Ponderosa wrestlers won three individual championships Saturday night, and the Mustangs galloped to their fourth consecutive Class 5A team title at Colorado’s 71st state wrestling tournament.
Ponderosa scored 158 points to easily outdistance runner- up Wasson, which had 87.
Ponderosa freshman Zeke Hofer (39-5) capped his season with a 4-2 victory over Brighton sophomore Paul Montoya in the 103-pound final.
In a battle of unbeaten seniors at 112 pounds, Monarch’s Geoff Meng pinned Kyle O’Brien of Rocky Mountain in 3:33.
Three-day attendance at the Pepsi Center was 42,011.
Class 4A
Marcus Hernandez, a senior at Pueblo South, is legally blind. He also is the Class 4A 125-pound state champion, after holding on for a 7-6 decision against Tommy Valdez of Alamosa.
Alamosa, led by two-time champion Sonny Yohn and first-timer Josh Hensley, won the team title. The Mean Moose, coached by Gary Ramstetter, claimed its sixth state title in school history. Pueblo South, the defending champion, finished second.
Two returning champions, Korey Kostur of Moffat County and Mark Beaudry of Pueblo South, engaged in a battle royale in the 145-pound final. Kostur has lost just seven times in his prep career, but three have come against Beaudry. That streak ended Saturday night. Trailing 4-2, Kostur (42-2) escaped with 27 seconds left in the third period and slipped in for a takedown to win 5-4 with 10 seconds on the clock.
Class 3A
Monte Vista’s seniors took care of business, winning individual titles and helping lead their school to its third team title.
Kyle Francis routed Burlington’s Chris Penny 16-2 in the 130-pound bracket.
At 171 pounds, Clayton Weaver won a 4-3 decision over Kyle Martinez of Olathe, and Keaton Roosen pinned Highland’s Austin Kinnison in 2:39 in their heavyweight bout.
Curtis Salazar of Valley finished his high school career with his 77th consecutive win and his third state crown.
Class 2A
Limon’s Kevin LeValley capped a perfect season and continued his quest to be a four-time champion by easily defeating Paonia’s Shane Smith 17-1 at 140 pounds for his third title in three seasons.
Meeker’s Joe LeBlanc recorded the classification’s upset of the night with a 5-2 decision of Merino’s Ross Brunkhardt, another junior who was bidding to take three titles into his senior year.
Paonia heavyweight Chris Kennedy gave his school the team title when he pinned Merino’s Coby Amen.
