In a battle of two Garfield County wrestling programs Thursday night inside the original Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium at Glenwood Springs High School, the Grand Valley Cardinals edged out the Demons 35-33, claiming bragging rights in the county for the season.
“We were pretty flat,” said Miles Cook, Glenwood’s assistant coach. “Grand Valley really showed up and wrestled hard every match.”
Opening up the match, Glenwood’s Max Burrell and Grand Valley’s Hector De La Cruz squared off in the 126-pound match, in which De La Cruz picked up a win by fall in 3:21. Prior to the pin, Burrell escaped from the bottom to start the second period, but De La Cruz took down Burrell, scored three nearfall points, and then pinned the Demon senior.
Glenwood answered right back with a win by fall in the 132-pound match as Mathew Flores pinned Grand Valley’s Paul Wojclechowski, before Joaquin Garcia picked up a win over Grand Valley’s Hector Arzate in the 138-pound match in the third overtime, escaping in the second overtime to take a one-point lead, before riding out Arzate in the final overtime period.
The Cardinals quickly regrouped and picked up a win by decision as Isaiah Tigert defeated Glenwood’s Joshua Sanchez by major decision (10-0) in the 145-pound match, while Anthony Fladeland won by decision (7-4) over Glenwood’s Caden Howe in the 152-pound match.
Grand Valley kept it rolling in the 160-pound match as Cristian Barragan pinned Glenwood’s Sawyer McKenney in 3:41, but the Demons quickly righted the ship as Tucker Porter pinned Grand Valley’s Brayden Harper in 44 seconds in the 170-pound match, and Jacob Wolf picked up a forfeit win in the 182-pound match. Glenwood standout senior Amos Wilson added a forfeit win in the 195-pound match, pushing Glenwood in front.
Glenwood senior Spencer Cloud kept the Demons on a roll in the 220-pound match, pinning Grand Valley’s Asa Grice in 47 seconds, but the Cardinals turned it around from there, rallying for the win.
Hayden Grice won by major decision (13-2) over Glenwood’s Bryce Wheeler in the 285-pound match, while Derrick Medina pinned Glenwood’s Ray Rosenmerkel in the 113-pound match in 1:22.
Grand Valley’s Keenan Strauss won the dual for the Cardinals in the final match of the night, pinning Glenwood’s Dakotah Aguirre in 5:13.