pins Kellen Kappel from Limon in 3:42. Middle: Samuel Adams pins Jones from Trinidad in a quick 1:19. Bottom: Trevor Randel rolls Anthony Martinez from Lamar to his shoulder and gets the pin in 4:41.