Rifle High School’s wrestling team had several top finishers at the Front Range Valley Classic tournament on Saturday, including a championship showing by the Bears’ Cauy Smith in the 126-pound classification.
Smith improved to 20-4 on the season, earning byes to the quarterfinal round of the tournament where he won by fall over Wyatt Gardner of Mountain Valley to advance to the first-place match. There, he won a 9-7 decision over Demetrio Achuleta of Piedra Vista High to claim the title.
As a team, the Bears finished fifth in the 25-team field with 106 points.
Other top Rifle wrestlers included: 138 pounds — Bryce Rowley (28-11), third, including four match wins and a deciding victory by fall over Wyatt Murphy (Hayden) in 3:42; 160 pounds — Dillon Tiffany (14-5), fourth, including four match wins and a loss by forfeit in the third-place match; 195 pounds — Alex Guardado (25-11), fourth, including four match wins leading up to a 4-0 decision loss to Anthony Miller (Paonia) in the deciding match; 285 pounds — Alejandro Robles (22-11), fourth with two match wins and a deciding loss by fall in 2:07 to Christian Matus (Hotchkiss).
Wilson, Krauth, Garcia place for Demons
Wrestling at the Valley Viking Invite on Saturday, Glenwood Springs senior Amos Wilson took second place in the 182-pound class.
Wilson scored wins over Matthew Williams-Perez (Riverdale Ridge) by fall in 0:49, and Braden Baumgartner (Weld Central) by fall in 3:38. Wilson was out-wrestled by Cody DuBois (Bennett) by 8-5 decision for the title.
In the 138-pound class, senior Erik Krauth won the opening match by fall in 1:13 over Logan Curtis (Platte Valley) and the quarterfinal by 8-2 decision over Adam Bartoletta (Holy Family).
Krauth then suffered a semifinal loss to Isaiah Rios (Valley) by 13-3 major decision and claimed fifth place by virtue of a forfeit and no contest.
Also claiming a fifth place at 152 pounds was Glenwood’s Elo Garcia, who won his quarterfinal match over Shane Navarro (Highland) by fall in 0:56, before falling to Ryder True (Eaton) in 1:43.
As a team, the Demons finished 14th out of 16 teams with 42 points.
