The Gunnison High School boys wrestling team traveled to Florence on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 9-10, to compete in the Mel Smith Wrestling Tournament, placing 11th out of the 28 teams.
“It’s not a Mickey Mouse tournament. It’s definitely one of those where kids need to be ready to go, and they’re definitely gonna be tested,” said head coach Michael Seijo after the tournament. “And a lot of our kids did get tested, we took some losses and I think it was a good thing. [It] kind of exposed some of our weaknesses and what we need to work on, so it was good.”
The Cowboys had three individual placers and one champion in Florence.
Zach Benson continued his undefeated season with another 5-0 performance and another first-place finish while wrestling at 144 pounds. Zach pinned his first opponent after 41 seconds, his second after 1:30 and his third after 30 seconds to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals he once again pinned his opponent, this time after 43 seconds to reach the first place match. Zach then took first place with a win via a major decision score of 12-2, scoring 33 points for the Cowboys in the process.
Zayne Benson, Zach’s brother, placed third while wrestling at 106 pounds. Zayne won his first match by a technical fall score of 16-1 after 2:03 and his second match by another technical fall, this time with a score of 15-0 after 4:25. He then lost his quarterfinal match via a 4-0 decision, but finished his tournament out undefeated. He pinned his fourth opponent after 1:31, his fifth opponent had to medically forfeit, he defeated his sixth opponent by a 12-0 major decision and won the third-place march by pinning his seventh opponent in 4:44. Zayne scored 26 points for the Cowboys by finishing the tournament 6-1, moving his season record to 22-2.
Cody Casebolt was the final Cowboy to place at the tournament. Casebolt finished fifth while wrestling at 138 pounds, scoring 20 team points. He pinned his first opponent after 1:02 and pinned his second opponent after 3:01. Casebolt then lost in the quarterfinals via a 3-0 decision, but won his next two matches in the consolation bracket. He pinned his fourth opponent after 2:55 and defeated his fifth opponent via a 14-2 major decision. Casebolt then lost again in the consolation semifinals via a 8-4 decision, sending him to the fifth-place match, which he won via a medical forfeit. Casebolt’s 5-2 record at the tournament improved his season record to 17-4.
Wrestling at 113 pounds, Braedyn Anderson did not place and scored four points after going 2-2. Wrestling at 120 pounds, Nolan Witzel did not place and scored six points after going 2-2. Wrestling at 126 pounds, Bentley Patrick did not place and scored six points after going 2-2. Wrestling at 132 pounds, Julian Patrick did not place and scored six points after going 4-2.
Owen Smejkal wrestled at 190 pounds, did not place and did not score. Gavin Smejikal wrestled at 215 pounds, did not place and did not score. Freddie Bernabe wrestled at 285 pounds, did not place and did not score.
After the tournament Seijo felt that the matches that the Cowboys lost were mostly due to their opponents being more confident in the moves they were making.
“Finding the things, like our favorite things on our feet and on top and bottom, and making sure that we’re confident enough to hit those moves in a match,” is what Seijo said the Cowboys will be working on going forward.
This week the Cowboys have a home dual on Wednesday, Jan. 14, against Cañon City. Then they will travel to Lakewood for the 50th Annual Alameda International Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Jack Sellner can be reached at jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com.
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