One match is all a wrestler gets on the opening day of the state meet. That one match can quickly determine an athlete’s fate the rest of the week. The Colorado High School Activities Association State Wrestling Championships kicked off Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Eight boys from La Plata County made the trip, and six – three from Bayfield High School and three from Ignacio High School – earned victories to advance to the quarterfinals of their respective brackets.
Bayfield’s Macoy Michaeli (170 pounds), Ryan Nava (145) and Sam Westbrook (285) all advanced with ease. Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller (145), Lorenzo “Woody” Peña (160) and Stocker Robbins (132) did the same for the Bobcats.
Westbrook remained undefeated this year at 39-0. He pinned his opponent, Austin Hall of Lamar, in 49 seconds to move on to face Josias Chavez (19-4) of Denver North in the quarterfinals.
“It wasn’t really a tough match,” Westbrook said of his first-round win. “I got the jitter-bugs off, not that I have a lot of them because I’ve been here. I know my goal, and I’m feeling confident.”
Nava (36-1) bounced back from his only loss of the season in the regional championships with a 14-6 major decision against Cole Gray of Woodland Park. He’ll face Lance Bryant (33-7) of Steamboat Springs in the quarterfinals.
“That was good for me to get a few things out,” Nava said. “There were a few things not positive about my wrestling last week, and I got that out in this match. It was good to go 6 minutes, get the feet wet.”
Michaeli (40-7) came out explosive against Jack Prentner of Conifer. He earned a quick takedown and scored a couple of nearfalls but was reversed by Prentner. Michaeli quickly countered with a reverse of his own and won via pin in 1:36 of the first period. He’ll face No. 1 seed Josh Flanagan (41-4) of Valley in the quarterfinals.
“I just had to wait for the right time to reverse him,” Michaeli said of his Round 1 match. “I’m out here to perform.”
Robbins (21-6) scored a 12-1 major decision against J.D. Hart of Peyton in the first round. He showed his experience and dominated, and he’ll face Skyler Score (30-6) of Highlands in the quarterfinals.
Appenzeller was next for Ignacio, and he took only 95 seconds to pin Emmanuel Huerta of Wray. Appenzeller, a state runner-up a year ago to this year’s top seed Britton Holmes of Peyton, is trying to get back to the title match for a rematch. First is a quarterfinal against Trystan Estrada (27-16) of John Mall.
Peña (34-4) finished off the Ignacio sweep of the first round with a 14-3 major decision win against Cade Rober of the combined team of Sedgwick County and Fleming. He will face top-seed Carlos Magdaleno (25-4) of Rocky Ford in the quarterfinals.
“The boys all wrestled hard,” IHS head coach Jordan Larsen said. “It’s always nice to win those first matches big and have breathing room. You don’t always win that big at state. We got some decisive victories and are moving on to harder matches in the quarters.”
Quarterfinals will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Semifinals are scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Consolation matches will take place immediately after the quarterfinals.
BHS will have two boys in the first round of consolation, as Garrett Beebe (126 pounds) and Jake Sandrey (132) both lost in the first round.
Beebe was pinned in 1:43 by Zander Condit of Conifer, and Sandrey was beat by second-seed Brandon Damian of Valley in a 16-0 tech fall.
“I gotta come back through the back side and try to get third,” Sandrey said. “It was a tough first match. I was a little scared, honestly, because he was the second seed. I feel pretty good now and am ready to make a run.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
