CENTER – This year’s Valley Classic high school wrestling tournament made history this past weekend at the CHS gym with a record number of teams competing.

“There were 29 teams,” said Center coach Rodney Mondragon. “It was a great competition. A lot of these 2A teams were able to see what they are going to see at state and regionals. It was huge for a lot of them.”

The tournament even attracted some larger schools highlighted by eventual team champion Eaglecrest.

“Eaglecrest, a 5A school, came and out ended up winning the tournament,” Mondragon said. “Salida is a 3A school. We had seven or eight championship matches where we had top-ranked kids going head-to-head with each other. You can’t beat that.”

Eaglecrest scored 200 ½ points and it had nine individual placers. The Raptors, however had no individual champions.

North Fork was second with 181 points and it had seven placers. Sam Ware was the only Miner to win a championship as he pinned Eaglecrest’s Riley Neumeyer in 49 seconds.

Centauri did the best of any of the local school in attendance as the Falcons placed third with 169 points. Centauri had six placers including two champions. Erik Mestas won the 175-pound championship as he pinned Eaglecrest’s Ladainian Gordon in 1:59, and Josh Polkowske was first at 165 after pinning Crowley County’s Skeater Baker in 2:51.

The Falcons had one other finalist in Riley Valdez who was second at 120.

Centauri’s other placers included Diego Hernandez who was fifth at 132, Ivan Lopez who was fifth at 144, and Skylar Montage who was fifth at 190.

Monte Vista finished in fifth place with 137 ½ points. The Pirates also had six placers and they were led by Kevin Cisneros who was the champion at 144 pounds. Cisneros won by a 5-0 decision over North Fork’s Lane Stroh.

They had a second placer in Jacob Pacheco who was second at 150.

The other Monte Vista place winners were Jeremiah Baumgardner who was fourth 157, Damian Lopez who was fourth at 126, DeAngelo Archuleta who was fifth at 138, and Jaxon Martinez who was fifth at 175.

Center took seventh place with 126 points. The Vikings had seven placers including one finalist in Martin Palma who took second place at 157 pounds.

Also placing for Center were Aaron Valadez who was third at 144, Andre Meraz who was fourth at 150, Jordan Duran who was fifth at 106, Jesus Valadez who was fifth at 165, Chayse Bouet who was sixth at 132 and Francisco Villa who was sixth at 113..

Sargent placed 17th with 55 points, and the Farmers had one placer in Trenton Lovelace who took third at 215 pounds.

The remaining SLV teams in attendance saw Sierra Grande/Centennial place 26th with 11 points, Antonito was 27th with eight, and Del Norte and Mountain Valley were both 28th with seven.

The Outstanding wrestlers were Buena Vista’s Caleb Camp in the lower weights, and Salida’s Drew Johnson in the upper weights.

VALLEY CLASSIC

Team scores

Eaglecrest 200 ½, North Fork 181, Centauri 169, Mancos 140, Monte Vista 137 ½, Buena Vista 130, Center 126, Trinidad 123 ½, Delta 120 ½, Salida 97, Limon 80, West Grand 78 ½, St. Mary’s 77, Crowley County 75, Fowler 74, Merino 67, Sargent 55, John Mall 52, Olathe 49, Las Animas 31, Byers 30 ½, La Veta 30, Primero 16, Soroco 14, Rye 13, Sierra Grande/Centennial 11, Antonito 8, Del Norte 7, Mountain Valley 7, Custer County 4.

