{"id":2454771,"date":"2020-02-19T22:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T05:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/lopez-samuelson-repping-the-longhorns-at-state-wrestling\/"},"modified":"2020-02-19T22:24:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T05:24:00","slug":"lopez-samuelson-repping-the-basalt-longhorns-at-state-wrestling-in-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/lopez-samuelson-repping-the-basalt-longhorns-at-state-wrestling-in-denver\/","title":{"rendered":"Lopez, Samuelson repping the Basalt Longhorns at state wrestling in Denver"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8010928961749\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-321243-646\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kara Williams\/courtesy photo | Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.<\/strong><br \/>Kara Williams\/courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-1-804x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kara Williams\/courtesy photo | Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez has his hand raised in victory after a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez has his hand raised in victory after a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.<\/strong><br \/>Kara Williams\/courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-1-804x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez has his hand raised in victory after a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kara Williams\/courtesy photo | Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.<\/strong><br \/>Kara Williams\/courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-2-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-3-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kara Williams\/courtesy photo | Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez, left, wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez, left, wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.<\/strong><br \/>Kara Williams\/courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-3-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez, left, wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kara Williams\/courtesy photo | Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.<\/strong><br \/>Kara Williams\/courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/BHSwrestling-atd-022020-1-4-1024x683.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez wrestles in a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/lopez-samuelson-repping-the-longhorns-at-state-wrestling\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/lopez-samuelson-repping-the-longhorns-at-state-wrestling\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">Ruben Samuelson has only a single loss this season. Ernesto Lopez is a regional champion who\u2019s been to the big dance before. Both will represent the Basalt High School wrestling team this weekend in the Class 3A state tournament with legitimate hopes of making it to Saturday\u2019s championship matches at the Pepsi Center in Denver.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI know everyone who goes to state is good and no matter what you can\u2019t downplay anything. Just having that experience for sure helps,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cSo no matter what, any match I just have to give it my all. I know I\u2019m capable of making the finals and hopefully winning it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">BHS is looking for its first state champion in quite a while. The program <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/wrestling-returns-to-basalt-high-school\/\">returned for the 2012-13 season<\/a> after a 10-year hiatus and has had a good run in that span, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/basalt-wrestler-fourth-place-medal-at-state\/\">fourth-place finish from 220-pounder Olmer Marquez<\/a> in 2015. Marquez had been the team\u2019s only regional champion since its return under coach Ryan Bradley until Lopez won this past weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">According to Bradley, Basalt\u2019s wrestling history was quite impressive prior to the decade-long layoff, a history that includes five individual state champions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are always looking for it,\u201d Bradley said of the team\u2019s next state champ. \u201cWe thought Olmer was going to be that first guy to wrestle on Saturday night. These two guys, they might be pretty close to getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">SAMUELSON EXPLODES ONTO THE SCENE<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A 170-pound junior, Samuelson goes to class at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale but wrestles for Basalt. He came up just short of making state as a sophomore, but has come a long way since then. He\u2019s 37-1 this season, his lone loss coming via a 6-0 decision to Alamosa senior Hunter Smith in the regional final Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Bradley said Samuelson is the first BHS wrestler since the program returned \u2014 it\u2019s in its eighth season back \u2014 to have won every one of his individual tournaments prior to regionals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHis mental approach to it and his physical approach to it, he seems to be doing all the things right,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cHe figured some things out. He\u2019s a lot better than he was last year and he\u2019s not as good as he\u2019ll be next year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Samuelson credits his summer training for his improvement. He attended an intensive 14-day wrestling camp at Oregon State University and his success this winter is proof of the work he put in there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThat pretty much taught me everything I needed to know,\u201d Samuelson said. \u201cI go into my matches and I think if I work my hardest and I do my best there is really nothing else I can give. That takes away the nervousness. It just helps me compete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Samuelson\u2019s loss in the regional final doesn\u2019t seem to bother him. Bradley has gone over the tape with him and they believe he\u2019s learned from the experience. Should Samuelson have to face Smith, who is 41-6, at the state tournament this weekend, it wouldn\u2019t be until the championship match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI learned a lot of moves from that match. I learned what I need to know in my next one in order to win if we meet up again,\u201d Samuelson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI feel confident and then I feel a little nervous at the same time. But I just got to keep going out there thinking if I give 100%, whatever happens, happens, and there is really nothing else I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Samuelson will face Jefferson senior Randy Duran (31-8) in the first round Thursday in Denver. Duran is a returning state qualifier, having gone 0-2 in the 170-pound bracket last season. Eaton\u2019s Ty Garnhart is the reigning 3A champ at 170 pounds, although he graduated last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe\u2019s one of the other guys that kept motivating me,\u201d Lopez said of Samuelson. \u201cWe motivated each other all season long and I know he\u2019s going to do big things in the future. He for sure has a good chance at placing this year and I know he will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Subhead\">LEARNING FROM THE BEST<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lopez, a senior heavyweight, credits much of his success this season to Marquez. The former regional champion returned to the mat this winter as a volunteer assistant coach and gave Lopez another big body to train against.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHim kicking my butt is what I needed and him knowing as a big guy what works and what doesn\u2019t work helps out so much,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cHe\u2019s for sure a big, strong man. It motivates me to beat him. I\u2019ve had him a couple of times, but not that many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lopez, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/basalt-standout-ernesto-lopez-signs-with-western-colorado-for-football\/\">who recently signed to play football for Western Colorado University<\/a>, is 29-3 this season and has a favorable draw as one of the regional champions. All three of his losses came to the same person, Battle Mountain\u2019s Jeremiah Vasquez, who is 36-1 this winter. Vasquez competes in Class 4A, so Lopez won\u2019t run into him for a fourth time this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lopez was 24-5 last season, his state championship bid ending in the first round with a loss to Alameda\u2019s Carlos Flores (fall, 4:47). Lopez did beat Sterling\u2019s Austin Garcia in his first playback match (fall, 1:38) before bowing out against Salida\u2019s Juan Doyle (7-5 decision), who eventually finished fourth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s Erny\u2019s second trip down. I think his first time down, he was super close last year,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cI feel pretty confident about his ability to make it to the semis on Friday night. And I feel really good about Ruben Samuelson, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Lopez will face La Junta senior Ryan Metzger (8-15) in the first round of 3A\u2019s heavyweight bracket Thursday. University\u2019s Emanuel Munoz-Alcala (38-1), the reigning state champion, would likely be Lopez\u2019s challenger in the Saturday night finale should he get there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI\u2019m feeling pretty good. I know every kid earned their right to be at the state tournament,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe knew Olmer was going to come in and beat my butt a little bit, which I needed. So hands down he\u2019s been one of the best coaches I\u2019ve had in a while. He knows what I need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/lopez-samuelson-repping-the-longhorns-at-state-wrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Basalt junior Ruben Samuelson wrestles in a match earlier this season. The 170-pounder is headed to the state tournament for the first time.Kara Williams\/courtesy photo Basalt senior Ernesto Lopez has his hand raised in victory after a match earlier this season. The heavyweight is headed back to the state tournament for the second time.Kara Williams\/courtesy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 14:38:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}