Class 5A champion Arvada West celebrates with the trophy during the Colorado state wrestling finals, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com) More photos.
DENVER — Arvada West’s wrestling team flexed its muscles for the second straight year at the Class 5A state tournament.
While the Wildcats successfully defended their team title Saturday night at Pepsi Center, last year’s runner-up and 5A Jeffco rival Pomona made things interesting during the championship bouts.
“I don’t know about fun. It was a little nerve-wracking,” A-West senior Payton Tawater said of the Wildcats nearly getting chased down by the Panthers. “I thought we would take care of things a little bit better, but things happen.”
In the end, A-West racked up 163.5 points. Pomona (153.5) finished second. Third place went to Grand Junction (113) and Pine Creek (87.5) finished fourth.
A-West held a 15-point lead over Pomona at the start of the championship matches. Nine of the 14 5A championship bouts had either an A-West or Pomona wrestler competing for an individual title. The Panthers pulled within two points (151.5 to 149.5) with a quick start out of the gates.
“Winning is contagious,” Pomona coach Sam Federico “You get on a roll it’s hard to stop a team that gets on a roll.”
Pomona freshman Dayton Marvel (106) was one of four individual state champions for the Panthers on Saturday night. (Dennis Pleuss) More photos.
Pomona freshman Dayton Marvel (106), junior Tomas Gutierrez (113) and senior Travis Torres (120) all won their championship matches to put some pressure on A-West.
“It was great to see me and my two other practice partners win it,” Torres said after his 10-2 victory over Horizon junior Jackson Huffman. “Even thou we hate each other in the practice room, the hard work paid off for all of us.”
Gutierrez’s second straight individual title was a 6-4 victory over A-West sophomore Cody Fatzinger. It was the third meeting of the season between the two rivals.
“It’s always good to face a rival in the state finals,” Gutierrez said. “I’ve wrestled him numerous times. He is a tough kid.”
A-West officially held off Pomona’s rally and wrapped up the team title when Tawater pinned Rocky Mountain senior Roman Ortiz in the first period of the 152-pound bout.
“The way we looked at it was the team title would come if we took care of things individually,” Tawater said. “I went out there to wrestle my match. I’m going out there to dominate and do my thing.”
Tawater finished his senior season with a 42-3 record in winning his second straight individual title.
“I told Payton to get this thing over with. I’m too old to deal with this.” A-West coach Ron Granieri could say with a smile. “He (Tawater) put the big Band-Aid on for us. It’s great to do it back-to-back.”
A-West was able to grab a second individual champion when senior Devin Rothrock completed his domination of the 220-pound bracket with a first-round win over Grand Junction senior Tyler Zook. It was the second title for Rothrock (30-0 record).
Pomona grabbed a fourth individual title when junior Deyaun Trueblood claimed the 170-pound championship. Trueblood won at 152 pounds last year wrestling for Gateway.
Granieri commented that he would pick Pomona as the favorite to win the team title next year.
“There is a lot to it. You have to stay healthy and keep the kids motivated during the offseason,” Federico said of being the favorite next season with his young squad. “The good thing is we have some good hungry young kids. They are ready to battle and we have a coaching staff second-to-none in my opinion.”
Pomona junior Tomas Gutierrez celebrates winning back-to-back individual titles Saturday night at Pepsi Center. Gutierrez defeated Arvada West sophomore Cody Fatzinger at 113 pounds. (Dennis Pleuss) More photos.
Returning state champion success
The five returning state champions in the 5A title matches Gutierrez (113), Tawater (152), Grand Junction senior Jacob Trujillo (160), Trueblood (170) and Rothrock (220) all were victorious.
The one upset was Legacy junior Ryan Deakin coming up short on his bid for a second straight title. He suffered an overtime loss to Poudre freshman Jacob Greenwood at 126 pounds.
Trujillo joined the exclusive three-time state champion fraternity while completing his second undefeated season of his prep wrestling career. He finished with a 45-0 record.
Trujillo, Rothrock and Fruita-Monument senior Jacob Seely (195) completed their undefeated seasons.
Rocky Mountain High
Rocky Mountain was able to win a pair of individual titles with seniors Danny Murphy (145) and Konnor Schmidt (182).
Schmidt and Mountain Vista sophomore Trenton Schultz squared off in last year’s 160 third-place match. There was much more on the line when the two met Saturday in the rematch.
“I haven’t wrestled (Schultz) yet this year,” Schmidt said after a 2-1 victory. “I know it would be tough. God gave me the strength to fight through it.”
Murphy faced a 6-2 deficit in the third period against A-West senior Jimmy Rothwell. Murphy was able to dig deep and pin Rothwell in the third period.
“I don’t really pay attention to the score. My goal is to wrestle every second of every match,” Murphy said. “It doesn’t matter where we wrestle or who it is. I love the thrill of the fight.”
Rocky Mountain senior Danny Murphy, top, puts the finishing touches on a third-period pin of Arvada West senior Jimmy Rothwell in the Class 5A 145-pound match Saturday night at Pepsi Center. Despite Rothwell’s, loss the Wildcats were still able to win their second straight 5A team title. (Dennis Pleuss) More photos.