The Gunnison High School boys wrestling team started off the new year hot, placing second as a team at the West Grand Invitational in Kremmling on Saturday, Jan. 3.
“Well it was a really good tournament to get to knock the cobwebs off before we go to Florence this weekend,” said head coach Michael Seijo after the tournament.
The Cowboys really took advantage of their voluntary practices over break in preparation. Seijo said that it was the highest attendance at practice over winter break that he’s seen since he started coaching at Gunnison.
The Cowboys used their preparation to propel them to a second-place finish in which they outscored the tournament host West Grand High School despite having six fewer wrestlers. Individually, the Cowboys had seven wrestlers place in the top three with three of those wrestlers finishing first.
Junior Zach Benson once again led the way for the Cowboys, taking first place in the 144-pound bracket and improving his overall season record to 20-0. Zach Benson wrestled in three matches and pinned all three of his opponents. He pinned his first opponent after 1:19, his second after 3:01 and his final opponent after 1:42 to take first and score 24 points for the Cowboys.
Senior Cody Casebolt also continued his strong season, going 3-0 at the tournament while wrestling at 138 pounds. Casebolt received a bye in the first round and then proceeded to pin his next two opponents. In the quarterfinal match he pinned his opponent in 41 seconds and in the semifinal match he pinned his opponent in 1:23 to advance to the first place match. Casebolt won the first place match by 12-0 major decision and scored 25 points for the Cowboys, moving his overall season record to 12-2.
Junior Julian Patrick was the third Pirate that finished first at the West Grand Invitational. Wrestling at 132 pounds, Patrick improved to 12-3 on the season with a perfect 3-0 tournament. He pinned his first opponent in the quarterfinal in 25 seconds, pinned his second opponent in the semifinal in 28 seconds and pinned his final opponent in the first place match in 1:09. Patrick scored 26 points for the Cowboys, the most by any wrestler at the tournament.
Zayne Benson wrestled at 106 pounds and finished in second place. He pinned his first opponent after 1:28 and advanced to the first place match after defeating his second opponent via a technical fall score 16-0. Zayne Benson was defeated in the first place match via a close 5-4 decision, scoring 19.5 points with his second place finish. After going 2-1 at the tournament, he is now 16-1 on the season.
Wrestling at 120 pounds, Noah Witzel placed second and scored 21 points for the Cowboys. Witzel pinned his first opponent in 48 seconds, pinned his second opponent in 59 seconds and advanced to the first place match after defeating his third opponent via a 12-0 major decision. Witzel fell in the first place match after being pinned in 3:44. Witzel improved to 12-3 on the season after going 3-1 at the tournament.
Braedyn Anderson took third while wrestling at 113 pounds for the Cowboys. He won his first match by a 16-0 technical fall score after 3:38, but lost his second match via a 14-0 major decision to send him to the consolation bracket. Anderson then rattled off three straight wins to make it to the third place match. He pinned his third opponent in 39 seconds, defeated his fourth opponent by a technical fall score of 15-0 after 4:25 and pinned his fifth opponent in 45 seconds. Anderson then took third place by defeating his final opponent via a 15-2 major decision, scoring 20 points for the Cowboys and improving to 13-7 on the season.
Bentley Patrick wrestled at 126 pounds and was the seventh and final Pirate to place at the tournament, securing third place and 17.5 points for the Cowboys. Patrick received a bye and then won the quarterfinal match after pinning his opponent in 1:23. A loss in the semifinals sent Patrick down to the consolation bracket, but he was able to win his next two to take third place. He won the consolation semifinal match by a technical fall score of 16-1 after 1:47 and won the third place match by pinning his opponent after 3:34. By going 3-1, Patrick improved his record to 14-7 this season.
Cody Vick wrestled at 106 pounds and did not place, but earned 10 points for the Cowboys. Lincoln Hemmert wrestled at 120 pounds and did not place, but scored 6 points for the Cowboys. Wrestling at 157 pounds, Rylan Holler did not place and did not score. Wrestling at 190 pounds, Owen Smejkal did not place and did not score. Wrestling at 215 pounds, Gavin Smejikal did not place and did not score.
Heading into the second half of the season Seijo emphasized that he is incredibly proud of the team’s willingness and ability to take criticism and continue to get better.
“We only have a month left, so we don’t really have a whole lot of practices left before we get to the regional tournament,” said Seijo. “But I think our kids take advantage of the time that we have.”
This week at practice the Cowboys will be working on executing on the bottom with live reps as well as working on situational awareness, said Seijo. Specifically Seijo wants to work on understanding the score, the time and how to finish a match.
The Cowboys will begin to prepare for their next tournament which will be this Saturday, Jan. 10, at Florence High School. With school starting back on Monday, Jan. 5, the Cowboys will have a full week of regular practice before traveling to Florence.
Jack Sellner can be reached at jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com.
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