NORTHGLENN | Logan Ronan missed out on facing one undefeated wrestler he had his eye on at the Northglenn Norse Invite, but he ended up defeating another.
In just his fourth match of the season at 152 pounds, the Regis Jesuit senior dominated previously unbeaten Jared Todd of Heritage for a 13-4 major decision Saturday to win the city’s lone title at the 20-team multi-classification tournament.
Ranked No. 3 in Class 5A by On The Mat, Ronan won his four matches on the day handily, recording two pins and two lopsided decisions on his way to 23-1 on the season. Had he stayed at 160 pounds, where he began the season, Ronan might have faced undefeated and defending state champion Jacob Trujillo in the Northglenn final, but he instead settled for beating Todd, who recorded three pins to get to 18-0 going into the final.
“I faced him last year and I beat him, but this time was better,” Ronan said after his win over Todd, which gave him a second straight Northglenn title after he won at 145 pounds last season. “I wanted to face Trujillo, but looking ahead, I probably would have faced him in the semifinals and not the finals, so we decided to go down to 52s now.
“All of the guys I had to wrestle last year are there and I have some scores to settle with them, too.”
Paced by Ronan’s victory and twin brother Donovan’s second place finish at 145 pounds, Regis Jesuit scored 69 points to finish in a tie for 10th, tops among the three Aurora teams involved. Hinkley — which also had a runner-up in 138-pounder Serj Chavez — scored 61 points to finish 16th, while Gateway’s 19 points put it 19th.
Down at 145 pounds after opening at 152, Donovan Ronan had an outstanding tournament with pins in his first two matches before a quality 4-1 semifinal victory over Windsor’s Matteo Ambriz, On the Mat’s No. 1 wrestler in 4A.
In the championship match, the eighth-ranked Ronan gave up an escape point to Grand Junction’s sixth-ranked Isaac Rider and couldn’t quite get the go-ahead takedown he needed in a 1-0 loss. It was just his third loss of the season against 20 victories.
“Donovan had a great semifinal, he just slowed down a little bit in the finals,” Regis Jesuit coach Rick Schultz said. “He and Logan are twins and they can wrestle the same. They are both capable of wrestling flawless matches.”
Wrestling without injured junior 195-pounder Nick Elgin — who Schultz expects to have back before the Region 1 tournament Feb. 14 at Legacy High School — the Raiders also got a sixth-place finish from sophomore 132-pounder Carl Composanto, a returning state qualifier.
Composanto lost a 7-4 decision to eventual tournament champion John Daniel of Arapahoe in the quarterfinals, then got pinned in the consolation semifinals and in the fifth-place match. He stands at 12-9 on the season.
“We’re where we need to be weight-wise, we’re just making some mistakes right now,” Schultz said. “We’re not being outwrestled, we’re just making mistakes that we have time to fix.”
Coach Terrance Goodroad’s Hinkley team had three top-six placers for the second straight season.
Chavez posted three wins to reach the championship match at 138 pounds, where he ran into top-ranked buzzsaw Josiah Rider of Grand Junction.
Rider needed just 35 seconds to record a pin, which pushed his record to a perfect 33-0. The ninth-ranked Chavez, meanwhile, dropped to 24-4 on the season as he seeks a return trip to the state tournament.
Junior Ben Rhoton made yet another trip to the medal podium this season with his fourth-place finish at 106 pounds after an 8-6 loss to Castle View’s Malik Heinselman, who he could see again at the Region 1 tournament.
Junior Rafael Garibay placed fourth at Northglenn at 113 pounds in 2014 and finished fifth this time around at 120 pounds after a second-period pin of Windsor’s Skyler Score.
Sophomore Alan Studt won two matches and finished as the 145-pound consolation runner-up for Gateway.
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
2015 NORTHGLENN NORSE INVITATIONAL
Team scores: 1. Grand Junction 228 points; 2. Greeley Central 206.5; 3. Windsor 168; 4. Northglenn 124; 5. Prairie View 112.5; 6. Castle View 105.5; 7. Thornton 89; 8. Arapahoe 83; 9. Yuma 81; T10. REGIS JESUIT 69; T10. Jefferson 69; 12. Legend 68.5; 13. Heritage 66; 14. Eagle Valley 65; 15. Northridge 61.5; 16. HINKLEY 61; 17. Pueblo Central 29; 18. Frederick 24; 19. GATEWAY 19; 20. Lyons 16
Full championship, third-place and fifth-place match results, here.
Aurora championship matches
138 pounds: Josiah Rider (Grand Junction) pinned SERJ CHAVEZ (HINKLEY), 0:35
145 pounds: Isaac Rider (Grand Junction) dec. DONOVAN RONAN (REGIS JESUIT), 1-0
152 pounds: LOGAN RONAN (REGIS JESUIT) maj. dec. Jared Todd (Heritage), 13-5
Aurora third-place matches
106 pounds: Malik Heinselman (Castle View) dec. BEN RHOTON (HINKLEY), 8-6
Aurora fifth-place matches
120 pounds: RAFAEL GARIBAY (HINKLEY) pinned Skyler Score (Windsor), 3:51
132 pounds: Andrian Bejar (Greeley Central) pinned CARL COMPOSANTO (REGIS JESUIT), 0:30