Young wrestlers stay competitive

The Grand County High School wrestling team welcomed 13 other teams to the campus for the Red Rocks Invitational round-robin tournament on Dec. 6 and 7, where the Red Devils came away in sixth place with 184 team points.

The Red Devils were led by a pair of second-place finishes as Blane Thompson took second at 170 pounds and Landon Moralez took second at 106 pounds. Thompson went 6-1 with every match ending in a pinfall, while Moralez went 5-1, four of his wins by pinfall.

Zach Phillips took third place at 220 pounds, winning three matches by pinfall, and at 145 pounds, Dylan Harrison took fifth, winning five matches, three by pinfall. Jacob Kelley also took fifth at heavyweight, winning three matches, two by pinfall.

GCHS wrestling coach Dennis Wells said that he was pleasantly surprised by his team’s high placement in the season-opening tournament.

“They did better than I thought they would with how young they are,” he said.

Heavyweight Jaymmin Hester missed the tournament after being sick all week, Wells said, adding that he was impressed with the other heavyweight, Kelley, who weighed in a little too heavy, meaning that all of his matches count as exhibition.

GCHS also got a fifth-place showing by Jeremiah Perman at 170 pounds, who pinned three opponents. Jeffery Davis took sixth at 195 and Sam Kesavadhana took eighth at 113, winning two matches by pinfall.

“I was impressed with Sam at 113,” Wells said. “I think he’ll start to come on soon.”

At 138 pounds, Maison Moyle went 3-1 before an injury cost him the second day of the tournament. Oscar Martinez was undefeated in the 106-pound B division, winning four matches before he was injured.

Trenton Nelson took second in the 160-pound B division, winning five matches, three by pinfall and one by technical fall. At 126 pounds, Jayden Stocks took eighth in the B division, notching one pinfall victory.

Monticello won the tournament with 346.5 points, followed closely by Carbon with 340. Gunnison took third with 296 points, Summit Academy took fourth with 277 points and Mancos took fifth with 213 points.

GCHS next competes at the Desert Hills Thunder Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14, where the Red Devils will have a chance to win a few matches competing with schools from 1A to 4A, Wells said.

“The main thing is that there are more kids (on the team) this year, and they’re working hard,” he said.

GCHS Red Devils take sixth place at Red Rocks Invitational