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Photo by Courtney Oakes/The Aurora
Sentinel
Grandview senior Cody Gilmore, left,
grapples with Ponderosa"s Taylor
Stam during the third-place
heavyweight match at the Top of the
Rockies Invitational on Jan. 19 at
Centaurus High School in Lafayette.
Gilmore won a 4-1 decision in the
match to finish 5-1 at the two-day
tournament featuring 33 outstanding
teams from four different states.
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Wrestling: Gilmore's third sweet at Top of the
Rockies
Heavyweight wins third 1 vs. 2 match in last two
weeks; Wilson takes 5th
By Courtney Oakes
The Aurora Sentinel
LAFAYETTE | If the Top of the Rockies Invitational is
really tougher than the state wrestling tournament as
many coaches believe, Grandview's Cody Gilmore has a
podium trip ahead.
The senior heavyweight - ranked second in the state in
Class 5A - finally got the better of No. 1 Taylor Stam
of Ponderosa in their third showdown in two weeks,
beating the Mustangs standout 4-1 in the third-place
match to cap the grueling two-day tournament at
Centaurus High School that featured legions of state
champions and placers among 33 teams from Colorado,
Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Stam pinned Gilmore on Jan. 12 in the championship match
at the Arvada West Invitational and also stuck him in
the quarterfinals of the Top of the Rockies, but Gilmore
changed tactics and kept out of trouble in the third
meeting to earn the win by decision.
"It was crazy, he beat me the last two times, but I had
confidence and I learned from my mistakes and just beat
him," said Gilmore, who went 5-1 to move to 24-4 on the
season. "I've gotten a lot of experience over the last
two weeks. I've learned that even if you lose, you just
keep hacking away because there will be another day. It
was pure determination."
The Wolves, ranked 9th in 5A by On The Mat, placed 20th
as a team thanks to nine total wins from Gilmore and
junior Eric Wilson, who placed fifth in a loaded
112-pound weight class that included three state
champions and two second-place state finishers. Jacob
Bomareto (189) and Bryce Lucherini (152) won three
matches and Patrick Brown and Penn Wade two each.
"We feel like if you can place at this tournament, you
can place at the state tournament," Grandview coach Greg
Maestas said.
"Once you get to the quarterfinals here, everybody is a
state placer. We wrestled every match hard."
Maestas was pleased with Gilmore's victory, but knows
that another tilt against Stam could be just around the
corner - possibly in the state final at Pepsi Center or
earlier depending on seeding.
And with familiarity comes the need for different
strategy.
"I'm sure they'll butt heads again, so we're going to
have to change and they're going to have to change,"
Maestas said. "We're happy to win, but we can do a lot
of things better."
Gilmore's only loss came to Stam and he downed Adams
City's LeRoy Vigil (No. 5 in 5A) and Loveland's Lane
Stuht (5A No. 7).
While the heavyweight division was loaded, Wilson's
112-pound bracket was downright brutal.
Besides Wilson, who placed third at the 5A state
tournament last season, there were three state champions
(Alamosa's Jesse Meis, undefeated Phil Grout of
Northglenn and Rocky Mountain's Jeremy Schmitt) in the
field, along with two runners-up in Adams City's Aaron
Ortiz and Colby Christiansen of Uintah, Utah.
Wilson lost a major decision to the rugged Meis and then
got edged 7-4 by Broomfield's Gabe Gomez - ranked No. 1
in 4A with Meis No. 2 - in the consolation semifinals.
He dominated Fort Lupton's Derek Salinas 8-0 in the
fifth-place match and came away pleased with his
performance.
"There were all kinds of tough kids here," said Wilson,
who is ranked third in 5A behind Grout and Schmitt with
a 19-5 record. "It's tougher than state and I wrestled
the tough kids close, so I've got some confidence
against them. Hopefully I can keep it going and get on
top of the podium."
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