Northridge dominates Region 1 again

Brad Byler, special to the Rocky

Published February 11, 2007 at midnight

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BERTHOUD – Overheard by someone looking at the 171-pound weight bracket at the Class 4A Region I wrestling tournament at Berthoud High School on Saturday: "This Brice Wolf, he likes to hurt 'em."

Wolf won't deny it.

The Greeley Central wrestler tried to dish out more pain in the championship match against Longmont's Steven Haddock, although he wasn’t quite as successful as he had been in earlier rounds. Haddock, the No. 3 ranked 171-pounder in 4A by On the Mat Rankings, trailed 2-0 to Wolf, ranked No. 2, in the second period, and Haddock tried desperately to use an arm bar to turn Wolf onto his back. Despite extreme effort, he couldn't do it, and in the third period Wolf tilted Haddock to his back for two points, then used a vicious crossface to hold his opponent down the rest of the way in a 4-0 victory.

"Sometimes when you cause pain, it takes them out of their game and they don’t think as well,’‘ said Wolf, who finished fifth in the state tournament last year.

Wolf gave Haddock credit for hanging tough in the final, though.

"He was pretty strong. Stronger than I was," he said. "I feel like this was a good step, though. I feel confident going into state."

So does Northridge. For the second consecutive year, Northridge won the region I team title. The Grizzlies scored 241.5 points and will send 10 wrestlers to the state tournament. Fort Morgan finished in second place with 183 points.

Northridge had four individual champions on Saturday, including Justin Gonzales at 135 pounds. Gonzales, the top-ranked wrestler, had to face Greeley Central’s Scott Schaeffer, ranked No. 2, in the final. Gonzales was holding onto a 2-1 lead with a minute, 20 seconds remaining in the match when Schaeffer stood up from the bottom position and Gonzales caught him in a cradle for a 5-1 lead. Schaeffer scored a reversal with 45 seconds left, but Gonzales held on for a 5-3 victory. It was the second time he had beaten Schaeffer by two points this year.

"We work on cradles all the time, and it was there in the match so I took it," said Gonzales, who beat Schaeffer 6-4 in a dual meet earlier in the year. "He stood up and his head was down by his knee and his leg was extended. It was a pretty tight match earlier in the year, too."

Gonzales improved his record to 33-3. He hasn't lost to a 4A wrestler this season, and he thinks he can improve on his third place finish at state last year.

"I think I became a totally different wrestler," he said. "From my feet, wrestling on bottom, and wrestling on top. I just became an all-around better wrestler."

Berthoud received some inspiration from the return of Tyler Carron and Nikko Landeros. The two wrestlers lost their legs in a traffic accident on Jan. 15, and they returned to the school for the first time on Saturday to watch their teammates. They received a standing ovation from the crowd as they were brought in in wheelchairs, and scores of wrestlers and classmates huddled near them the entire evening, giving them high fives and shaking their hands.

"Having them here was a big inspiration," said Berthoud senior Spenser Sadlo, who finished third at 140 pounds to qualify for state. "Tyler told me to go out there and kick butt and not make it the last match (of my career)."

Berthoud finished in sixth place with 130.5 points.



Team scores

1, Northridge 241.5; 2, Fort Morgan 183; 3, Greeley Central 159; 4, Windsor 157.5; 5, Fort Lupton 131.5; 6, Berthoud 130.5; 7, Longmont 97; 8, Niwot 96; 9, Mountain View 87.5; 10, Fossil Ridge 82; 11, Sterling 73; 12, Greeley West 70; 13, Silver Creek 69.5; 14, Frederick 66; 15, Skyline 34; 16, Skyview 19.



Championship match results

103 – Francisco Diego, Fort Morgan, pinned Robbie Orban, Silver Creek, 5:07; 112 – Dale Shull, Fort Lupton, beat Brandyn Wahlert, Berthoud, 4-1; 119 – Eric Zamora, Fort Lupton, beat Blayne Walker, Fort Morgan, 10-3; 125 – Paul Alva, Sterling, beat Nick McCorkel, Northridge, 10-3; 130 – Samuel Soto, Fort Morgan, beat Riley Lindemann, Niwot, 18-8; 135 – Justin Gonzales, Northridge, beat Scott Schaeffer, Greeley Central, 5-3; 140 – Rodney Hesse, Greeley Central, won by injury forfeit over Drake Huggans, Northridge; 145 – Easton Ramirez, Northridge, pinned Ryan Fountain, Frederick, :56; 152 – Matt Chavez, Fort Morgan, beat Kent Blackburn, Mountain View, 5-4; 160 – Patrick Gomez, Northridge, beat David Gossett, Skyline, 12-0; 171 – Brice Wolf, Greeley Central, beat Steven Haddock, Longmont, 4-0; 189 – Josh Larson, Windsor, pinned Lance Mijares, Northridge, 3:15; 215 – Justin Waterman, Greeley West, beat Fabian Guerrero, Fort Lupton, 6-5; 285 – Tim Saucedo, Northridge, beat Kyle Graulus, Fort Morgan, 3-1.

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