Clyde Iacovetto has gone through more spackle than he would care to remember.
But such is life with three rambunctious boys who happen to be talented wrestlers.
“We’ve had more holes in the drywall at our house than any family could have,” Clyde said Thursday after watching his youngest son, Justin, cruise through his first match at the Class 2A state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center.
Justin, a 103-pound sophomore from Soroco, pinned Tyler Pelley of Kiowa in 56 seconds to improve to 26-0. It was the first of what he hopes will be four steps to a state title, a season after placing second.
In a 2A bracket boasting eight returning state champions, a potential four-timer and three potential three-timers, Justin Iacovetto’s quest will likely be overlooked this weekend.
Everywhere except the house in Oak Creek with dimpled drywall.
Lined up like clones of varying height and with various patches of facial hair, Clyde and sons Josh and Matt watched from the front row Thursday, staying just long enough to scout little brother’s competition.
Josh, the oldest, won state in 2002 as a junior, placed second as a senior and was third as a sophomore. Matt placed fourth twice before graduating in 2005.
“This is where I’m supposed to be,” Justin said of keeping the state tournament tradition alive.
Clyde was runner-up twice in his days and was on Soroco’s 1976 state championship team, the first state title ever brought home to the small Routt County school about 20 miles southwest of Steamboat Springs.
“It was the beginning of an era that we kept going for 15 years in a row,” Clyde said. “It kind of stalled off a little bit until my boys got back in it.”
Josh said his little brother’s skills are the product of being put in “every wrestling move like five times” by him and Matt. Of course, Justin doesn’t need help like that anymore.
“He pretty much prepares himself,” Matt said. “He’s a stud.”
Things went smooth for the rest of 2A’s studs as the six undefeated wrestlers and eight returning champions advanced without much fanfare.
Meeker’s Joe LeBlanc, a two-time champion, gave up his first takedown to a 160-pound opponent this season early in the first period against Jake Schroeder of Wiggins before pinning him in the second.
2A RESULTS
Preliminaries
At the Pepsi Center
Team scores – Rocky Ford 30; Dove Creek 24; Paonia 20; Holyoke 16; Nucla 16; Wiggins 16; Burlington 15 1/2; Crowley County 15; Dolores 14 1/2; Merino 14; Center 12; Meeker 12; Dolores Huerta 11; Simla 10; Soroco 10; Grand Valley 8 1/2; Hayden 8; Limon 7 1/2; Calhan 7; Fowler 7; Akron 6; Antonito 6; Del Norte 6; John Mall 6; Lyons 6; Norwood 6; Rangely 5; Byers 4; Centennial 4; Eads 4; Hilltop Baptist 4; Kiowa 4; Swink 4; Sedgwick County 4; Baca County 3 1/2; Fleming 2; Las Animas 2; Sangre de Cristo 2; Stratton 2; Wray 2.
103 pounds – David Garcia, Rocky Ford, pinned Chris Curtice, Paonia, 2:53; Dillon Tyner, Wiggins, pinned Waylon Cordova, John Mall, 1:59; Justin Iacovetto, Soroco, pinned Tyler Pelley, Kiowa, :56; Steven DeHerrera, Center, dec. Devin Hase, Merino, 10-4; Drew Ritchey, Wray bye; Andrew Scherrer, Simla, dec. Jared Doll, Meeker, 6-3; Garrison Ortiz, Dolores Huerta, dec. Blayne Richards, Sedgwick County, 8-5; Devon Rose, Rangely, dec. Kevin Torres, Manzanola, 9-5 OT.
112 – Chad Stroh, Holyoke, pinned Brandon Penny, Burlington, 1:10; Edwin Cruz, Del Norte, dec. James Drinkhouse, Grand Valley, 10-0; Bryan Hamacher, Simla, dec. Josh Archer, Wray, 15-2; Ethan Kinner, Hilltop Baptist, dec. Brett Bruner, Dolores, 15-10; Matt Moody, Meeker, pinned Gilbert Hernandez, Center, 5:02; Tyler Lundquist, Rocky Ford, dec. Trevor Herrick, Sedgwick County, 4-2; Grant Hobbs, Dove Creek, pinned Domingo Abraham, Dolores Huerta, 3:51; Dillon McCombs, Wiggins, pinned Randy Vanderpool, Holly, 1:10.
