DENVER—Ryan Gallegos pinned his opponent in 50 seconds and eight of his teammates won first round matches as Grand Valley took the lead on the first day of the 73rd annual Colorado state Class 2A high school wrestling tournament Thursday.
The 130-pound sophomore took Bryan Hamacher to the mat quickly to help Grand Valley take a 34-23 lead over second place Wiggins. Paonia and Burlington were tied for third with 20 points.
Jared Tonder (135), Matt Cain (140), Tyler Miles (152), Cody Miles (160), Tyler Harris (171) and Joe Joyner (185) also provided pins for Grand Valley.
The first day featured quick pins, with 11 in less than a minute.
The quickest came from John Hinton (285) of Paonia. Hinton pinned La Veta’s Derric Franklin in 29 seconds.
Steven Turecek (189) of Byers took Mountain Valley’s Paul Martinez to the mat in 36 seconds.
Soroco’s Justin Iacovetto (112) remained Class 2A’s lone remaining undefeated wrestler with a 7-2 victory over Trevor Herrick of Sedgwick County. Iacovetto improved to 24-0.
All three returning wrestlers who had won 2007 individual titles won their matches
Drew Richey (112) of Wray pinned Meeker’s Jared Doll in four minutes and 25 seconds. Richey was the 2A, 103-pound champion a year ago.
Norwood’s Hugh Hardman (140) began his defense of his 140-pound title by pinning Alex Sample of John Mall in 53 seconds.
Stryker Lane (215) of Norwood, the 2007 2A, 189-pound title holder, pinned Merino’s Tyson Urrutia in 1:15.
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