In a true illustration of how difficult it is to win a championship at the state wrestling tournament, three of Aurora’s four losses in championship matches came via close decisions.
Besides the one-point loss for Cherokee Trail’s Chance Mathews in the 138-pound final, heartbreak also came for two Grandview wrestlers in junior Jonathan Montes Gonzales and sophomore Leland Day.
Montes Gonzales made it to the 150-pound state championship match last season before he lost by fall to Regis Jesuit’s Garrett Reece, who missed this season due to injury. Montes Gonzales earned his way back to the final again in the same weight, only to suffer a 6-5 loss to Arvada West’s Auston Eudaly.
Eudaly had pinned Montes Gonzales at consecutive tournaments in January, but this time it was a battle until the final whistle. Montes Gonzales defeated every other wrestler he faced since Jan. 9, but lost to Eudaly in the finals at the Arvada West Invitational and in the semifinals at the Top of the Rockies Invitational before the state meeting and finished the season 35-7.
Montes Gonzales is now a three-time state placer, however, as he was sixth at 138 pounds as a freshman in 2023 before his consecutive runner-up showings.
Day won the rugged Top of the Rockies Invitational title in January as a highlight of an outstanding season and had suffered his only losses of the season out of state at the Reno Tournament of Champions.
With two wins by fall and a decision in the semifinals, Day brought a 20-match winning streak into the state championship match against Fruita Monument senior Tatum Williams, who finished third at 285 last season.
The match went to the third period in a scoreless tie before Williams earned a point for an escape early in the period and then got a takedown inside the final minute as Day tried to find a way to get a takedown. Day finished the season 39-5.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
