As the Class 2A and 3A Colorado High School Activities Association wrestling state tournament looms, wrestlers from around Colorado will have the Pepsi Center in Denver on their minds
The mightiest of competitors will leave it all on the mats on Feb. 18-20.
Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller (34-1) is heading the top seed at the 138 weight class after beating Aiden Dabal of the combined team of Norwood and Nucla in a 4-3 decision in the Class 2A Region 1 tournament last weekend.
The win propelled Appenzeller to face Braden Kappel (21-11) of Limon in the first round of the state tournament.
Ryan Nava of Bayfield (35-4) also has the top seed at 145 at the Class 3A level after beating Alex Cordova in an 8-7 decision at the Region 4 tournament. Nava will now face Dimitrius Flores (22-14) of Mullen.
The area’s top two wrestlers may be in different weight classes from different school classifications, but on a cold snowy night on the eve of the 41st Butch Melton Invitational, the two met for a match that would shape the rest of the season.
Bayfield and Ignacio met on the night of Jan. 29 for a dual meet at Ignacio High School. At the weigh-in, Appenzeller missed his 138 weight and had to move up to 145, which meant meeting Nava for a match.
Nava’s used his scrambling skills and specific angles to get a slew of takedowns, and controlled the match the whole way through. Nava took what Appenzeller gave him, which was the match as Nava won with precise takedowns, 7-5.
“He was my toughest opponent and my toughest match,” said Appenzeller, son of Anna and Tom Appenzeller. “When I was on top I couldn’t do much. It was a close match, he wrestled his match and I didn’t. (That match) gave me confidence to run my moves and not worry what (the opponent) is going to do.”
Up until that point, neither Appenzeller nor Nava were hitting a stride in the season and their match was the perfect competition to get the two wrestlers prime for the long haul.
“(Ryan) handled Ethan the way he needed to,” Bayfield head coach Neil Barnes said. “But when you wrestle another top kid like Ethan, you’re going get better. It was a great thing that happened for both of them. Ryan hadn’t wrestled anyone to that caliber to that point. It was a great time of the year for a match like that.”
Nava didn’t know he was going to wrestle Appenzeller until 20 minutes into the meet. It didn’t matter to Nava as he wrestled the match the same way he wrestled every match before
“That was the first time I had a nail biter,” said Nava, son of Ofelia, Raymond and Ramona Fronseca. “I credit that match to my great double legs and my scrambles. That match put me in gear for the postseason. I was in cruise control up until that point. It made me think there’s no more room for error, it’s all precision from here on out.”
From that point on, neither wrestler made any more slip ups and won every match since.
The next day at the Butch Melton Invite, Nava pinned Pagosa Springs’ Tyler Cowan, and Appenzeller pinned Colton Hoerr of Cedaredge.
Though both wrestlers learned a lot about each other and themselves from their match, Nava and Appenzeller will turn their focus for this weekend’s most important of matches.
“I’m feeling pretty good, I should be nervous but I’m not, I just feel good about it,” said Appenzeller. “This is a big tournament and I have to go in with positivity and go in strong and run my match and my moves.”
According to Ignacio head coach Jordan Larsen, Appenzeller’s greatest strengths are wrestling tactics.
“He keeps his head composed and calm,” said Larsen. “I’ve never seen him lose any type of cool, which works in his favor. He’s a very technical wrestler. He doesn’t rely on strength, he’s very precise and methodical to his approach to wrestling.”
For Nava, he’s taking a similar approach to state as Appenzeller.
Nava wrestles panic-free, feels ready and wants to look at his next opponent as any other opponents.
“I’m in great shape. I’ve been lifting day in and day out and my cardio is where I want it to be,” said Nava. “Emotionally I’m happy because I can show everyone what I did all year. I’m happy for an opportunity like this, I can’t help but smile when it comes to state because I love the atmosphere in the room and with my teammates at the Pepsi Center, so I’m excited right now.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
Behind the scenes--Ethan Appenzeller
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO TAKE A DATE?: Olde Tymers
DO YOU HAVE ANY NICKNAMES?: Baby App
WHAT OUTDOOR HOBBY DO YOU HAVE?: Snowboarding, wakeboarding, hunting and fishing.
WHAT TEACHER HAS MADE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU?: IHS welding teacher, Mr. Haga.
WHO WAS YOUR TOUGHEST OPPONENT THIS YEAR?: Ryan Nava for Bayfield, he beat me.
Behind the scenes--Ryan Nava
WHAT SONG IS STUCK IN YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW?: Shake it Off by Taylor Swift.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS MOVIE?: ‘Rocky 4’
DO YOU HAVE ANY SUPERSTITIONS?: I like to buy red wrestling shoes before state because red is my favorite color.
WHAT TEACHER HAS MADE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU?: My Kansas elementary 3rd grade teacher Ms. Stewart.
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE ATHLETE?: UFC fighter Conner McGregor
