Colorado Springs – The Pine Creek wrestling team got a bit of a facelift this season with two in-state transfers moving in to take important roles, and those additions turned a good team into a better one.
Jordan Titino (152 pounds), who transferred from Pueblo Centennial, earned a decision at 152 pounds and Ben Hicks recorded the only pin of the finals to help the Eagles earn city bragging rights by winning the Colorado Springs Metro championships team title Saturday night.
Titino fended off Woodland Park’s Jesse Tala- rico 5-1, and Houston Stanbrough (215), who moved from Liberty, placed second with a 7-5 overtime loss to St. Mary’s Sam Udell (25-0).
“They helped us fill in. (A team title at state) is a goal now, and it wasn’t in the preseason,” Pine Creek coach Brian Naegely said.
The Eagles put six wrestlers in the final round, winning three, and placed 11. Kory Johnson (30-3) won his match at 112 against Rampart’s Brandon Ford, and Hicks (29-2) stuck Tony Cabello of Harrison in 2 minutes, 51 seconds.
Hicks, a four-year team veteran, likes the way this squad is performing: “We keep it fun all the time, but this year it seems like we know when to be serious.”
In the tournament’s sixth year, 20 of the 28 finalists brought grade-point averages of 3.0 or better. Six of last year’s participants went on to win state titles, and nine others placed at state. The Eagles cruised to the team title, and two-time tournament winner Doherty placed second.
Ethan Martinez of St. Mary’s remained undefeated; Doherty’s Chris Branch won his third consecutive tournament title; and Coronado’s Cole Nash claimed his third title (135), while teammate Henry Cejudo, one of the best wrestlers in the nation, could not make it three individual titles for the Cougars because he is in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, competing in a USA-sponsored event. Branch and Nash joined Gabe Burak, formerly of Coronado and a three-time state champion, and Kellen Griswold, formerly of Widefield, as the tourney’s only three-time winners.