119 – Ryan Gallegos, Grand Valley, tech. fall Grant Suto, Rocky Ford, 21-6; Carlos Valverde, Dolores Huerta, dec. Eddie Urban, Wiggins, 11-3; Mark Bejarano, Paonia, dec. Tyler McCracken, Eads, 8-6 OT; Richie Bailey, Hilltop Baptist, dec. Zach Hornung, Stratton, 10-5; Daniel Espinoza, Antonito, pinned Ryan Kirby, Byers, 1:32; Ty Sickels, Nucla, dec. Brad Zemmer, Fowler, 7-4; Chase Chesterman, Merino, pinned Rafael Sanchez, Sargent, :54; Bon Kinder, Burlington, dec. Stephan Boleng, Rangely, 8-5.
125 – Wacey Smith, Merino, pinned Jon Duran, Antonito, 2:37; Lukas Wiggins, Paonia, dec. James Folk, Calhan, 7-4; Niles Barnett, Fleming, dec. Wade Beiriger, Center, 8-6; Brad Dillon, Nucla, pinned Hayden Uhland, Eads, 3:27; Cameron Penny, Burlington, dec. Levi Gonzales, Soroco, 7-2; Chris Gebauer, Akron, dec. Stephen Aragon, Dolores Huerta, 7-2; Dustin Weitzel, Dolores, tech. fall J.R. McDonald, Fowler, 16-0; Macedonio Cruz, Del Norte, dec. Justin Lueth, Wray, 13-2.
130 – Chris Penny, Burlington, pinned Antonio Casias, Antonito, 2:54; John Brown, Merino, dec. Josh Sparks, Dove Creek, 1-0; Luis Salazar, Center, dec. Tyler Fox, Eads, 10-8; Joel Schlegel, Soroco, dec. Levi Scheopner, Akron, 6-5; Jared Tonder, Grand Valley, dec. Jordan Miller, Limon, 11-2; Jake Martinez, Crowley County, dec. Nelson Vialpando, Centennial, 13-2; Drake Smith, Dolores, dec. Mark Baker, Wray, 15-2; Steven Herrera, Rocky Ford, pinned Ron Ortivez, La Veta, 3:41.
135 – Travis Schwindt, Rocky Ford, dec. Jared Reid, Akron, 7-2; Jake Harris, Dolores, pinned Larry Maes, Dolores Huerta, 3:02; Daniel Coffey, Lyons, dec. Zack Goldsberry, Las Animas, 13-6; Jonathan Aguirre, John Mall, dec. Roston Steiner, Meeker, 11-9; Andrew Abeyta, Antonito, dec. Matt Cain, Grand Valley, 6-5; Devin Roswald, Simla, dec. Cody Rober, Sedgwick County, 14-6; Colten Huskey, Dove Creek, pinned Stephen Kimbrel, La Veta, :16; Wyatt Barber, Merino, dec. Chancey Taylor, Burlington, 8-6.
140 – Danny Beanland, Dove Creek, pinned Adam Welsh, Center, 2:32; Dylan Glover, Calhan, dec. Cody Smith, Merino, 13-1; Hugh Hardman, Norwood, pinned Kirt Achenbach, Custer County, :35; Roy Farris, Rocky Ford, dec. Frank Christensen, Akron, 5-3, OT; Chris Holzworth, Fowler, pinned Josh Cooper, Stratton, 3:00; Josh Prescott, Meeker, pinned Chance Cooley, Sargent, 2:58; Michael Hamacher, Simla, dec. Tyler Eberhardt, Lyons, 1-0; Mitch Doolin, Hayden, pinned Ryan Bowman, Cripple Creek, :45.
145 – Nick Segura, Dolores Huerta, pinned Thomas Forgey, Baca County, 5:08; Adam Erker, Wiggins, pinned Cody Harris, Dolores, 5:16; Matt Harmon, Rocky Ford, pinned Jose Martinez, Centennial, 3:35; Jacob Guynes, Dove Creek, dec. Ozzie Amen, Merino, 10-4; Kevin LeValley, Limon, tech. fall Tyler Miles, Grand Valley, 15-0; T.J. Carter, Las Animas, dec. Eric Hinton, Sangre de Cristo, 8-3; Josh Conde, Holyoke, dec. Ty Spangler, Nucla, 5-4; Jack Herrell, Fowler, dec. Adam Neil, John Mall, 15-5.
