Top of Rockies wrestling

Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 21, 2007 at midnight

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LAFAYETTE – When a pair of two-time state champions meet, something has to give. And, that was the case in Saturday’s 130-pound final match in the Top of the Rockies wrestling tournament at Centaurus High School.

Loveland’s Tyler Graff, who was voted the outstanding wrestler of the tournament, certainly knew he was facing a quality opponent against Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s Max Ortega. But Graff, who is now ranked No. 1 in the nation by Wrestling USA, came away with a dominating 17-3 victory over Ortega, ranked No. 7 in the country. Speed and quickness prevailed for Graff, who has his second win over Ortega this season. In a way, it was ironic, since it was by the same 17-3 score he won at the University of Northern Colorado Invitational in December.

As for the team title, Rio Rancho had this one in the bag. The Rams, with two champions and a pair of thirds, scored 179 points to outdistance Colorado’s No. 1 ranked Ponderosa with 168.5 points. Broomfield, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, finished third with 154.5 points, beating No. 1 ranked Alamosa, 146.5. Roosevelt, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, was fifth with 136 points.

Graff took a quick 4-1 lead into the second period then extended the margin to 9-1 in the second. A pair of near falls in the third accounted for the final margin of victory. With the loss, Ortega fell to 38-3.

"I couldn’t worry about making mistakes with an opponent like Max," said Graff, who improved to 32-0 with the win. "I was confident. A win like this is a bigger preparation for what is going to come in April at the national meets. They sure do help. I felt pretty fortunate to have a No. 7 kid come into a tournament like this. I’m pretty happy about this."

Alamosa’s Sonny Yohn, ranked No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in 4A, went up against Legacy Nick Bauman, ranked No. 1 in 5A and previously unbeaten with a 23-0 record. It was the second time they have wrestled this season, but the first time, at the club ‘Who’s Bad’ tournament during the holiday break, was not a counter in the high school ranks.

Still Yohn prevailed with a 13-3 victory, much different from their holiday meeting when Bauman was disqualified for stalling. Although outmatched, Bauman did not back away at any point.

"Nick came at me this time," said Yohn, who improved to 29-1. "It was certainly a lot better match this time. He wasn’t going to back down, he really is tough. Out of respect, he came after me. It was not going to be one of my catch and release matches."

Alamosa picked up two more titles during the course of the evening. Yohn’s younger brother, Cody, also a defending state champion and ranked No. 1 at 160 in 4A, defeated Chaparral’s Matt Murphy, 7-1, improving his season record to 27-1. The Mean Moose came through with the first championship of the night when Jesse Meis defeated Prairie View’s Gilbert Garcia, 6-4 at 103.

Murphy is ranked No. 1 in 5A, but dropped to 24-4 with the loss. Garcia, one of the big surprises of the tournament, dropped to 22-4.

There was plenty of excited offered in the 215-pound bout. In a rematch of last year’s championship match at Top of the Rockies, Broomfield’s David Marone defeated Skip Crooks of Green River, Wyo., 3-1. It took a takedown with :13-econds remaining in the match for Marone to pull out the win and end Crooks hopes for not only revenge, but an undefeated season. Marone improved to 31-1 while Crooks fell to 30-1.

"I didn’t want it to go into overtime and I had good position at the end and coach always tells us when you are in the headlock position you have to score," said Marone, ranked No. 1 in 4A and the defending state 215-pound champion. "We’ve been working on that position a lot and it just worked out. He is a great wrestler. I mean his pinned his way through Reno (Nevada) and is ranked 5th in the country in some rankings – he is just one fine wrestler. I beat him last year 10-1 in the finals here and he was gunning for me. He wanted it very much and he came after it. It could have gone either way."

Broomfield’s Cory Casaday turned in a winning performance when he pinned Arrupe Jesuit’s Class 3A, No. 1 ranked Lance Gallegos at 5:56 in the 140-pound bout.

Rio Rancho picked up it’s first title of the night at 125 with Matt Ortega, the older brother of Max and a three-time New Mexico state champion, defeated Thompson Valley’s James Rowell, 19-9. The Rams claimed a second title as three-time state champion Vicente Varela, also ranked No. 1 in the country, whipped Justin Gonzales of Northridge, 12-5 at 135.

Loveland garnered its second title of the night, as well, when Josh Kreimier defeated Ponderosa’s Steven Kelly, 12-6 at 112 pounds.

Ponderosa was not without a title. Jesse Snider, ranked No. 1 at 145, defeated Justin Keys of Pueblo East, 8-4. Snider improved to 26-3, Keys, ranked No. 2 in 4A, dropped to 31-2.

