All three Gunnison girls reach finals of Western Slope Showdown

The Gunnison High School girls wrestling team once again had a successful weekend at the Western Slope Showdown in Montrose. All three girls wrestled in the finals of their brackets. 

“It was a good weekend for the girls,” said coach Mike Dawson. “[We] put three in the finals against a little tougher competition this weekend and had one victory and two losses, but they were good losses.”

Roxie Uhrig placed first in the 145-pound weight class for the Cowboys. She pinned her first opponent after 1:25, her second opponent after 1:42 and her third opponent after 2:25. She then won the championship match by 1-0 decision. Roxie Uhrig also won most outstanding wrestler of the tournament after winning her bracket.

Romie Uhrig placed second while wrestling at 155 pounds for the Cowboys. She pinned her first opponent after just 21 seconds, pinned her second opponent after 5:41 and won her third match by technical fall after 2:49. Romie Uhrig took second after losing in the championship match to last year’s state champion.

Tea Waggoner wrestled in the 135-pound weight class, taking second place. In her first match Waggoner pinned her opponent after 2:59, then in her second match she pinned her opponent after 2:40 and finally won her third match by a 9-4 decision to make the championship of her bracket. Waggoner wrestled a senior as a freshman in the championship, taking second in her weight class after being pinned in 5:08.

This past weekend was another step toward the state wrestling tournament for the three wrestlers on Gunnison High School’s girls wrestling team. Even the losses that the girls took are important because they teach valuable lessons and set the girls up to win the next time they see each other, said Dawson.

“We’re focusing on getting them into the finals to wrestle for a state championship in February, that’s our goal,” said Dawson after the tournament.

The Cowboys will head to Utah next weekend to wrestle in their last tournament before winter break. The girls will be matching up against all new fresh faces that they’ve never wrestled and probably will never wrestle again, Dawson said.

“It's a great experience. We get to see different techniques. We get to see different styles," said Dawson. “The wins or losses really don't hurt us from the state perspective, because these kids don't wrestle in our state.”