152 – Mikey Swigart, Dolores, pinned Adrian Diaz, Center, :35; Jonathan Franklin, Holyoke, dec. Nick Jurney, Rocky Ford, 7-0; Cody Miles, Grand Valley, dec. Zack Meyer, John Mall, 13-11; Tyler Lewis, Swink, pinned Tyler Davis, Wiggins, 3:38; Ross Brunkhardt, Merino, dec. Ben Evans, Kiowa, 5-1; Nick Halcomb, Rangely, dec. Zach Harmon, Sargent, 16-4; Steve Martinez, Crowley County, pinned Kendall Monasmith, Akron, 1:09; Eric Stiasny, Dove Creek, dec. Bryan Bielz, Cripple Creek, 13-6.
160 – Josh Ackerman, Lyons, pinned Trevor Ragsdale, Norwood, :41; Adam Wallin, Burlington, dec. Jon Ortiz, John Mall, 18-3; Joe LeBlanc, Meeker, pinned Jake Schroeder, Wiggins, 3:36; Brogan Walters, Crowley County, pinned Ben Rusher, Custer County, 1:49; Chris Schweizer, Rocky Ford, pinned Vincent Dupont, Antonito, :42; David Brachtenbach, Stratton, dec. Jake Magee, Hayden, 6-1; Adam Warsh, Center, pinned Larry Fritzler, Baca County, 5:46; Devon Brown, Paonia, pinned Jared Oestman, Wray, 4:19.
171 – Tanner Ridgway, Paonia, pinned Garrett Carmen, Akron, 1:01; Kiah Headley, Kiowa, pinned Kyle Woods, Custer County, 2:28; Steven Falk, Nucla, dec. Josh Harris, Sedgwick County, 8-7; Kevin Lindholm, Eads, pinned Eli Schnoor, Sargent, 1:42; Alonzo Rodriguez, Dolores Huerta, dec. Garrett Neill, Holly, 14-8; Matt Stiasny, Dove Creek, pinned Jared Hirschfeld, Lyons, 1:35; Jacob Jurney, Rocky Ford, pinned Gilverto Garcia, Center, 3:25; Coy Letlow, Hayden, pinned Jarod Stone, Fleming, 4:10.
189 – Paul Campfield, Wray, dec. Carlos Lopez, Center, 8-6; Dennis Morgan, Soroco, pinned Chris Reynolds, Swink, 4:09; Steven Turecek, Byers, pinned Martin Diaz, Sargent, 1:19; Jon Roberts, Norwood, dec. Mike Satterly, Burlington, 6-0; Tyler Burnett, Baca County, tech. fall Logan Riffey, Dolores, 18-2; Drew Clay, Limon, pinned Alejandro Lopez, Dolores Huerta, 1:02; Stryker Lane, Nucla, pinned Wade Laurent, Rocky Ford, 3:04; David Brown, Sangre de Cristo, dec. Israel Garay, Wiggins, 7-5.
215 – Floyd Chavez, Center, pinned Austin Lopeman, Limon, 2:28; Korey Kennedy, Paonia, pinned Omar Perez, Rocky Ford, 2:23; Dominic Hottinger, Akron, pinned Matt Vial, Cripple Creek, 1:51; Josh Olsen, Calhan, pinned Curtis Frederickson, West Grand, :36; Brian Hendricks, Burlington, pinned Mick Mobley, Meeker, :45; Levi Garrett, Holyoke, pinned Dylan Cisneros, Antonito, 3:34; Braiden Banks, Dove Creek, pinned Ben Fehr, Baca County, :21; Reed Jablonski, Sedgwick County, pinned Billy Settle, Del Norte, 1:22.
Hwt. – Bryan Crespin, John Mall, pinned Kord Benson, Holly, 1:25; John Hinton, Paonia, pinned J.C. Ely, Stratton, 1:07; Brock Freidenberger, Rocky Ford, pinned Nicholas Northrup, La Veta, :53; Coltin Houghtelling, Holyoke, pinned Aaron Elliott, Mancos, 1:41; Kyle Pollock, Wiggins, pinned Kenny Westfall, North Park, 1:13; Bill Gray, Crowley County, pinned Chris Benevidez, Dolores Huerta, 3:09; Tucker Lane, Nucla, pinned Jeremy Lund, Wray, 2:32; Nate Rodriguez, Centennial, pinned Isaiah Churchwell, Burlington, 3:41.
