Advertisement

Windsor wins wrestling regional, leads 43 Fort Collins-area state tournament qualifiers

chris abshire, fort collins coloradoan
·3 min read
Windsor wrestler John Kenney competes during the Arnold Torgerson Memorial in January. Kenney was a 4A Region 4 weight class winner Saturday and one of 42 Fort Collins-area wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament.
Windsor wrestler John Kenney competes during the Arnold Torgerson Memorial in January. Kenney was a 4A Region 4 weight class winner Saturday and one of 42 Fort Collins-area wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament.

Live updates, results:Colorado state wrestling tournament features 43 Fort Collins-area wrestlers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regional weekend made it official.

This is a bounceback season for our local high school wrestling teams, especially Windsor.

Overall, 43 wrestlers from the Fort Collins-area across boys and girls classifications qualified Saturday for the Colorado high school state wrestling tournament (Thursday, Feb. 16 to Saturday, Feb. 18) at Ball Arena in Denver.

Qualifiers are top-four finishers in each weight class, at each regional site.

There were 13 individual region winners and a whopping eight alone from Windsor, which won the Class 4A Region 4 title.

The Wizards, No. 2 in the On The Mat/CHSAA 4A rankings, very nearly qualified in every weight class and will have 12 wrestlers competing at the state tournament.

They'll be in prime state title contention a year after finishing 15th.

Windsor (4A Region 4)

Even with eight title winners and a dozen qualifiers, the Wizards won the team title at the Frederick regional by only 11 points (296.5-285.5) over a strong Thompson Valley squad.

Here are Windsor's qualifiers, with their region finish in parentheses:

  • 113 pounds: Robert Kendall (1st)

  • 126: John Kenney (1st)

  • 132: Hayden Welton (1st)

  • 138: Hayden Haase (1st)

  • 157: Santi Fernandez (1st)

  • 165: Evan Perez (1st)

  • 175: Cale Meuchel (1st)

  • 190: Zeb Mirriam (1st)

  • 106: James Pantoja (2nd)

  • 120: Zach Eaton (3rd)

  • 144: Adrian Czyszczon (3rd)

  • 150: Tristan Cox (3rd)

Fort Collins (5A Region 3)

Fort Collins was the only local school to host a regional, and the Lambkins finished third at home while qualifying six wrestlers:

  • 138: Jude Miller (2nd)

  • 157: Cam Soto (2nd)

  • 215: Ben Rios (2nd)

  • 120: Izak Ramirez (3rd)

  • 165: Miguel Garcia (3rd)

  • 106: Milo Harmon (4th)

Poudre (5A Region 1)

Poudre was down in Highlands Ranch at the Valor Christian regional, and the Impalas were our best local 5A boys team. They finished second with three title winners and had seven state qualifiers:

  • 106: Marcus Bekkedahl (1st)

  • 150: Banks Norby (1st)

  • 157: Brett Lamb (1st)

  • 132: Billy Greenwood (2nd)

  • 138: Nico Bekkedhal (2nd)

  • 113: Ty Reeves (3rd)

  • 165: Colter Junker (4th)

  • 190: Ryder Clarkson (5th, wrestler injured ahead of him)

Rocky Mountain (5A Region 1)

Rocky Mountain joined Poudre in the Valor Christian regional and also had a strong showing. The Lobos finished fifth as a team and qualified five wrestlers for state:

  • 106: Jack Durant (3rd)

  • 165: Josh Stutzman (3rd)

  • 113: Lir Loughlin (4th)

  • 126: Isacc Roybal (4th)

  • 285: Vaughn Shallenberg (4th)

Fossil Ridge (5A Region 4)

Fossil Ridge hit the road for the Chatfield regional as the SaberCats qualified three wrestlers:

  • 285: Thomas Iverson (2nd)

  • 150: Max Buffington (3rd)

  • 144: Alex Husen (4th)

In the pool:Fossil Ridge freshman takes 3rd at state swim meet as SaberCats (barely) lead local teams

Fossil Ridge wrestler Alex Husen holds Fort Collins' Sorin Sierra down during a finals match of the Arnold Torgerson Memorial wrestling tournament in January. Husen is one of 42 local qualifiers for the state wrestling tournament.
Fossil Ridge wrestler Alex Husen holds Fort Collins' Sorin Sierra down during a finals match of the Arnold Torgerson Memorial wrestling tournament in January. Husen is one of 42 local qualifiers for the state wrestling tournament.

Wellington (3A Region 1)

The Eagles got a state wrestling qualifier in the school's first year! Wellington's Tanner Gray finished fourth in the 285 class at the Eaton regional to punch his ticket to state.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wellington MSHS Athletics (@eaglesmshs_athletics)

GIRLS

Poudre School District (Region 2)

The Stars competed at the Coronado regional down in Colorado Springs. PSD continued its program ascent with a sixth-place team finish while advancing six wrestlers to state:

  • 140: Abbigail Smith (1st)

  • 235: Mariah Gonzales (1st)

  • 190: Ezry Bonomo (2nd)

  • 120: Lindsey La May (3rd)

  • 115: Pearl Morris (4th)

  • 125: Aubrey First (4th)

Liberty Common (Region 4)

The Liberty Common girls team hit the mountains for the Battle Mountain regional in Edwards. In just the program's first season, the Eagles had a pair of state qualifiers:

  • 235: Breanna Johansen (3rd)

  • 145: Viviana Torrejon (4th)

Eagles fly:Liberty Common's Laura Zupancic caps high school career with 3A girls diving state title

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Who qualified for Colorado state wrestling from Fort Collins, Windsor?