Lincoln Invitational wrestling tournament coverage

By Scott Stocker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 2, 2008 at 10:44 p.m.
Updated February 2, 2008 at 10:44 p.m.

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Eight guys from Northridge had a great day in Saturday’s Lincoln Invitational wrestling tournament.

Northridge, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A by On the Mat and coached by Juan Vallejos, only entered eight wrestlers to the 29-team tournament. But the Grizzlies advanced seven into the championship finals with the eighth reaching the fifth-place match. They would finish the night winning five titles while scoring 191 points.

Thompson Valley, ranked No. 7 in 4A, crowned three champions and finished in second with 180.5 points, Chaparral was third (129) and Conifer fourth (106).

“I don’t know if we could have done a whole lot better,” Vallejos said. “I’m certainly pleased with the way the kids are wrestling at this time of the season and heading into all our playoffs. I thought we were pretty crisp, but we can get better. There is always room for improvement.”

And, while there were only four ranked teams in the field, which featured schools from all four Colorado classifications, there was an impressive group of ranked individuals.

Only in the weights of 103, 130, 135 and 285 did unranked wrestlers manage to break into the semifinals.

And, from those brackets, only Andrew Hill of Eagle Valley at 135, managed to earn a berth in the championship finals. However, Hill, who fell to 27-8 on the season, could not pull of the upset losing to Chaparral’s Jackson Julian, 4-2. Julian improved to 32-8 on the season.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night featured Thompson Valley’s No. 1 ranked Johnny Ortega against Patrick Gomez of Northridge, ranked No. 2. And, from the looks of it, there is a pretty good chance the pair will see each other at state in three weeks.

“I got Pat at the UNC (Northern Colorado) tournament and he beat me at Top of the Rockies,” said Ortega (30-1). “I just hope we can meet again in the state finals. That would be great.

“Northridge has a good team and they can be right in their for the team title,” Ortega said after he dropped Gomez to 28-4. “They just seem to roll of one another. But, it’s been a good tournament for us, here, too.”

Northridge got the championship round off to a flying start with the Grizzlies first title match at 130-pounds. Here, Robert Pickrell defeated Jacob Harris of Chaparral, 7-1. They picked up title No. 2 at 140 as Easton Ramirez pinned Eaton’s Matt Smith in 1:06, they won No. 3 at 145 behind an 11-2 victory by Justin Gonzales over Englewood’s Bryce Penn.

Drake Huggans defeated Standley Lake’s Daniel Nissen in their 152-pound match, 12-3, and 285-pound defending state champion Tim Saucedo capped the night pinning Moises Alcala of Ranum in 4:29.

There is also a good chance that Gonzales and Penn will be meeting at state again. They met last year with Gonzales gaining a pin over his Englewood foe.

“Seven of eight in the finals is a pretty good night,” Gonzales (31-2) said. “It would be hard to ask for more. Our freshman (Chuy Melendez) reached the fifth-place match, so it was just a great night for all of us. Sure, I’d like to see Bryce again at state. He’s a pretty good guy.”

While the team race boiled down to Northridge and Thompson Valley, a lot of eyes were on Conifer freshman, Tony Pena. Pena, certainly making a mark for himself, was the only wrestler in the tournament with and unbeaten record and he kept it that way.

Pena (33-0) defeated Eagle Valley’s Colt Ewing in the 103-pound final, 23-6, his third technical fall victory of the tournament. His two others were major decisions.

“I feel that I’m at my best on my feet,” said Pena, who has 12 pins on the season. “I’m also comfortable on the bottom because I have the confidence I can always get out of trouble. So far I haven’t been worried a lot. I’m just trying to do the best I can each time I go out and always improve.”

Conifer picked up it’s second title of the night at 119-pounds. Travis Himmelman defeated Derek Ruiz of Pueblo South in a 3-2 thriller to go 31-5 on the season.

Ortega’s win was the first of three straight for Thompson Valley wrestlers. San Van Horn defeated Derek Vasquez, 4-3 at 171 and Mike Dellatto beat Aaron Gallagher of Eaglecrest, 4-0, at 189.

Team scores:

Northridge 191, Thompson Valley 180.5, Chaparral 129, Conifer 106, Eaton 104.5, Heritage 104, Yuma 104, Poudre 100, Pueblo South 97, Eagle Valley 86, Englewood 75.5, Pomona 73, Adams City 72, Ranum 66.5, Eaglecrest 63, Holyoke 58, Aurora Central 50, Standley Lake 39, Middle Park 35, Arrupe Jesuit 34, Sheridan 28, Cherry Creek 26.5, Denver West 21, Lincoln 17, Wheat Ridge 6, Jefferson 6, Columbine 5,

George Washington 0, Denver South 0.

Championship matches

103 - Tony Pena, Conifer, def. Colt Ewing, Eagle Valley, 23-6. 112 - Aaron Ortiz, Adams City, def. Gabe Manigonian, Heritage, 6-4 (ot). 119 - Travis Himmelman, Conifer, def. Derek Ruiz, Pueblo South, 3-2. 125 - Vicente Gallegos, Arrupe Jesuit, pinned Dylan McKie, Yuma, 2:30. 130 - Robert Pickrell, Northridge, def. Jacob Harris, Chaparal, 7-1. 135 - Jackson Julian, Chaparral, def. Andrew Hill, Eagle Valley, 4-2. 140 - Easton Ramirez, Northridge, pinned Matt Smith, Eaton, 1:06. 145 - Justin Gonzales, Northridge, def. Bryce Penn, Englewood, 11-2. 152 - Drake Huggans, Northridge, def. Daniel Nissen, Standley Lake, 12-3. 160 - Johnny Ortega, Thompson Valley, def. Patrick Gomez, Northridge, 11-3. 171 - Sam Van Horn, Thompson Valley, def. Derek Vasquez, Northridge, 4-3. 189 - Mike Dellatto, Thompson Valley, def. Aaron Gallagher, Eaglecrest, 4-0. 215 - Justin Williams, Englewood, def. Preston Rininger, Eaton, 13-5. 285 - Tim Saucedo, Northridge, pinned Moises Alcala, Ranum, 4:29.

Third-place matches

103 - Tanner Taylor, Thompson Valley, pinned William Montry, Aurora Central, 4:40. 112 - Dominic Madril, Pomona, def. Phillip Nguyen, Aurora Central, 5-0. 119 - Jimmy Zahtilla, Thompson Valley, wins by forfeit over Chad Stroh, Holyoke, injury. 125 - Josh McGirl, Thompson Valley, def. Nate Fisk, Conifer, 12-4. 130 - Shelby Garrett, Middle Park, def. Jordan Ruiz, Pueblo South, 4-2. 135 - Travis Stickney, Conifer, pinned Justin Hatchell, Eaton, 1:36. 140 - Adrian Gomez, Pueblo South, def. Joe Visconti, Middle Park, 6-4. 145 - Jeff Phillips, Thompson Valley, def. Adam Gurule, Sheridan, 8-3. 152 - Zach Bekkedahl, Poudre, def. Casey Seifert, Sheridan, 12-7. 160 - Bryce Kammerzell, Eaton, def. Zach Diaz, Yuma, 6-4. 171 - Chris Worrell, Poudre, pinned Cesar Trejo, Yuma, 3:30. 189 - Roman Padilla, Chaparral, def. Aaron Batt, Eaton, 13-0. 215 - Donnie Haupt, Pomona, def. Levi Garrett, Holyoke, 7-5. 285 - LeRoy Vigil, Adams City, def. Al Erie, Heritage, 4-3.

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