Rangeview’s starting to get a hold on the current wrestling season.
Coach Tim Corby’s Raiders picked up two important victories in a two-day span, first repeating as winner of the Aurora Public Schools Duals championship and then taking the title of their own Raider Classic tournament.
Rangeview first slugged it out with district rivals Aurora Central, Gateway and Hinkley in a quadrangular meet held for the third time Jan. 9 at Aurora Central. The Raiders finished on top for the second year in a row in a highly competitive meeting.
The closest of the three duals for Rangeview ended up being the first one of the night, when Corby’s team outlasted Hinkley 38-32. The difference turned out to be a forfeit victory to freshman Max Gonzales at 195 pounds in the first match of the dual, but otherwise the teams were even.
The match may very well have swung on the result of the 160-pound matchup between Rangeview senior Douglas Lesher and Hinkley senior Tristan Harper. Harper had a significant lead and nearly had Lesher on his back, but time ran out in the first period. Midway through the second period, Lesher took Harper down and pinned him to pick up six key points for his team, which were crucial given the Thunderbirds won the last two matches.
The Raiders cruised past Gateway 63-17 and Aurora Central 62-16 to wrap up their second consecutive APS Duals title.
Lesher pinned all three of his opponents on a 3-0 day, a feat matched by heavyweight Nate Bradley. Kipp Corby went 3-0 at 132 and Gonzales also pinned both of his opponents, while Deron Solomon had a great day at 138 pounds with two pins and great showing in an 8-5 loss to Hinkley standout freshman Serj Chavez.
Hinkley went on to finish 2-1 overall, as the T-Birds rebounded from the loss to Rangeview to edge Gateway 40-39 and handled young Aurora Central 60-18.
Hinkley’s standouts all performed well, as senior 182-pounder Isaiah Silva posted two technifcal falls and a pin and Ben Rhoton went 3-0 at 106 pounds.
Senior 220-pounder Max Carbajal dominated both his matches and also received a forfeit win, Erik Kaminen won each of his 170-pound matches and Chavez outlasted Solomon, then won by tech fall and received a win by injury default.
Sophomore 152-pounder Deyaun Trueblood dominated for Gateway, pinning all three of his opponents — including ranked Samuel Maes of Rangeview —in the first period of each of his matches.
Jeru Smith at 120 pounds also pinned all three of his foes for the Olys, who downed Aurora Central 48-33 for their lone dual victory of the tournament.
The Trojans didn’t win a single dual, but had strong performances from 126-pounder Jonathan Quijada, who posted two pins and a major decision, while Axel Pacheco finished 2-1 at 106 pounds.
Rangeview carried its momentum into its Raiders Classic on Jan. 11. Aurora Central, Vista PEAK and the Grandview JV also made up part of a 13-team field.
In all, a total of nine Raiders qualified for championship matches and four of them won — Solomon (138), Maes (152), Sean O’Keefe (170) and Gonzales (195) prevailing as Rangeview racked up 209 points to finish well clear of Mullen (160).
Aurora Central’s young wrestlers turned around and used the APS Duals experience to its advantage, as coach Conrad Parra’s team had three finalists in Pachecho (106), Quijada (126) and Trayvone Crosby at 182 pounds.
Crosby —who was pinned twice in three matches at the APS Duals — posted the lone victory for the Trojans, who had three wrestlers secure third place in their respective brackets to help the team to third in the overall standings with 112.5 points.
Vista PEAK’s two standouts, 120-pounder Junior Casillas and Marcus Guerra at 126, both won championships in their respective weights to lead the Bison to an eight-place total of 45.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2014 RANGEVIEW RAIDER CLASSIC (Jan. 11 at Rangeview High School)
Team scores: 1. RANGEVIEW 209 points; 2. Mullen 160; 3. AURORA CENTRAL 112.5; 4. Ellicott 93; 5. Denver West 91; 6. Salida 72; 7. Rock Canyon 48; 8. VISTA PEAK 45; 9. Legacy 41; 10. Montbello 37.5; 11. George Washington 35; 12. Bear Creek 34; 13. GRANDVIEW 24
Aurora championship matches
106 pounds: Vincent Hoffman (Mullen) tech. fall Axel Pachecho (Aurora Central), 18-1; 113 pounds: Andrew Atencio (Mullen) dec. Dominic Wenger (Rangeview), 6-3; 120 pounds: Junior Casillas (Vista PEAK) maj. dec. Jaysen Yakobson (Bear Creek), 10-2; 126 pounds: Marcus Guerra (Vista PEAK) dec. Jonathan Quijada (Aurora Central), 7-2; 132 pounds: Jake Schoenfeld (Salida) pinned Kipp Corby (Rangeview), 2:27; 138 pounds: Deron Solomon (Rangeview) pinned Anthony Vigil (Mullen), 5:26; 145 pounds: Fabian Hermosilllo (Ellicott) pinned Tyler Gochenour (Rangeview), 0:17; 152 pounds: Sam Maes (Rangeview) maj. dec. Connor Hart (Mullen), 12-4; 160 pounds: Joshua Hernandez (Denver West) dec. Douglas Lesher (Rangeview), 12-5; 170 pounds: Sean O’Keefe (Rangeview) dec. John Olaka (Geo. Washington), 8-4 (2OT); 182 pounds: Trayvone Crosby (Aurora Central) pinned Richard Davis (Rock Canyon), 2:38; 195 pounds: Max Gonzales (Rangeview) pinned Joe Andres (Mullen), 2:34; 285 pounds: Jerrell Nettles (Montbello) pinned Nate Bradley (Rangeview), 3:08
Aurora third place matches
113 pounds: Quincy Moreno (Aurora Central) maj. dec. Chris Pena (Denver West), 18-5; 126 pounds: Tyler Shavalier (Rangeview) dec. Aaron Maynes (Denver West), 7-2; 132 pounds: Yovanny Osana (Aurora Central) pinned Josh Heifetz (Rock Canyon), 2:41; 138 pounds: Abe Berreras (Aurora Central) dec. Brett Waters (Legacy), 9-1; 152 pounds: Andrew Frye (Grandview) won by forfeit over Andrew Black (Legacy); 285 pounds: Sam Deseriere (Mullen) pinned Edgar Saucedo (Mullen), 0:58
