Four champs for third-place Cats
It certainly couldn’t hurt to see his younger brother rise all the way to the top of the challenge of the 2016 Rob Mickel Memorial Invitational, Jan. 16 at Salida High School.
And not long after sophomore Garrett Beebe, wrestling for 3A Bayfield, claimed top billing at 126 pounds, 2A Ignacio senior Tyler Beebe did so at 132, becoming the Bobcats’ second of (eventually) four champions at the event and helping boost IHS all the way up to third place in the tournament’s final standings.
Beebe went 4-0 with three pins, and ended his day gluing BHS’ Jake Sandrey in just 1 minute, 15 seconds.
Junior Stocker Robbins also was perfect in four trips to the mat, and rebounded from the previous weekend’s third-place (at Pagosa Springs’ Rocky Mountain Invite) result to capture first at SHS after holding off 2A Dolores soph Brandon Ward 4-2 in the 113-pounders’ finale.
Classmate Ethan Appenzeller went 3-for-3 at 138, pinning all three opponents including 2A Cedaredge soph Colton Hoerr – in only 1:49 – for the championship, and earned Lower Weight Outstanding Wrestler honors. Finally, fellow junior Lorenzo Pena brought home first at 160 after winning all three of his bouts – the last by a 6-1 score against BHS junior Macoy Michaeli.
All told, Jordan Larsen’s titlists helped Ignacio amass 147.5 team points, which ultimately trailed only BHS’ 173.5 and Cedaredge’s winning 197. Del Norte, 2A (139) and 3A Basalt (109.5) rounded out the top five.
Junior Timmy Plehinger took third place at 152 for IHS by going 2-1, 145-pounder Dalton Mickey took fourth place by going 2-2, and heavyweight Michael Cruz went 2-2 with two pins and finished sixth.
Up next the Cats will travel to Paonia’s Screaming Eagle Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 23, after having hosted 4A Durango in a non-league dual on the 21st. The results were unavailable by the Drum’s deadline. IHS’ Butch Melton Memorial Invitational is set for the 30th, with dual-style action on tap the night before.
ROB MICKEL MEMORIAL INVITE STANDINGS
1.Cedaredge 197, 2.Bayfield 173.5, 3.IGNACIO 147.5, 4.Del Norte 139, 5.Basalt 109.5, 6.Colorado Springs Christian 106.5, 7.Salida 102.5, 8.Dolores 89, 9.Westcliffe Custer County 63, 10.Manzanola 45, 11.Blanca Sierra Grande 34, 12.Center 31.5, 13.La Jara Centauri JV 23, 14.Mancos 23, T-15.Calhan/Saguache Mountain Valley 13, 17.Leadville Lake County 12, 18.Sanford 6.
CHAMPIONS
106 – Ryan Moltz (Salida); 113 – STOCKER ROBBINS (IGNACIO); 120 – Dmitri Huschka (Salida); 126 – Garrett Beebe (Bayfield); 132 – TYLER BEEBE (IGNACIO); 138 – ETHAN APPENZELLER (IGNACIO); 145 – Ryan Nava (Bayfield); 152 – Niles Primrose (Colorado Springs Christian); 160 – LORENZO PENA (IGNACIO); 170 – Zach Anderson (Cedaredge); 182 – Jake Jolly (Del Norte); 195 – Tre LaBossiere (Cedaredge); 220 – Olmer Marquez (Basalt); Hwt – Sam Westbrook (Bayfield).