Pagosa Springs Tourney

The Monticello Buckaroo Wrestlers came back strong from the Christmas Break, bringing home a fifth place team finish from the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Tournament in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It’s one of the highest team finishes for the Bucks from the prestigious tournament which features 20 teams, including many top Colorado and New Mexico programs. Monticello is one of only a few small schools invited to the tough tournament. The Bucks earned their fifth place finish with only 8 wrestlers competing, five of them wrestling in the finals, and brought home seven individual medals.

Leading his team was Buckaroo Coltan Musselman who cruised through the competition with wins by fall in each of the first three rounds before putting up a strong 13-9 win in the finals. Musselman joins an elite group including only a handful of Buckaroos who have achieved a top placing from the tournament.

The Bucks had five team members competing in the final round, with Hunter Bowring, Brian Robinson, CJ Cordasco and Trevor Wagstaff each earning hard fought second place medals. Bowring earned a win by fall in the early round and had the crowd on the edge of their seat in a 4-3 victory to send him to the finals. Robinson and Cordasco each dominated their weight classes on the road to the finals with two early falls and huge 12-0 and 14-0 wins respectively. Wagstaff also earned a win by fall and put up a strong 6-2 win in the semi-final round.

Freshman Austin Wilcox earned a fourth place finish in first outing of the season. Wilcox put up two strong wins by fall in the early rounds. Dailyn Warren rounded out the Buckaroo placers with a seventh place finish. Warren earned a first round fall before a loss put him in the consolation bracket. He stayed alive with an exciting 11-7 win, before a loss put him in the match for 7th and 8th place. Warren came back strong, and fought hard in a nail biter, earning an exciting 10-9 win in his final match.

Also wrestling for the Buckaroos was Tim Ryan who earned an exciting win by fall in the first round, but two tough losses put him out of the tournament.

The remainder of the Buckaroo squad travelled to the Durango JV Tournament. Eric Anderson and Jake Giles each earned second place finishes, followed by Roque DeAnda, Curtis Baird, and Joe Engle with third place finishes and Mo Beh with a fifth place finish. Also wrestling for the Buckaroos were Randy Jelly and Kelland Brewer.

This week the Buckaroos travel to the Shiprock Tournament. There will be a dual tournament on Friday starting at 9:30 am and bracket tournament on Saturday starting at 8:30 am.

Anna Thayn
Blog Contributor