Greeley – Isaiah Flores isn’t wrestling in college, nor had he trained heavily for Saturday’s Colorado All-State Games.
So when the Wiggins graduate found himself in double overtime of his 189-pound match against Ed Matthews, Flores started thinking about all the things he learned in high school.
Heart came to mind first, although Flores admits he tries not to analyze when battling on the mat.
“I’m one of those wrestlers that wrestle by feeling, and if I feel something I go for it,” Flores said. “I don’t like to think when I wrestle, I just feel around.”
Flores managed to keep the former Boulder standout from escaping during the 30-second period to earn a dramatic 4-3 victory at the University of Northern Colorado’s recreation center.
Despite the loss, Matthews and the Blue team won out over the Red squad 36-21 by winning nine of the 14 matches.
Twenty-seven wrestlers, including eight state champions, squared off for the last time while wearing their prep uniforms.
For some, like Flores, it might be the last time they wrestle. For others, like former Wasson standout Jesse Cruz, it was another tune-up before wrestling in college.
Cruz, who won state his senior year, wrestled twice at different weights Saturday. Cruz beat Centauri’s Rory Keys 7-0 to open the event, then finished with a 1-0 decision over Red teammate Josh Hernandez of Rocky Ford, who had no one to wrestle with the absence of Eaglecrest’s Rocco DePaolo.
“I got here a little overweight, so I wanted to cut down to 125s and wrestle,” Cruz said. “I wished Rocco had showed up, because we wrestled in the state finals.”
Jesse Snyder (Salida), Ky Smith (Pagosa Springs) and Cole Johnson (Hotchkiss) were the only wrestlers to pin their opponents.
There was plenty of blood, a surprising number of wrestlers without headgear and plenty of tired athletes trying to cope with a hot gym and the high demands of the sport.
Andrew Riddell and Alex Farinelli also went into overtime in their 145-pound match between top student-athletes. Farinelli saw his 2-1 lead vanish behind Riddell’s third-period escape and dramatic takedown in overtime.
Riddell (Dove Creek) and Farinelli (Hotchkiss) both graduated with 3.9 grade-point averages. Riddell was valedictorian and Farinelli will attend West Point.
Oregon State-bound Jon Brascetta, a standout at Grandview, registered seven takedowns against Heritage’s Brad Stansbury to win their 152-pound match, 16-6.
BLUE 36, RED 21
125 pounds – Cruz (Wasson), R, dec. Keys (Centauri), 7-0. 119 – Snyder (Salida), B, pinned Maestas (Rocky Ford), 1:18. 130 – Hernandez (Rocky Ford), R, def. DePaolo (Eaglecrest), forfeit. 135 – Neugebauer (Holly), B, maj. dec. Brossart (Middle Park), 13-2. 140 – Appenzeller (Ignacio), R, dec. Nash (Coronado), 12-5. 140 – Smith (Pagosa Springs), B, pinned Greiner (Middle Park), 1:03. 145 – Riddell (Dove Creek), B, dec. Farinelli (Hotchkiss), 4-2, OT. 152 – Brascetta (Grandview), B, maj. dec. Stansbury (Heritage), 16-6. 152 – Sanchez (Arvada West), B, dec. Aragon (Rocky Ford), 3-0. 160 – Goral (Heritage), B, dec. Jones (Ignacio), 13-8. 160 – Johnson (Hotchkiss), R, pinned Clemmer (Fountain-Fort Carson), 4:06. 189 – Flores (Wiggins), R, dec. Matthews (Boulder), 4-3, 2 OT. 189 – Shaw (Springfield), maj. dec. Olguin (Ignacio), 13-3. 215 – Nicholl (Windsor), dec. Schweizer (Rocky Ford), 2-1. 130 (Exhibition) – Cruz dec. Hernandez (Rocky Ford), 1-0.
