Benjamin Self of Air Academy and Alex Mai of Fort Morgan wrestle in a 4A 195-pound semifinal during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Taking down a No. 1 seed in any tournament can give a competitor an unexpected confidence. Knowing the best is out of the way and they were the ones that took them out can have a scary effect on the outcome of a playoff situation.
But simply taking down a top-ranked opponent doesn’t always translate to success. That was the case in the Class 4A state wrestling brackets. Three different 4A wrestlers took out their brackets’ respective top-ranked grapplers. Each one lost their next match during Friday night’s semifinal round.
Fortunately for freshman Jason Hanenberg (106) of Air Academy and junior Darian Manzanares (126) of Pueblo Centennial they’ll have another chance to fully summit the state championship mountain. But for senior Benjamin Self (195) of Air Academy, his hopes of winning a state championship were extinguished.
Stephen Dabelko of Widefield and Jason Hanenberg of Air Academy wrestle in a 4A 106-pound semifinal during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Hanenberg came into his bout against Widefield’s Stephen Debelko boasting a 41-1 record on the year. He was coming off a close 5-4 decision win over Greeley Central’s Zeke Alirez and was hoping to ride that momentum to the championship match.
The two lightweights found themselves in another tight battle that was briefly delayed due to an injury timeout by Hanenberg. After working out what appeared to be a leg issue, the match continued and Debelko escaped with a 1-0 decision victory.
“I just know I’m the best in the state and one of the best in the nation and if I wrestled the best I can each time, I’ll win all my matches,” Debelko said. “I have to go out and push the pace and not let him affect what I have to do.”
Falcon freshman Jacob Butler echoed that sentiment. When stepping onto the mat in the semifinals, he was staring across at Manzanares who had dispatched Pueblo South’s Michael Ramirez with a 1-0 decision victory of his own. Knowing that his opponent was capable of beating a top competitor, Butler wasn’t going to change his wrestling style.
“I prepare as if every match of my life is the state finals,” Butler said. “I don’t have any expectations for any wrestler that I’m facing, just like I would facing the best wrestler I know.”
In a match that shocked many, Butler scored early then continued to build his lead en route to a 14-4 major decision victory. The 126-pound title will be up for grabs between a freshman in Butler and a sophomore in Pueblo County’s Chris Sandoval.
The victory for Butler is by no means an indication that Butler is a vastly superior wrestler. Last week at regionals, Butler and Manzanares battled in the semifinals with a chance to go to the regional championship match. Butler won the match, but in a much closer 5-2 contest.
“He is a good wrestler, I guess I was just more mentally prepared than he was,” Butler said.
As the competition wore deeper into the night, only one wrestler who had knocked off a No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals had a chance to go for gold. Self took on Fort Morgan’s Alex Mai and even found himself with an early 3-1 lead. But breathing problems forced Self to take an injury timeout and the match eventually slipped out of his grasp.
“We all put on the singlet the same way, one leg at a time,” Mai said. “We all have the same chance to go out there and win as equals.”
After Mai’s 6-5 win over Self, he came to the realization that he too could now be staring down the barrel of a letdown match. He hopes he can learn with what happened to Self and prevent a big win today from causing him to let down tomorrow.
“I think (after a big win) you have more adrenaline and maybe you’re a little more worn out from a tough match,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s (as much) a letdown. It’s more of a pick-me-up.”
Mai, Buter and Debelko will all have a chance to leave Pepsi Center with state championships on Saturday. The parade of champions will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the matches starting immediately after.
Jacob Butler of Falcon and Zach Kennison of Thompson Valley wrestle in a 126-pound 4A quarterfinal bout during CHSAA state wrestling, Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)