Championship matches

106 – Waitley Sharon (Fowler) pinned Derreck Buford (Crowley County), 2:51

113 – Traven Sharon (Fowler) dec. Sam Johnson (Salida), 5-2

120 – Coen Schmidt (Merino) maj. dec. Riley Valdez (Centauri), 10-1

126 – Caleb Camp (Buena Vista) dec. Anthony Isek (St. Mary’s, 3-1 (SV)

132 – Eddie Bowman (Trinidad) dec. Levi Martin (Mancos), 5-4

138 – Dillon Burford (Crowley County) pinned Brandon Vannest (Mancos), 5:14

144 – Kevin Cisneros (Monte Viata) dec. Lane Stroh (North Fork), 5-0

150 – Dominick Cuccinnelli (St. Mary’s) pinned Jacob Pacheco (Monte Vista), 2:35

157 – David Arellano (Buena Vista) pinned Martin Palma (Center), 4:22

165 – Josh Polkowske (Centauri) pinned Skeater Baker (Crowley County), 2:51

175 – Erik Mestas (Centauri) pinned Ladanian Gordon (Eaglecrest), 1:59

190 – Gabe Schubarth (Limon) dec. Marcel Gordon (Eaglecrest), 9-6

215 – Drew Johnson (Salida) pinned Jake Armijo (Trinidad), 0:55

285 – Sam Ware (North Fork) pinned Riley Neumeyer (Eaglecrest), 0:49

Third-place matches

106 – Adonias Cantu (Eaglecrest) pinned Dawsen Drozdik (Delta), 1:58

113 – Payson Pene (North Fork) pinned Matthew Valdez (Delta), 2:15

120 – Ethan Diaz (Eaglecrest) dec. Andrew Isek (St. Mary’s), 11-4

126 – Aijah Gabaldon (Eagle Crest) pinned Damian Lopez (Monte Vista), 2:19

132 – Bernard Espinoza (John Mall) pinned Peyton Armstrong (North Fork), 4:51

138 – Tyler Frank (Merino) dec. Charlie Miller (North Fork), 4-2

144 – Aaron Valadez (Center) pinned Kyle Kincaide (Delta), 3:30

150 – Colton Montoya (Buena Vista) dec. Andre Meraz (Center), 3-2

157 – Thayne Lundy (Eaglecrest) pinned Jeremiah Baumgardner (Monte Vista), 1:46

165 – Keon Bandy (Limon) dec. Wyatt Howell (West Grand), 9-5

175 – Cole Dainty-Guilfoyle (Mancos) pinned Ahren Schubarth (Limon), 4:07

190 – Colten Vannest (Mancos) pinned Isaiah Cosby (John Mall), 0:52

215 – Trenton Lovelace (Sargent) pinned Cody Netherton (Las Animas), 0:24

285 – Blake Terryberry (West Grand) pinned Elliot Sam (Mancos), 2:43

Fifth-place matches

106 – Jordan Duran (Center) dec. Trevor Piatt (Olathe), 7-0

113 – Jaedynn Pham (Eaglecrest) dec. Francisco Villa (Center), 6-3

120 – Alex Mattinez (Trinidad) pinned Kyle Chaffin (Delta), 0:24

126 – Jon Yapoujian (Byers) tech. Fall Calhoun Hill (Salida), 16-0, 3:18

132 – Diego Hernandez (Centauri) by def. over Chase Bouet (Center)

138 – DeAngelo Archuleta (Monte Vista) pinned Derrick Sievertsen (North Fork), 1:41

144 – Ivan Lopez (Centauri) maj. dec. Joe Probst (West Grand), 15-7

150 – Gabe Rangel (Eaglecrest) pinned Daniel Owens (North Fork), 3:38

157 – Brayden Nix (La Veta) pinned Chase Ripley (Olathe), 2:01

165 – Jesus Valadez (Center) maj. dec. Jakob Carver (North Fork), 15-4

175 – Jaxon Martinez (Monte Vista) pinned Andrew Kaus (Merino), 3:23

190 – Skylar Montage (Centauri) pinned Eli Mock (Olathe), 2:11

215 – Gavin Unrein (Fowler) pinned Eli Flowers (Buena Vista), 3:42

285 – A.J. Bowman (Trinidad) pinned Oscar Gonzales (Byers), 3:36