The Gunnison High School boys wrestling team placed 10th at the 2026 CHSAA 3A State Championships behind state champion Zach Benson.
“They were wrestling at their best when they needed to be,” said head coach Michael Seijo. “When you put in a lot of hard work and time and energy in the offseason and during the season and that’s why you get the results that you get.”
Of the five Cowboy state qualifiers that traveled to Denver, three wrestlers placed at the State Tournament. Gunnison was led by junior Zach Benson who won a state championship at 144 pounds. His brother, Zayne Benson placed third at 106 pounds as a freshman. Julian Patrick was the final wrestler to place, taking sixth place at 138 pounds.
Zach Benson was pretty dominant at the tournament. He started with a pin after 1:39 in the first round, then won by a 17-2 technical fall after 2:08 in the quarterfinal and won by a 11-4 decision in the semifinal to make the championship. Zach Benson pinned his opponent after 1:04 in his final match to win the state championship. He ended the season undefeated with a 47-0 record.
“He went out there and wrestled his style and (did) what he wanted to do and got it done,” said Seijo.
Zayne Benson placed third as a freshman at the tournament. He won his first match by a 15-0 technical fall after 2:19, his second by a 10-1 major decision, but lost his semifinal match by a 8-6 decision. He bounced back, winning his next two matches, the first by a 10-4 decision and the third-place match by a 1-0 decision. Zayne Benson finished the season with a 42-5 record.
“Sometimes for freshmen the issue is kind of more the big show of the lights and the crowd and all that and I mean it didn’t even really faze him,” said Seijo.
Julian Patrick was the final Cowboy to place at the tournament, finishing sixth. He won his first match, pinning his opponent after 4:21, but lost his quarterfinal by a 11-4 decision. He won his next two matches, the first by a 14-2 major decision and the second by fall after 3:21. He lost in the consolation semifinals by a 7-0 decision and lost again in the fifth-place match by fall after 13 seconds. Julian Patrick finished the season with a 31-13 record.
In his third round match in the consolation bracket Julian Patrick was down 10, but was able to flip the script, pinning his opponent after 3:21 to secure a place on the podium at the tournament.
“I remember I was walking by and I was like, oh man, that stinks we’re not gonna get this one,” said Seijo when he saw Julian Patrick was down 10 points. “But then as soon as I walk out of the arena, I just hear a thunderous roar and he’s getting his hand raised and I’m like, oh wow.”
Both Cody Casebolt and Bentley Patrick failed to place at the tournament.
Bentley Patrick is another freshman who was happy to get the experience at the tournament, but still disappointed he didn’t place. He lost both his matches, the first by fall after 52 seconds and the second by fall after 46 seconds. Regardless, he has the chance to make it back over the next couple of years.
Casebolt, the team’s lone graduating senior, was disappointed after not placing in his final season as a Cowboy. Casebolt has previously qualified for states four times and placed twice.
He won his first match, pinning his opponent after 3:06, but lost by a 12-3 major decision in the quarterfinal. He came back and won his first match in the consolation bracket by a 7-0 decision, but lost again in the third round of the consolation bracket by a 4-0 decision.
“It sucks for Cody not getting on the podium again, but for him it’s if you look at his entire career he was always one of those guys that the program could rely on and count on to be there and be ready to wrestle,” said Seijo.
With Casebolt graduating this year Zach Benson and Julian Patrick will be the team’s seniors next year. Seijo emphasized that they have both already stepped up as leaders even as the season has come to an end.
Seijo has a young team that will be majority sophomores next year and is excited to see how the program will continue to grow.
“[I’m] just kind of trying to keep them hungry and keep them excited and keep them wanting to keep getting better,” said Seijo “It makes my job super easy because we’ve got just a great group of kids.”
With the season coming to end, Seijo emphasized how appreciative he was of the Gunnison community, the teachers and the administrators that supported the team and made his job easy this year.
Jack Sellner can be reached at jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com.
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