The Durango Herald
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DENVER
For Ignacio, Day 1 at the state high school wrestling tournament was as easy as 1-2-3.
Three Ignacio High School wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals with opening-round pins Thursday at the annual CHSAA State Wrestling Championships at the Pepsi Center.
Seniors Alex Peña, Teagan Overturf and Colton Wyatt all recorded pins for the Bobcats in Class 2A.
Two Ignacio teammates – Jeff Herrera and Blaine Mickey – suffered opening-round losses and will drop to the consolation brackets.
“I didn’t want to leave anything to chance,” Peña said after he pinned Edwards Galarza of Byers with 1:05 left in the first period in their match at 126 pounds.
“That’s my new goal at state,” said Peña, who is going for his fourth consecutive state title.
“Get ahead and stay ahead,” the Ignacio senior (31-2) said.
Peña, the son of Shasta and Kenneth “Mossy” Peña, is 132-7 in his high school career. He will try to become only the 14th wrestler in Colorado history to win four state championships.
Wyatt, wrestling at 195 pounds for the Bobcats, pinned Weston Downey of Swink midway through the second period after dominating the action early in their match.
The Ignacio senior (26-5) will move into today’s quarterfinals.
Overtuff, the son of coach Bob Overturf, got off to an aggressive start against Tyler Sharpe of Baca County in their 160-pound match.
Overturf scored a takedown in the first minute. He worked into a pinning combination, drawing the referee’s whistle with 15 seconds remaining in the two-minute opening period.
“I was nervous,” Overturf said after his Thursday afternoon victory.
“But I knew I wasn’t going to get pinned,” he said with a big smile.
He used a perfectly executed half-nelson to force the pin.
“That’s the strongest move,” Overturf said.
But he didn’t savor the win for long.
“Now I’ve got to get refocused for (today),” the Ignacio senior said of his upcoming quarterfinal match in the 2A bracket.
Fellow Ignacio senior Jeff Herrera had to wrestle the No. 1 seed in his 132-pound bracket Thursday. Alex Klopp of Yuma (33-4), who worked to a 4-2 lead after the first period, led 14-3 when he completed the pin with 37 seconds left in the match.
Herrera (20-16) will move to the consolation bracket today.
Ignacio freshman Blaine Mickey also drew a No. 1 seed at 170 pounds in Class 2A.
Brent Harris of Norwood (35-2) pinned Mickey in the first period Thursday.
Today’s schedule calls for quarterfinals and semifinals in all classes.
The consolation finals and the state championship matches will be Saturday night.
Enlargephoto
Ignacio’s Alex Peña began his quest to win four consecutive state titles by pinning Edwards Galarza of Byers at 126 pounds with 1:05 left in their first-round match on Thursday.
