Hosting the Olathe Pirates Thursday evening inside Jack Smith Gymnasium for a dual on the mats, the Rifle Bears wrestling team cruised to a 45-24 win at home in a buildup toward regionals in a few weeks.
Against the Pirates, Rifle recorded four wins by fall, scoring 24 of 45 points in that fashion.
Opening up the match at 113 pounds, Olathe’s Justus Hubbard defeated Rifle’s Caleb Gieselman by decision (4-1), but the Bears bounced right back as Justin Henderson pinned Olathe’s Dimitri Prisbrey in the 120-pound match, giving the Bears a 6-3 lead.
Bryce Rowley continued the Rifle roll at 126 pounds, pinning Olathe’s Daniel Gray before Olathe’s Elias Ramirez got the Pirates back on the board with a 12-6 decision win over Cauy Smith at 132 pounds.
In the 138-pound match, Talon Cordova pinned Olathe’s Silvano Alejandro to extend the Rifle lead before Olathe’s Clay Yarnell defeated Conrad Demann by decision (15-10). Olathe’s Brent Gray then defeated Dillion Tiffany at 152 pounds by decision (10-8), while Wyatt Mansker added a forfeit win at 160 pounds for the Pirates.
Timoteo Pena added another win for Olathe at 170 pounds by pinning Rifle’s Kyle Lang, but the Bears closed out the match with five straight wins as Pedro Guardado and Alex Guardado won by forfeit at 182 and 195 pounds before Jared Henderson won by decision over Olathe’s Chase Sale in the 220-pound match, 11-4.
Alejandro Robles then pinned Olathe’s Tristen Welker in the 285-pound match, before Hunter Bercher pinned Olathe’s Caleb Bachman to close out the match.