Takeaways from Day 1 of State Wrestling: Most ranked area athletes advance
Feb. 16—Girls
Nearly all the ranked area wrestlers at state advanced to the quarterfinal round, including Doherty's Katey Valdez, Discovery Canyon's Mia Thorne, Mia Hargrove, Adrianna Lopez, Victoria Guinard and Janida Garcia. Widefield's undefeated freshman Amaya Hinojosa also advanced.
Vista Ridge senior Kaydence Bonewell was defeated in the first round by Vivienne Gitke out of Bennett. Bonewell was ranked second in the 140-pound weight class by On the Mat Wrestling's rankings.
Vista Ridge's Alison Evans, ranked second at the 170 weight class and Palmer Ridge's Camy Hogan, ranked fourth will face off in the quarterfinals Friday at state after winning their opening round matches.
Discovery Canyon Thunder is off to an electric start at state, leading the field by three points over Chatfield at 24. There are 29 total teams.
Boys
No ranked area wrestlers lost their opening round matches on the boys side. All three 4A heavyweights in Mesa Ridge senior Matthew Moore, Falcon senior Jeremiah Sandiford and Harrison senior Antonio Camey-Valdez advanced.
In the upper weights in 3A, Manitou Springs senior Wesley Reeves won his matchup at 190. The Classical Academy senior Tanner Eide also advanced, winning by fall at 1:13.
In 2A, all three St. Mary's wrestlers advanced in Anthony and Andrew Isek and Dominick Cuccinelli.
In 5A, Pine Creek sent 12 wrestlers to the tournament and got an even split of wins and losses with Griffin Rial, Sir Israel Puildo, Elijah Banks, Ryder Rhodes, Nate King and Treye Dashner claiming victories.
The Eagles are fourth in team scoring with 21.5 points. In 4A, Mesa Ridge is sixth with 20 points, Falcon is eighth with 14 points and Coronado is 10th with 12 points.
At the Colorado Springs Metro Wrestling Championships Cheyenne Mountain senior Patrick Ransom said he had an ongoing rivalry between Mesa Ridge senior Mickail Skeldum. The two will pen the next chapter of that rivalry Friday when the square off in the quarterfinals.
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