Sarah Trujillo, Gilpin County.  Yet another successful week is finished for the Gilpin County Wrestlers with a duel on the 24th and a meet, hosted at home, on the 27th. Both of the events themselves were an accomplishment for the team due to the fact that they were able to compete against schools much larger than theirs. Most schools they wrestled against were either 3A or 4A, bringing a level of competition that was a great experience for the wrestlers.

As a whole, the team did amazing at both the duel and the home meet. At the duel, Josh Trujillo went 1-1, Manny Gomez 0-2, Triston Dipasquale 1-1, Wenholz 2-0, Will Innis 0-1, Skylar Murdock 0-2, and Joyce Jewell 0-2. Compared to the schools that they were wrestling against, the team did fairly well. Trujillo, despite losing his first match, was able to redeem himself by pinning his opponent within the last twenty seconds of the third period. The guy he wrestled has been strong competition for Trujillo in the past and when it came down to it he was able to use his impressive shot to take the guy down, pinning him when the score was tied 10-10.

Dipasquale also had a pin to start off his night. He was able to pin his opponent within the first few seconds of the match. Wenholz, being the most successful of the night, showed the other schools what he was made of and fought for every point given to him, putting him in a position to beat both of his opponents in the third period.

The meet, hosted at Gilpin, almost doubled in size from last year, and like the duel, had schools of all different sizes. Three of the Gilpin wrestlers placed, Trujillo in first and then Wenholz as well as Dipasquale, finished second. Trujillo shut out every wrestler he faced, not allowing a single one of them to score a point on him, not even an escape. Dipasquale and Wenholz pinned their opponents in most of their matches and fought to earn their silver medals. Two of the other wrestlers were also very successful, although they didn’t place. Gomez won one of his matches with a pin and Innis had his first victory of the season by fighting for his win of 16-15 at the end of the third period.

All in all, the two events were ones to remember with the great representation of our team through strong wrestling and the ability to compete with larger schools. The team would like to thank everyone who came to support them at both the duel and the meet and hopes to have your support at their upcoming regional and state meets.

(Originally published in the February 1, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)