Brush grapplers win regionals
It’s no secret that Brush boys wrestling always brings its best in big competitions. This weekend was no different.
The Beetdiggers ran away with the Class 3A Region 4 tournament, during which the team scored 240 points to edge out second-place Pueblo Central’s 213 and qualified 11 for the state tournament, which will begin on Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver. Nick Dardanes led the charge with his regional title at 126 pounds.
Dardanes, who has been nothing short of phenomenal this season, dropped his title-match opponent, Lamar’s Axton Morales, by fall just 25 seconds into the second period to improve his overall record to 35-3.
He wasn’t the only gold medal winner.
T.J. Rivera won the heavyweight division when, in his finals match over Florence’s Weston Sweigart, he pinned Sweigart with 43 seconds to spare. Tanner Ludgate (138 pounds) put up a silverworthy performance when he lost his finals match in a tough 4-2 decision to The Classical Academy’s Will Schipfer.
Austin Ley (157 lbs.) also found himself in second place after Pueblo Central’s Jordan Atencio pinned him early in the second period of the title match. Cole Curtis added his name to the long list of Brush second-placers with a 10-5 loss to Centauri’s Erik Mestas in the 175-pound bracket.
Riley Tuck (144 pounds) battled his way to third place when he dominated Pueblo Central’s Joseph Castro in a 14-1 major. Josue Mayorga (150 pounds) matched that bronze-worthy performance in a much more exciting fashion, with an escape serving as his only saving grace in a 1-0 victory over Lutheran’s Sebastian Martinez.
Ritchie Bruno (165 pounds) placed third after defeating Florence’s Skyler Davis with a late firstperiod pin. Christaun Astorga gritted out third place with a 2-1 decision over Strasburg’s Thomas Devlin. Dominick Ontiveros rounded out the bronze efforts at 215 pounds with a quick second-period pin over Lamar’s Isaiah Felan
Axton Haswell (132 pounds) added his name to the state sheet when he squeaked into fourth place by defeating Florence’s Erik Danner with an 11-2 major in his do or die match. Only the top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.