In other finals, Roosevelt’s Tim Frank (25-2) defeated Justin Curtice of Uintah, Utah (36-6), 9-8 at 152; Longmont’s Steve Haddock beat Rio Rancho’s Paul Cabbage, 7-5 in overtime at 171 and Thornton’s defending state champion, Marcus Felker, pinned Tim Saucedo of Northridge, ranked No. 1 in 4A, in 1:33 at 285.

Results

Team – 1. Rio Rancho (NM) 179. 2. Ponderosa, 168.5. 3. Broomfield, 154.5. 4. Alamosa, 146.5. 5. Roosevelt, 136. 6. Northridge, 117.5. 7. Brighton, 110.5. 8. Green River (Wyo.), 107; Loveland 107. 10. Legacy, 98.5. 11. Chaparral, 88.5. 12. Rocky Mountain, 86.5. 13.Thompson Valley, 82. 14. Grandview, 76. 15. Fort Morgan, 73. 16. Uintah (Utah), 67. 17. Fort Lupton, 66.5. 18. Denver East, 65.5. 19. Mountain View, 65. 20. Longmont, 63. 21. Arrupe Jesuit, 62.5. 22. Thornton, 60. 23. Pueblo South, 55.5. 23. Palmer, 55. 24. Pueblo East, 48.5. 25. Monte Vista, 43. 26. Cheyenne Central (Wyo.), 42.5. 27. Centaurus, 36. 28. Prairie View, 30.

Championship matches

103 – Jesse Meis, Alamosa, def. Gilbert Garcia, Prairie View, 6-4. 112 – Josh Kreimier, Loveland, def. Steven Kelly, Ponderosa, 12-6. 119 – Paul Montoya, Brighton, def. Jeremy Aguero, Pueblo South, 7-6. 125 – Matt Ortega, Rio Rancho, def. James Rowell, Thompson Valley, 19-9. 130 – Tyler Graff, Loveland, def. Max Ortega, Rio Rancho, 17-3. 135 – Vincente Varela, Rio Rancho, def. Justin Gonzales, Northridge, 12-5. 140 – Cory Casaday, Broomfield, pined Lance Gallegos, Arrupe Jesuit, 5:56. 145 – Jesse Snider, Ponderosa, def. Justin Keys, Pueblo East, 8-4. 152 – Tim Frank, Roosevelt, def. Justin Curtice, Uintah, 9-8. 160 – Cody Yohn, Alamosa, def. Matt Murphy, Chaparral, 7-1. 171 — Steven Haddock, Longmont, def. Paul Cabbage, Rio Rancho, 7-5. 189 – Sonny Yohn, Alamosa, def. Nick Bauman, Legacy, 13-3. 215 – David Marone, Broomfield, def. Skip Crooks, Green River, 3-1. 285 – Marcus Felker, Thornton, pinned, Tim Saucedo, Northridge, 1:33.

Third-place matches

103 – Chris Wessel, Legacy, def. Jeremy Schmitt, Rocky Mountain, 6-1. 112 – Gabe Gomez, Broomfield, def. Dale Shull, Fort Lupton, 5-4. 119 – Louis Trujillo, Rio Rancho, def. Vicente Gallegos, Arrupe Jesuit, 6-5. 125 – Jesse Snider, Ponderosa, def. Dan Frank, Roosevelt, 5-2. 130 – Richard Apodaca, Arrupe Jesuit, def. Eric Harris, Green River (Wyo), 7-4. 135 – Tyler McGoffin, Grandview, def. Justin Prieto, Monte Vista, 7-4. 140 – Dietrick Turney, Brighton, def. Seiji Hasimoto, Thornton, 5-2. 145 – Easton Ramirez, Northridge, def. Justin Jefferies, Brighton, 7-5. 152 – Victor Sanchez, Rio Rancho, def. David Little, Rocky Mountain, 3-2. 160 – Patrick Gomez, Northridge, def. Patrick Armstrong, Ponderosa, 5-4. 171 – Johnny Ortega, Thompson Valley, def. Kyle Brightman, Cheyenne Central, 7-2. 189 – Luke Vandeburg, Loveland, def. Tyson Anderson, Green River, 11-2. 215 – Jake Ottmann, Ponderosa, def. Blake Steiert, Mountain View, 3-1 (ot). 285 – Nick Zissimos, Broomfield, def. Kyle Graulus, Fort Morgan, 3-1 (ot).

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