Pat DeCamillis and Sung Boeck may have been a bit disappointed their respective squads won’t have bigger numbers for this weekend’s state wrestling tournament, but both coaches did agree on at least one thing.
Anything can happen on the sport’s biggest stage.
“Getting them downtown is the most important thing at this point,” said DeCamillis, whose Pomona Panthers finished fourth in the Class 5A Region 3 tournament Saturday, Feb. 16, at Northglenn High School. “It doesn’t matter if they’re first or fourth.”
Pomona senior Nick Jones was the only Panther to win a regional title, pinning his way to the 135-pound title. Joe Giron (189), Donny Haupt (215) and Kyle Taaffe (285) each lost in the regional championship, while Dominic Madril (112) won a wrestleback to also qualify.
Green Mountain only brought five wrestlers to the regional, but Boeck will send three to the state tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 21 to 23, at Pepsi Center in Denver.
Junior Mikie Burgess was the runner-up at 145 pounds. Junior Cort Siegele placed fourth at 125 and sophomore Zach Baldini took fourth at 152.
“I think the good thing is they qualified,” Boeck said. “I’m happy with it. They’re happy with it. You never know what happens at state once you make it.”
Jones, who won his first state championship as a junior, dominated the 135-pound bracket. Each of his four matches ended with a pin, and he took down Loveland’s Kurtis Ramsay in only 40 seconds in finals.
“Nick Jones is a great kid who’s going to do great things,” DeCamillis said.
Burgess was impressive in the 145-pound bracket. He won his first two matches by fall and scored a 14-1 major decision in the semifinal round, setting up a re-match with Northglenn’s Ryan Bratton in the finals. Bratton had earned a 3-2 decision over Burgess just two weeks earlier in a tournament at Green Mountain.
Burgess took a 2-1 lead in the third period with a reversal, but Bratton tied it up with an escape with only 30 seconds remaining. In the overtime, Burgess nearly scored a takedown but got caught in a move by Bratton.
“I was just kind of trying to rush things, really,” Burgess said. “I really wanted to get that two and then I got out-positioned.”
State qualifer
Class 5A tournament
Wheat Ridge: Collin Hailes (112)