Craig Daily Press / Pins hard to come by for wrestlers

February 9, 2007

Arvada — ARVADA -- There probably isn't a conspiracy, but it felt like it for some of the Moffat County wrestlers when they were trying to get a pin here Friday night.

"It's like the refs got together and said, ‘don't call pins very fast,'" senior Brice Boling said. "They definitely made it tougher to get a call tonight."

The Bulldogs had seven wrestlers move into the semifinals after the first two rounds. Senior Trenton Duarte (171 pounds) and sophomore David Hickson (heavyweight) were the only wrestlers to earn quick pins in both of their matches. The other five wrestlers, Boling, junior Cory Vigil (112 pounds), seniors Jake Breslin (125 pounds), Levi Weber (140 pounds) and Nick Navratil (189 pounds) struggled to get pins in their wins.

"I thought for sure I had my guy pinned early," Vigil said. "They weren't a big fan of calling the pin on the Sanders I guess."

The Sanders is a move the Moffat County wrestlers use often, but sometimes it isn't a move used elsewhere. Traditionally, Front Range officials don't like to call a pin on the move.

"(The officials) aren't used to our style," coach Roman Gutierrez said.

That style usually includes pins.

It didn't happen in the second-round wins for Breslin, Weber and Navratil. Breslin and Weber dominated their matches winning 12-1 and 17-2, respectively. Navratil had one of his toughest matches of the season against Delta's Gene White. Navratil was only up 2-1 until he earned three near-fall points with 12 seconds remaining in the match.

Regardless of a pin or not, the seven aforementioned wrestlers are one win from a guaranteed trip to the state tournament.

"We wrestled tight tonight," Gutierrez said. "Hopefully we'll loosen up a bit tomorrow and let things go."

All Moffat County wrestlers moved into Saturday's action with either one win or a bye during the first two rounds. Overall the team was 15-7 the opening night.

"Most of us wrestled aggressive," Gutierrez said. "We caught some good kids in the second round and I hope that our guys who caught tough draws will come back through the wrestle-backs tomorrow."

As expected the team race is between Rifle, Palisade and the Bulldogs.

After round two Rifle led 90.50, with Palisade in second 84.5 and Moffat County close behind with 77.5.

The semifinal round starts this morning at 8:30 a.m.