Wray’s Carlos Tarin tries resisting Ignacio’s Lorenzo Pena with whatever breath he’s got left as Pena applies a decisive squeeze during the Class 2A, 160-pound division’s third-place match, Feb. 18 inside Pepsi Center in Denver. Tarin somehow did avoid being pinned, but with Pena recording multiple near-falls, the Bobcat senior easily defeated the Eagle sophomore by 14-3 major decision. Pena finished his last season with a 37-5 record, and IHS finished 16th in the team standings despite having only three entrants.
Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller ponders what to do next with the leg of Peyton’s Britton Holmes during the Class 2A 145-pound State Championship, Feb. 18 inside Pepsi Center in Denver. Appenzeller unfortunately lost his rematch with Holmes – whom he’d seen in last year’s finale at 138 – by a 5-3 score, finalizing his 2016-17 season record at 38-5 while Holmes ended up 41-2. “I really wanted it, so I pushed myself real hard this year,” said Appenzeller. “It wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but … It’s the journey, you know?” “Wrestling is everything I do, and everything I eat and breathe, everything I want. And it’s still exciting to be here again, wrestling for my family, my friends … they came here to cheer me on and I really appreciate that,” he said, wishing to thank several people for their support this winter: parents Tom and Anna; HIS coaches Jordan Larsen, Cody Haga and Dennis deKay; IHS Boys’ Basketball; friends Marcus Chapman, Joseph Vigil, Zach Weinreich, Dalton Labarthe, Jimmy Kinsey and Joaquin King, plus anyone else he may have missed while speaking shortly after the awards ceremony.
Ignacio’s Stocker Robbins keeps a grip on the leg of Limon’s Woody Aguilar, using it for leverage in resisting the Badger’s takedown attempt during 132-pound action on Day 2 (Feb. 17) of the Class 2A State Championships inside Denver’s Pepsi Center. Aguilar would win a close 6-4 decision, stopping Robbins short of the placing phases of the weight’s consolation bracket and finalizing his senior-year record at 21-8 (Aguilar finished 40-7 after eventually placing fifth).
