LAFAYETTE — In times of extreme peril, the mind can drift into the surreal.
That’s where Ponderosa standout Daniel Kelly found himself Saturday in the 145-pound final of the Top of the Rockies tournament — nearly flat on his back and staring at the ceiling at Centaurus High School.
“I tried counting lights, I really did,” Kelly joked.
With standout Tyler Juby of Campbell County, Wyo., pressing for a pin, Kelly thrashed like a wet cat and did an amazing job of not letting his shoulders stay down for two seconds. Kelly survived and rallied in the third period, going up on an escape with 47 seconds remaining en route to a 13-10 decision.
“You know, this has actually happened a couple times at this tournament,” Kelly said. “Freshman year, I fought off for almost a minute and a half on my back and ended up beating the kid. It’s kind of a motivation thing, because our team doesn’t want people to get pinned. If you get pinned, you get punished in practice.”
At the prestigious 30-team tournament, Kelly was the only champion for the Mustangs, who placed sixth a year after winning it.
New Mexico powerhouse Rio Rancho, led by 140-pound senior Max Ortega, crowned a tournament-best three champions to win here for the second time in three years. Roosevelt finished second after six wrestlers placed, led by 160-pounder Brandon Montoya, while Loveland finished third behind champions Connor Medbery (215) and Lane Stuht (Hwt.).
Louis Trujillo of Rio Rancho handed Fort Lupton standout Dale Shull just his third defeat of the season in the final at 130. Shull had to stop three times to vomit, and the third time gave Trujillo the choice of choosing the top or bottom position, which he used to score a reversal in the final second to win 8-6.
“I knew I could get out. So I was going to wait until there were 10 seconds left, get out and win by one,” said Shull, who blamed his upset stomach on too much water. “I didn’t know about that rule, that he gets to choose.”
Greeley Central’s Brice Wolf tested the limits of his stamina in his 171-pound title match against Campbell County’s Brady Burgess as he won 6-5 in triple-overtime.
The two went through two rounds of overtime tied at 5, and Burgess had the advantageous down position for the third OT. Wolf stayed on the leg until Burgess finally popped up and turned but could not get his leg free.
“Scared the life out of me,” Wolf said of Burgess’ attempted escape.
