The time is now for prep wrestlers to find their final weights in their quest to make the Class 5A state tournament.
The 152-pound class suits Regis Jesuit’s Logan Ronan just fine, as he showed in a impressive performance at the Northglenn Norse Invitational Jan. 24.
Moving down from the 160-pound class where he opened the season, Ronan dominated previously undefeated Jared Todd 13-4 in the 152-pound title match. He now stands 23-1 with roughly two weeks ahead before regionals.
“This is where I’m going to state at; I wanted to face (Grand Junction’s Jacob) Trujillo, but looking ahead I probably would have faced him the semis rather than the finals. Going down to 52s, I’ll be with all of the guys I had to wrestle last year and I have some scores to settle with them, too.
Many Aurora wrestlers have moved up or down a class to gain an advantage in the final weeks.
Last season, a late move paid off big time for Gateway’s Deyaun Trueblood. Trueblood — who has since transferred to Pomona — wrestled at 160 pounds and lost to Trujillo, the eventual 5A state champion who is undefeated this season. He then dropped to 152 pounds and went on to win the state championship.
The move from 160s to 152s makes sense for Logana Ronan for a lot of reasons. First of all, he’s weighed in at 153 pounds for most of the season, so he’ll give up less weight wrestling at 152 pounds — where his twin brother Donovan opened the season.
Looking further down the line, Regis Jesuit is in the Region 1 tournament at Legacy High School, which also happens to have Arvada West. The Wildcats feature the 5A’s top-ranked 152-pounder in defending state champion Payton Tawater.
If Ronan and Tawater meet in the regional championship match, they would be placed on opposite sides of the bracket at the Feb. 19-21 5A state tournament. That would put them in line for a possible meeting in the state championship match at the Pepsi Center.
“Tawater’s in my region, so if I’m first or second, we’ll be on the opposite side at state and definitely meet in the finals,” Ronan said. “I’m not looking around any guys, just straight through them.”
Regis Jesuit coach Rick Schultz emphasized that Ronan didn’t drop from 160s to avoid facing Trujillo at Northglenn, but that the time was right to make the move.
“We met and we just decided to go now; it’s silly to give up that much weight at state,” Schultz said. “Why give somebody an advantage? Logan’s a fighter, he wants the best kid out there every time.
“It’s to his advantage if he gets to face (Tawater) twice. I don’t know how many guys can beat him twice. It’ll be fun.”
Donovan Ronan, who naturally weighs 147, also moved down a weight to 145s and appears to be in an advantageous spot.
At Northglenn, he posted a strong 4-1 semifinal victory over Windsor’s Matteo Ambriz, “On the Mat’s” No. 1 wrestler in 4A, before suffering a 1-0 loss to Grand Junction’s Isaac Rider in the tournament final.
With roughly two weeks left in the regular season, many coaches and wrestlers have made changes with regionals and state in mind.
Hinkley’s Serj Chavez wrestled most of the season at 138 pounds, but will finish the season at 145 pounds and Grandview’s Josh Vigil-Harrison spent most of the year at 220 pounds, while he’s now at 285 as he’s been the past two years when he’s qualified for the state tournament.
Regional state-qualifying tournaments are scheduled for Feb. 13-14.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
