For Dominic Valenzuela, it has been within reach two years in a row, only to elude him twice.
“It” would be a state wrestling championship. Now, Valenzuela has one last chance to achieve that goal. Is this is his year?
“Every year I want to feel like it’s my year. You can’t feel negative,” Valenzuela said Thursday after his first-round match at the Class 5A state wrestling tournament. “Last year, I knew I had one more chance. Sophomore year, I had two more. This year, I have no more excuses.”
Valenzuela (19-4), a three-time regional champion from Centaurus, finished second last year at 125 and fourth in 2006 at 112. Last year, Ponderosa’s Jake Snider was the only person between Valenzuela and a state title. But finishing second, as Valenzuela puts it, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“I learned that you don’t put yourself down about your performance,” he said. “Coming down here means you are one of Colorado’s elite. Losing here lets you learn what you need to work on.”
As evidenced by his pinfall Thursday of Legacy’s Adam Dunne in 4 minutes, 54 seconds, he’s learned a lot. But according to his coach Cisco Gonzales, there wasn’t much need for improvement after last year.
“I thought we were right there last year,” Gonzales said. “The kid’s an excellent wrestler. If he brings his ‘A’ game, we don’t feel like anyone can beat him.”
Valenzuela took control in the second period against Dunne, scoring an early escape and later a takedown to snap a 2-2 tie.
“You’d like to get up early, but he didn’t force anything,” Gonzales said of Valenzuela. “He was able to pick and choose his spots.”
Possibly the biggest hurdle between Valenzuela and a championship is Ponderosa’s Zeke Hofer, a former state champion at 103 pounds and the runner-up last year at 119. Hofer won an 11-5 decision Thursday over Green Mountain’s Cort Siegele. But Valenzuela and Hofer would not meet until the finals, and there’s plenty of work to be done before then.
In team competition, Ponderosa, which along with Legacy qualified a class-high 10 wrestlers, is going for its sixth straight 5A state title and eighth overall. Ponderosa wrestlers were 9-1 on the first day and have 27 points, seven more than second-place Loveland.
Loveland’s 130-pounder Tyler Graff (48-0) moved one step closer to his quest for a fourth state title with a pin of Fairview’s Gavin Patt in 1:34.
Josh Kreimier (39-0), a 119-pound junior from Loveland, and James Breidel (38-0), a senior 189-pounder from ThunderRidge, continued their undefeated seasons with first-round victories.
Besides Graff and Hofer, five other state champions from 2007 — Philip Grout (112, Northglenn), Jeremy Schmitt (112, Rocky Mountain), Nick Jones (135, Pomona), Snider (140, Ponderosa) and Robert Tucker (215, Grand Junction) — advanced.
Class 5A | Preliminaries at Pepsi Center
Team scores — Ponderosa 27; Loveland 20; Centaurus 17; Legacy 17; Rocky Mountain 15 1/2; Lakewood 13; Coronado 12; Grand Junction 12; Grandview 12; Poudre 12; Pomona 10 1/2; Denver East 10; Northglenn 10; Rampart 10; Brighton 8 1/2; Air Academy 8; Lewis-Palmer 8; Central (G.J.) 6; Douglas County 6; Durango 6; Fruita Monument 6; Pine Creek 6; ThunderRidge 6; Heritage 5; Boulder 4; Dakota Ridge 4; Fort Collins 4; Mitchell 4; Sand Creek 4; Wasson 4; Palmer 3 1/2; Adams City 3; Doherty 3; Standley Lake 3; Arapahoe 2; Arvada West 2; Aurora Central 2; Chaparral 2; Gateway 2; Highlands Ranch 2; Horizon 2; Regis 2; Smoky Hill 2.
103 pounds — Jared Reick, Coronado fall Leroy Delgado, Centaurus, 5:03; Jeremy Luna, Rocky Mountain dec. Josh Hildreth, Sand Creek, 5-2; Elias Rosales, Lakewood maj. dec. Frankie Vigil, Air Academy, 12-0; Mark Dubberly, Legacy fall William Montrey, Aurora Central, 2:29; Jeremy Robledo, Brighton tech. fall Vance Feliciano, Northglenn, 17-0; Junior Romero, Denver East dec. John Godin, Grandview, 10-7; Matthew Gurule, Central (G.J.) dec. Justin O’Hara, Pine Creek, 8-2; John Stockley, Poudre dec. Josh Hamacher, Douglas County, 6-3.
