One from Bayfield and one from Ignacio will wrestle for a state championship Saturday.
After two days of action at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the Colorado High School Activities Association State Wrestling Championships, champions will be crowned Saturday night, and two boys from La Plata County will have a chance to stand atop the podium.
Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller remained undefeated at 138 pounds with a pin victory in the Class 2A semifinals against Rigan Pfeiff of Crowley County. Appenzeller (40-1) made quick work of Pfeiff (37-15), earning a fall victory 1 minute, 5 seconds into the first period.
Appenzeller reached the semifinal with an 11-0 major decision win against Cody Venem of Rocky Ford earlier Friday morning.
Also advancing to a state championship match was Bayfield’s Ryan Nava at Class 3A 145 pounds. Nava (41-4) earned a 12-7 decision against Jake Bedofrd of Colorado Springs Christian in his semifinal. He used two big reversals and three takedowns to secure the match. Earlier Friday, Nava earned an 8-6 decision win against Jimmy Laconte of Weld Central in the quarterfinals.
“Nava has come on at the end of the year and done what we know he is capable of and what he has set out all year to do,” BHS head coach Neil Barnes said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “His year started out rough, but he’s come on strong after Christmas.”
Nava will face top see Zach Damian, a senior from Valey with a 37-8 record, in the championship match after the Parade of Champions at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“He’s a tough kid,” Barnes said of Damian. “He’s never in a bad position, so we’re going to have to wrestle the best we have all year and not make mistakes.”
Appenzeller also will face the top seed in his bracket in Peyton’s Britton Holmes, who is 45-2 this season.
The only other wrestler from La Plata County to reach the semifinals was Ignacio’s Lorenzo Peña at 2A 160 pounds. Peña reached the semifinal with a quarterfinal win with a pin victory against Tyler Hottinger of Akron in 2:26, but Peña was pinned by top-seed Sabyn Diamond of Buena Vista only 1:05 into the semifinal match.
Bayfield heavyweight Sam Westbrook (40-3) didn’t fare as well in the quarterfinals, as he dropped a 10-5 decision to Sam deSeriere (40-2) of Mullen. But Westbrook responded nicely in the consolation bracket with a 4-3 decision win against Felix Peña of Olathe to keep his podium chances strongly intact.
“I’m very proud of Sam,” Barnes said. “He had a tough match against the No. 1-ranked kid in the morning, made a little mistake. At this level, you make a mistake and get in a hole and it hurts. But he bounced back and beat an Olathe kid who took first in our regional last weekend, so that was a huge win.”
After losing Thursday, Bayfield’s Taylor Winch earned a big state tournament victory in the consolation bracket Friday. He pinned Christian Zimmerman of Platte Canyon in 2:46, but he went on to lose to Christian Guerrero of Dolores Huerta in a first-period pin in the second consolation round, ending his state tournament.
“Winch is a senior, and I’ve coached him since he was 5,” Barnes said. “To see a kid battle all those years and wrestle at state and win a match as a senior is huge. It will give him confidence going into his future life in the Navy.”
In Ignacio’s other quarterfinal, Tyler Beebe dropped a tough 4-2 decision to Brendon Crum of Holly. Beebe bounced back big with a consolation second round victory against Spencer Holtorf of Yuma with a second-period pin to remain alive going into Saturday.
Durango’s state wrestling tournament came to an end Friday. The Demons’ lone qualifier, 160-pound Cole Gustavson, lost a consolation match to Francisco Rosales (28-13) of Fort Morgan and was eliminated. Gustavson (24-15), dropped the match in a 7-2 decision.
Also eliminated Friday was Bayfield’s Garrett Beebe (33-15). He dropped a narrow 7-6 decision at 126 pounds to Rodney Atencio of Dolores Huerta in the first consolation round.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
