Craig Daily Press

Photo by John Vandelinder

Charlie Griffiths attempts to hold an arm lock Friday against Thomas Jefferson’s Alex Groditski. Griffiths, Cory Vigil and Matt Kincheloe need one more victory at the Pepsi Center to be assured of placing in the top six in the state.

Denver — Heading into day two of the 4A state wrestling championships, the Moffat County High School wrestling team had its back to the wall.

All five of the Bulldogs lost on the first day of competition in the double-elimination format at the Pepsi Center in Denver, eliminating them from any chance of a first-place finish.

One more loss for any of them and it would be over.

Continue to win, and they could capture third place in the state.

“You lose today and you’re done,” coach Roman Gutierrez said.

Cory Vigil, Charlie Griffiths and Matt Kincheloe heard him loud and clear.

Cory Vigil led the day off for Moffat County and the thought of being eliminated was strong in his mind.

“I knew this was it,” he said. “It’s win or go home from here on out. I don’t want to go home.”

So, he won.

Vigil jumped all over Robert Prejean from Widefield High School in his first-round match in the consolation bracket, pinning him in less than a minute.

“I had to put him down hard,” Vigil said. “When I took him down, I basically knew the match was mine.”

Vigil carried the momentum from his first state tourney victory this year into his later match against Jimmy Zahtila from Thompson Valley.

In a match where Vigil said he “didn’t want to make any mistakes,” he made few enough to win, 4-3.

“Now, I can be a little more relaxed knowing I still wrestle tomorrow,” he said. “I should definitely sleep better tonight.”

Gutierrez was impressed with Vigil’s drive on the second day.

“He came out with a different attitude today,” Gutierrez said. “He knew he had to take care of business and he did.”

Freshman Charlie Griffiths followed suit.

Griffiths handled Alex Gro­ditski of Thomas Jefferson High School in his afternoon match, bullying his way to an 11-1 victory.

“I got my takedowns working out there,” Griffiths said. “I have to wrestle hard all the time now. There is no next match if I lose.”

His next match, because he won, was against Palisade’s Michael Baumann.

He kept the winning streak alive, defeating Baumann 5-3.

“One more win and I definitely place,” Griffiths said. “I’m going to keep my confidence right in the middle. I don’t want to be overconfident or underconfident. I just want to keep winning.”

Assistant coach Ron Lin­sacum agreed.

“There’s a fire burning in that freshman over there,” Linsacum said of Griffiths. “But, we still got a long ways to go. For a freshman, he’s impressive.”

Senior Matt Kincheloe wasn’t shown up by his teammates. And he will wrestle today as well, in a bid to better the sixth-place finish of a year ago.

Kincheloe out-pointed Chad Myers of Liberty High School, 10-6, in his early match.

“Not every win is going to be a routine win,” Kincheloe said. “You’ve got to deal with what’s in front of you, no matter what.”

Kincheloe dealt with Mesa Ridge’s Nick Ehret next.

Kincheloe followed the routine laid out earlier by Vigil and Griffiths.

Kincheloe led 4-0 and 8-4 before holding on for a 8-7 victory.

“I made a mental mistake there at the end just trying to hold on,” Kincheloe said. “I’ll be back tomorrow and turn that mistake around.”

Junior Troy Vernon was eliminated from contention on the second day of action, falling to Ron Singer of Alamosa at 145 pounds.

Vernon led 4-1 late into the final frame, but a quick reversal by Singer put Vernon on his back for good.

He was pinned with less than 30 seconds left in the match.

“I’m kind of bummed,” Vernon said. “I felt like I was handling the kid and all of a sudden, it went wrong.”

It went wrong for another Bulldog on Friday as well.

Freshman Dallas Daniels couldn’t shake the first-year jitters in the season ending tourney.

Wrestling against a junior, one day after losing to a senior, the freshman lost, 13-3, to Jared Wikre of Berthoud.

His second loss eliminated him from the tourney.

“I’m going to go do what all the wrestlers go do after they lose,” he said. “I’m going to go eat.”