Valley’s Macoy Flanagan has a chance to become only the second wrestler in state history to reach 51 wins. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Macoy Flanagan utilized the catch-and-release technique to perfection Friday night.
The Valley senior was relentless in his pursuit of a third consecutive trip to the finals of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament. Flanagan took down Olathe’s Trent Rose 10 times on his way to a 20-10 major decision in the 170-pound semifinals, and will go for his first state championship Saturday night against Holy Family’s Kolsen Welham at Pepsi Center.
The victory marked the third triumph in two days for the senior, and the victory over Rose was his 50th this season. According to the CHSAA record book, Flanagan is only the fourth wrestler to win 50 matches in a season.
On Saturday he can tie the record of 51 set by Bennett’s Josh Miller, and in doing so capture a championship in the process.
“He’s just a really hard worker,” Vikings coach Mike Caciari said. “From day one he comes in and he’s all business. It’s really nice to see it pay off.”
Flanagan was one of four Valley wrestlers to advance to Saturday’s finals. Sophomore Brandon Damian (132 pounds) won by a 5-4 decision and will meet Lamar’s Michael Johnson; junior Aaron Trujillo (138) posted a 13-3 major decision and faces Florence’s Ty Addington; and senior Zach Damian (145) earned a 6-3 decision to match up against Bayfield’s Ryan Nava.
“It feels amazing,” Trujillo said. “I’m still trying to get my head around it.”
Valley, the two-time defending state champion, leads the 3A field with 112 points. Dolores Huerta is second with 91.5 points and moved three individuals into Saturday’s title matches.
Berthoud, Olathe and Lamar round out the top five.
“It’s very important to us,” Flanagan said of chasing down a three-peat. “Every single one of us wants it real bad. We’ve been training for this since wrestling season got over last year.”
The same could be said about Flanagan on a personal level. The senior reached the title round in each of the previous two years, only to lose by decision to Sterling’s Joel Contreras each time.
“I think it means a lot,” Caciari said. “He’s ready to wrestle and win tomorrow and really kind of free himself there.”
The senior entered the state tournament with a perfect 47-0 mark. He scored a first-round pin Thursday afternoon and downed Moffat County’s Mikinzie Klimper 12-8 on Friday morning.
That set up the semifinal bout with Rose. Flanagan had three takedowns in each of the first two periods and four in the third.
“He’s a tall, lanky kid,” Flanagan said. “He had a very low stance too though the whole match. I just knew coming into the match that I had to be very aggressive and really dominate the ties and be heavy on his head.”
The victory tied him for second in state annals at 50 wins with Moffat County’s Mark Hastings and Travis Linsacum. Even with competing on junior varsity as a freshman, he has still accrued 128 victories in his prep career.
“It’s kind of cool to think about. To be honest with you I haven’t even really given it much thought,” Flanagan said. “I just take each match as it comes and do what I need to do to win each one.”
The championship round won’t get underway until Saturday evening, starting with the Parade of Champions. Flanagan said he believes having been here before and knowing what it’s all about will have a calming influence on him.
His teammates are pulling for him, even while doing their part to cement a third consecutive team title.
“Honestly I’ve never seen anyone work harder than him,” Trujillo said. “He’s one of the best 170-pounders out here in Colorado. Him coming up short the last two years in a row makes him want to fight and get that state title for his senior year.”