112 — Jeremy Schmitt, Rocky Mountain dec. Aaron Ortiz, Adams City, 5-0; Josh Toplyn, Poudre dec. Nic Balagat, Wasson, 10-3; Eric Wilson, Grandview dec. Rian Fry, Brighton, 7-2; Devon Cox, Palmer tech. fall Collin Hailes, Wheat Ridge, 15-0; Philip Grout, Northglenn fall Sam Jones, Ponderosa, 1:42; Mike Sikorski, Pine Creek dec. Ty Penning, Durango, 4-3; Dominic Madril, Pomona dec. Anthony Guillen, Grand Junction, 11-6; Gabe Mamigonian, Heritage dec. Andrew Lujan, Standley Lake, 11-4.
119 — Carter McElhany, Coronado dec. Derek Garcia, Palmer, 5-3; Justin Frazer, Lakewood fall Harry Collier, Arvada, 3:42; Josh Kreimier, Loveland fall Shane Story, Poudre, 1:19; Graham Hebert, Centaurus maj. dec. Matt Ramirez, Mountain Vista, 12-1; Chris Wessel, Legacy dec. Mike Hernandez, Mitchell, 6-2; Geronimo Gemoya, Grand Junction dec. Sean Cholas, Central (G.J.), 5-0; Stas Kardas, Dakota Ridge fall Joe Solano, Standley Lake, :50; Logan Burch, Rampart dec. Caleb McDowell, Chaparral, 9-3.
125 — Dominic Valenzuela, Centaurus fall Adam Dunne, Legacy, 4:54; Nathan Burak, Coronado dec. Shawn Johnson, Loveland, 8-2; Gavin Peters, Standley Lake maj. dec. Michael Miller, Heritage, 14-2; Jesus Reodriguez, Central (G.J.) dec. Pace Bates, Grand Junction, 9-6; Justin Sturgil, Wasson fall Dylan Stubblefield, Doherty, 2:54; Nolan Myers, Smoky Hill dec. Gabriel Metzler, Mitchell, 2-0; Zeke Hofer, Ponderosa dec. Cort Siegele, Green Mountain, 11-5; Tyler Nelson, ThunderRidge dec. Daniel Toledo, Durango, 3-1.
130 — Tino Laureles, Rocky Mountain fall Joshua Christopher, Overland, 5:50; Sean Stoneham, Lewis-Palmer dec. R.J. Gaither, Columbine, 7-4; Steven Kelly, Ponderosa tech. fall LaDaris Mungin, Gateway, 17-1; David George, Rampart fall Drew Dondelinger, Centaurus, 1:13; Daryl Jackson, Mitchell dec. Daniel Rodriguez, Central (G.J.), 12-8; Nick Wells, Doherty maj. dec. Joe Jones, Smoky Hill, 20-9; Tyler Graff, Loveland fall Gavin Patt, Fairview, 1:34; Nick Burghardt, Coronado dec. Danny Bieshaar, Regis, 5-3.
135 — Patrick Brown, Grandview fall Ty Mackey, Rangeview, 1:10; Kurtis Ramsay, Loveland dec. Alex Rivas, ThunderRidge, 4-3; Austin Gabel, Ponderosa dec. Billy Holifield, Heritage, 7-6; Daniel Armijo, Aurora Central dec. Zach Atencio, Regis, 14-7; Nick Jones, Pomona tech. fall Nathan Macklberg, Bear Creek, 18-3; Travis Rios, Lakewood fall David Coulter, Arapahoe, 1:01; Luke Case, Brighton dec. Jordan Kelly, Wasson, 6-4; Jackson Julian, Chaparral dec. Kaleb Shumaker, Douglas County, 9-3.
140 — Trevis Ryle, Mitchell dec. Derek Lange, Boulder, 5-2; Jake Snider, Ponderosa tech. fall Vince Gallegos, Legacy, 16-1; Robbie DePontbriand, Douglas County dec. Lance Jeffries, Loveland, 5-3; Jacob Milewski, Denver East fall Matt Conahan, Mountain Vista, 4:52; Matt Bethka, Grand Junction dec. Powell Slinkard, Regis, 5-2; Dan Barringer, Lewis-Palmer dec. Jake Holley, Heritage, 10-5; Oliver Yaney, Air Academy fall Alan Pavia, Standley Lake, 1:20; Rhett Breed, Durango dec. Casey DeMarrias, Northglenn, 5-3.
145 — Ryan Bratton, Northglenn fall Troy Dunlap, Standley Lake, 3:18; Jace Casey, Grand Junction dec. Scott Lohndorf, Fairview, 5-1; Junction; Greg Padilla, Rocky Mountain fall Jerry O’Leary, Boulder, :44; Darian Roberts, Arvada West dec. Curt Barr, Mitchell, 8-3; Phillip Colby, Fruita Monument fall Johnny Figueroa, Chaparral, 5:20; Ashton Renshaw, Legacy maj. dec. Mikie Burgess, Green Mountain, 12-3; Daniel Kelly, Ponderosa dec. Ronnie Goodman, Durango, 12-11; Justin Freeman, Gateway dec. Alex Escalante, Central (G.J.), 3-2.
