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Moffat County boys wrestling places two at state in hard-fought consolation rounds

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Andy Bockelman
  

Moffat County's Kaeden Martinez resists a move by his state opponent Saturday, Feb. 17.
Andy Bockelman/Craig Press

Not every match went the way they wanted, but Moffat County wrestlers proved they could fight all the way to podium.

MCHS’s Kaeden Martinez placed fifth and Zach Hedman sixth to finish out their junior seasons at the CHSAA State Championships at Ball Arena in Denver.

For Martinez, Saturday’s consolation rounds were varied in terms of time spent on the mat. After a Friday night defeat in the semifinals, the 144-pound wrestler came out swinging, leading most of the match against Severance’s Reed Green.

Just when it looked like he was about to move on to the third-place bout, Martinez found himself upended and thrown back down at the edge of the mat as Green collected three points with a near-pin in the final seconds to win 8-6.

“It was very shocking when that happened, and I beat myself up after it because I should have won that match,” Martinez said.

Disappointed but undeterred, he went into his last round with a fire in him, pinning Brush’s Tanner Ludgate in 58 seconds to close out the weekend with a victory, putting his winter record at 27-9.

The last three state matches were some of the most important for him this season, he said, because they show him where he can keep working. His first two wins in a 3-2 run were also crucial to see his strengths.

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“I feel really confident on my feet now knowing I can take anyone down,” Martinez said. “I need to work on bottom more and move a little bit more. It motivates me because I know I will be back there next year and can make it that far again if not further.”

For Hedman, the total was 3-3 as part of a 21-12 season at the 157 weight, with more rounds than any Moffat County athlete of the tournament. Saturday saw him take a 6-4 overtime victory over Florence to ensure placement, before he fell by the same tally to Centauri’s Parker Buhr.

That paired him next with Grand Valley’s Mason Schoeppner, whom he has seen repeatedly this season and had defeated in the regional tourney.

However, Schoeppner managed to outlast Hedman this time with a 10-6 result.

“It was a close match, but he kind of got caught there,” coach Mark Voloshin said.

With four wrestlers in the mix, Voloshin also saw Eli Fredrickson finish the year 19-5 overall and fellow senior Blake Hill 17-14.

At 138, Fredrickson took two losses by decision at state — 4-1 and 7-1 — while Hill gained a fall over Jefferson’s Koah Proper as part of a 1-2 weekend.

Voloshin noted that Fredrickson was nursing an injured shoulder, and a first-round takedown by his opponent landing on it didn’t help.

“That was a weird situation and the ref probably should have stopped that match with what happened since they went out of bounds and into the chairs,” Voloshin said.

Fredrickson has been a state qualifier three of his four years with the team, while Hill has gone to Ball Arena every time since he was a freshman.

While neither made it to the podium in their final opportunity, Voloshin said coaching them for most of the past decade — including pee-wee and middle school — has been a delight.

“It’s been a good ride,” Voloshin said. “These guys are hard workers, and I’m proud of them. Nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back who will be doing big things next year.”

Voloshin added that anyone who makes it to an event as prestigious as the state championships is forever changed by the journey it requires.

“It doesn’t define you as a wrestler — it defines you as a man.”

Moffat County’s Zach Hedman stays atop his state opponent.
Andy Bockelman/Craig Press
Moffat County’s Kaeden Martinez accepts a win for fifth place at the state championships.
Andy Bockelman/Craig Press

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