DENVER - If Daniel Westbrook had to lose to anyone at the 2018 CHSAA Class 3A State Wrestling Championships, it was likely he'd fall to the competitor with the most Wild West-sounding name in his bracket: Bart Gruenloh of Lamar.
And if Bayfield head coach Roy Westbrook had to get stampeded by any of the 220-pounders, it was likely he'd choose any guy but Gruenloh, who'd lost but five times all winter and wasn't about to do so again.
"That kid was just a horse," the coach said, "and he ended up getting the better of Daniel."
Westbrook was denied a chance to re-enter Pepsi Center on Day 3 in the Parade of Champions with a shot at first place, but he was still assured of placing anywhere from third to sixth. Bayfield's talented junior found himself in a unique consolation-bracket position, awaiting the winner of fellow Intermountain Leaguers Logan Thompson (Alamosa) and Nolan Stretton (Pagosa Springs). He was taking it easy on a knee tenderized in the quarterfinals by Bennie Chacon of Centauri, whom he fortunately defeated 7-3 but whom he still could have faced again.
"Daniel was kind of, 'Coach I don't think I should wrestle; my knee hurts.' He really thought something was wrong," Roy Westbrook recalled. "The coaching staff got together and talked to him and had somebody else give him a call, and we all just kind of preached: 'Look, this is mental toughness. This is what it takes!"
"'We've already placed, yes, but you don't want to go out like this,'" he continued. "'You've got to push past it, two more matches, 12 minutes of pain.'"
With a brace shrouding a sprained left MCL, Westbrook dug in against Thompson and ended up losing a 5-4 decision which could have easily been more in the Wolverine's favor.
"There were a couple times where we had him on his back right as time expired, but the refs didn't award it because time was out," Coach Westbrook said. "The knee, I think that that cost us a little bit, not doing shots that we thought he could be doing - how Daniel can wrestle."
Hurting going into the fifth-place bout, Daniel Westbrook laid it all on the line as he faced Denver-based Sheridan senior Perrion Gray. And through the six regulation minutes, neither had gained the decisive upper hand.
Neither then executed a winning move in either of two overtime periods, necessitating a third with the clash tied at 2-2.
"The way it's structured is, you've got your first overtime, and that's on your feet so whoever can get the first takedown wins. In the event that doesn't happen, it goes to double-overtime where each person gets a chance on top and bottom," explained Roy Westbrook. "Most kids, when it's their choice, they'll take bottom, and that's what happened; they both got an escape. So then it goes to the 'ultimate' tiebreaker, and the way they decide that is the kid that scored the first point gets choice."
"We had chose bottom going into the second period, knowing we want to score the first point," he continued, alluding to the fact that through the initial two minutes the score was 0-0, "and it worked out! We went to that ultimate tiebreaker, Daniel got the choice, we said we're taking bottom, we're getting out and we're going to win this!"
And if confidence wasn't evident to Daniel Westbrook in his coach's words, it had to be in his actions, particularly when both grapplers ran each other out of the circle and into the BHS coaches' chairs. The move bulldozed both Roy Westbrook and assistant Blane Barnes, whose facial expressions remained stoic and focused.
"It was one of those things where I'm so used to, you get these 135-pounders or 138s, or Jake (Sandrey) at 145, coming at you, and you just want to go step in front, protect them! Because you know they're getting ready to be run off the mat to the floor or, in this case, towards the coaches and the chairs!" said Roy Westbrook.
"That instinct just kind of took over, not thinking that I had 440 pounds running right at me," he laughed. "Took the brunt end of that one, but at least Daniel didn't hit the chair; I took the whole chair to myself!"
Barnes then stood up as the referee made sure all parties were still intact, tapped the area over his heart, and shouted to Daniel Westbrook, "Hey! It's in 'here.'"
And when the moment came, Westbrook was ready and scored an escape point wriggling out to his left from underneath Gray for a gutsy 3-2 victory.
"I think after he wrestled Logan Thompson he realized, 'You know what? My knee doesn't hurt as much as I thought it did!'" Roy Westbrook said. "And he went out and had a great match, you know?"
"Being my brother, I have to try to separate that relationship to an extent, but it's my brother; it's hard to, and so it was really emotional for me," he noted. "I know it was for him: Me being in the corner, and him winning. Got to hug him afterwards and let him know, 'I'm really proud of you.' And I did that for all the boys."
Including a Day 1, second-period pin of Lakewood Alameda International senior Jacob Segura, Daniel Westbrook finished with a 3-2 meet record, upping his totals to 35 up, 13 down while Gray ended up 29-9.
Westrbook "didn't wrestle his freshman year, missed going to State by a match his sophomore year, and to come out his junior year and really be considered one of the top guys for the finals, that he could be there, I couldn't be more proud of him," said Roy Westbrook.
And with a seventh win to balance out seven losses, Bayfield finished tied with Sterling for 23rd in the final standings, having accumulated 25 team points.
Gruenloh, who pinned Westbrook in 1:57, defeated Salida's Eli Smith 13-8 for the title at 220.
"Overall this weekend I think we did really good," Roy Westbrook said. "I couldn't be more proud of all three kids that went to State, or of my whole team, for that matter; a lot of heart with all those boys."
Defeated 10-3 by Brush's Oswaldo Nunez in the quarterfinals, 138-pounder Garrett Beebe re-started himself well with third place in sight, pinning both LHS sophomore Walker Kee (at 1:57 of the first period) and Conifer's superhero-sounding senior Captain Payne (1:48, second period) to reach the consolation semifinals.
But Rifle senior Colt Rohrig pulled out a 6-3 win-leaving Beebe to face an IML face in Montezuma-Cortez's Matthew Broughton with fifth place up for grabs. In the end, the Panther junior allowed the Wolverine little offensively and prevailed by 10-2 major decision.
"I think he had the toughest way in terms of how the bracket looked, and we got lucky to beat that number-two Gallegos kid," said Roy Westbrook. "I know he didn't come out wrestling up to par, being injured and whatnot, but in the end Garrett decided he wanted to win that match. He won it, went on to place, and I think that shows a lot of heart, ending his senior year on a high note, on that podium for the first time!"
"I let him know, 'I'm proud of you, and I'm proud to be your coach! You made the podium - enjoy it!'"
At 145 pounds, senior Jake Sandrey managed one last State win-a consolation-round pin, ending the first period, of Thornton Skyview junior Tristan Eskridge. Sandrey was unable to place, however, having lost his Day 1 test 7-3 to EHS senior Hayden Gavette, and later losing via pin to Steamboat Springs senior Lance Bryant. Sandrey still finished his final season 32-14 overall, meaning BHS' trio finished the 2017-18 campaign an aggregate 105-40.
"Jake falling short a little bit...it was a really emotional ending for both me and him, you know?" said Roy Westbrook. "I really wanted to see him make that podium and come out on top, but in the end wrestling's just an unforgiving sport. He left it all out there, gave everything he had, and that's just how it ends sometimes."