152 — Bryce Lucerini, Grandview dec. Derek Stearns, Northglenn, 10-7; Stephone Kling, Ponderosa dec. Daniel Nissen, Standley Lake, 6-2; Ryan Swanson, Douglas Co. fall Zach Baldini, Green Mtn., 3:04; Garrett Stowall, ThunderRidge dec. Tucker Korus, Arapahoe, 3-1; Dietrick Turney, Brighton maj. dec. Jake Gogan, Air Acad., 8-0; Chad Stich, Lewis- Palmer fall Taylor Termentozzi, Fruita Monument, 3:45; Denzel Washington, Regis dec. Zach Bekkedahl, Poudre, 9-7; Chris Jacobs, Central (G.J.) dec. Eloy Martinez, Adams City, 6-4.
160 — Derek Good, Ponderosa fall Max Wessell, Boulder, 1:24; Garrett Lanham, Centaurus fall Marshall Brandt, Pine Creek, 5:16; Wade Lehman, Coronado dec. Brandon Gossett, Montbello, 4-2; Frank Sandoval, Durango dec. Justin Marts, Bear Creek, 5-0; Mike Morgan, Lakewood dec. Derek Munsey, ThunderRidge, 8-3; Cory Takaki, Sand Creek dec. Daniel Harris, Grand Junction, 12-10; Danny Mitchell, Legacy fall Cody McCutcheon, Grandview, 1:23; Mike Trostel, Poudre fall Sean Pellow, Palmer, 3:52.
171 — Casey Norgard, Rocky Mountain tech. fall Julian Cota, Loveland, 15-0; Nate Johnson, Arapahoe dec. Steve Martinez, Dakota Ridge, 14-9; Adam Katz, Boulder fall Ethan Myers, Smoky Hill, :59; Chris Worrell, Poudre fall Tolan Durrant, Heritage, :45; Trey Pratt, Horizon dec. Kyle Sweeney, Arvada West, 6-2; Jacob Terada, Northglenn dec. Logan Brandt, Pine Creek, 6-3; Jeff Quinlin, Highlands Ranch dec. Daniel Peters, Lakewood, 11-5; Judah Eder, Rampart fall Chad Quick, Legacy, 2:32.
189 — Ryan Gray, Denver East fall Connor Stevens, Pine Creek, 5:54; Joe Giron, Pomona dec. Jacob Bomareto, Grandview, 5-2; James Breidel, ThunderRidge dec. Roman Padilla, Chaparral, 11-4; Justin Whirlow, Durango dec. Robert Ranney, Boulder, 6-4; Luke Vandenburg, Loveland dec. Jason Marts, Dakota Ridge, 8-4; Justin Speed, Fort Collins fall Jeremy Kimball, Doherty, 1:46; Cody Goetsch, Centaurus dec. Brandon Andrews, Northglenn, 5-2; Zach Batey, Air Academy dec. Nick Dubberly, Legacy, 8-6 OT.
215 — Ryan Lockwood, Pine Creek fall Danny Stout, Wasson, :37; Robert Tucker, Grand Junction dec. Penn Wade, Grandview, 8-3; Connor Medbery, Loveland fall Tyler Ames, ThunderRidge, :23; Caleb Egli, Air Academy dec. Dan Nepustil, Fairview, 4-2; Alex Rodriguez, Fruita Monument dec. Jaden Terry, Doherty, 7-2; Donny Haupt, Pomona maj. dec. Chris Borrego, Rocky Mountain, 16-3; Jake Ottmann, Ponderosa fall Ali Kayeni, Heritage, :27; Shawn Jenkins, Legacy fall Tomas Szarka, Northglenn, 3:14.
285 — Al Erle, Heritage fall Ben Jackson, Brighton, 4:52; Lane Stuht, Loveland fall Brandon Whatley, Doherty, 3:59; Cody Gilmore, Grandview fall Cole Fritz, Pine Creek, :24; Isaac Valentine, Grand Junction fall Kyle Taaffe, Pomona, 5:07; Ray Hatchett, Sand Creek dec. Steve Varga, Coronado, 3-0; LeRoy Vigil, Adams City maj. dec. Brandon Cortez, Legacy, 11-2; Taylor Stam, Ponderosa fall Tony Bruhl, Palmer, 1:42; Austin Scheufele, Centaurus fall Ermias Abebe, Rocky Mountain, 1:14.
