Keegan Wentz of Buena Vista and Jusiv Edwards of Centennial wrestle in a 182-pounds bout. More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER – Keegan Wentz is ready for his fortunes to change.
The Buena Vista junior, the top seed in the Class 2A state tournament at 182 pounds, has already experienced a whirlwind prep career. A year ago he fell in the 3A title match to Centauri’s Jareb Aziz, dropping an 8-3 decision.
In the fall, Wentz quarterbacked the Demons to the 1A football championship game, only to have Paonia emerge with a 21-7 victory. Those two setbacks, combined with a 2012 title-game defeat to Cedaredge, have driven Wentz to find a way to climb to the top.
“That definitely sparked something,” Wentz said Thursday after opening the 2A state tourney at Pepsi Center by pinning Centennial’s Jusiv Edwards in 1 minute, 3 seconds. “Three years through high school and I’ve lost three state championships. That’s a chip on my shoulder right there.
“Hopefully I can get it turned around and make the fourth one a good one.”
Buena Vista is tied for 11th place after the first day with 11.5 points. Rocky Ford is sitting in first with 30 points, followed by Centauri (29.5), Paonia (26), Meeker (19.5) and Swink (17.5).
Wentz takes his 34-1 record into Friday morning’s quarterfinals against Meeker junior Devon Pontine. A victory there would send him into Friday night’s semifinals.
“He’s been down here before, he’s not scared of the lights,” Buena Vista coach Jared Todd said. “He’s been in the moment before.”
Wentz isn’t the first quarterback to translate his skills onto the wrestling mat. Former Demons signal-caller Koby Close, a teammate of Wentz’s his freshman year, also competed in both sports.
Keegan Wentz of Buena Vista and Jusiv Edwards of Centennial wrestle in a 182-pounds bout. More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Wentz threw for 1,247 yards and 23 touchdowns to go along with 1,301 rushing yards and 18 more scores in the fall, helping Buena Vista get back to the championship game. Todd said that the junior is mentally strong and very intelligent, which has helped him succeed on the field and on the mat.
“There’s some advantages to it, but my mindset is a lot different. I don’t have to lead a whole team,” Wentz said of making the transition from quarterback to wrestler. “I’m not responsible for everybody, wrestling is an individual sport. I feel like I’m more on top of things when I come into wrestling because it’s just me rather than 11 guys.”
After falling to Aziz in the 195-pound title match, Wentz said he came back this winter more focused than ever. He dropped to 182 as the Demons moved down a classification.
“Losing that definitely affected my whole season,” Wentz said. “Every practice was 100 times better in my opinion. I’d say I worked twice as hard as I worked last year. I just knew if I trusted in the work I put in, it would pay off in the end.
“Hopefully we’ll see results here in a couple of days.”
Swink off to a strong start
To say that Swink senior Austin Coy has some added incentive to go out on top in his final state tournament is just a bit of an understatement.
Coy has advanced to the title match in each of his previous three seasons at state, only to fall just short each time. The Lions standout opened up Thursday afternoon with a pin in 1:09 over Fowler’s Sean Graham at 132 pounds to advance to the quarterfinals.
“Intensity in the room is a lot more since me and a lot of my teammates are all seniors,” Coy said. “We’ve definitely picked it up.”
In his first two seasons Coy fell by decisions of 2-0 (in overtime) and 1-0. A year ago it was Paonia’s Jesse Reed who emerged with a 6-4 decision to clinch his third state championship.
On Thursday Coy caught Graham in a headlock to advance to the quarters, where he’ll face Merino’s Marcelinio Baptista. He admitted it was nice to get the first match out of the way but added that the opening day of the tournament gets more enjoyable each year.
“The first time you come here you don’t have any fun because you’re just really nervous,” Coy said. “It’s part of the confidence, just relaxing and having fun with it.”
Also winning first-round matches for Swink were seniors Jaden Valdez-Barela (120 pounds), Noah Ferris (126), Blake Denton (145), and Seth Mills (160).
Returning champs roll into quarters
The top seeds in 2A all pinned their way into the next round, with the quickest fall coming at 37 seconds from Akron’s Tanner Watson at 106 pounds.
Paonia senior Jesse Reed began his pursuit for a fourth consecutive state title with a first-period pin of Merino’s Remington Canfield at 126 pounds. Chasing a third championship, Meeker junior T.J. Shelton pinned Custer County’s Kody Aldrich in 1:18 and Aziz pinned Ellicott’s Avery Whitlock in 1:06.
Other returning state champions to advance were John Mall’s John Andreatta (120), Norwood/Nucla’s Talon Harris (120), Monte Vista’s Jose Duran (126), Paonia’s Bo Pipher (138), Swink’s Denton (145), Holly’s Ryan Nordyke and Paonia’s Zach Milner (160).