Northglenn's Grout named outstanding wrestler at Arvada West Invitational

In a battle of state champions, Grout defeated Grandview’s Eric Wilson, 11-6, to win the 119-pound title Saturday at the Arvada West Invitational. And, along with the victory, he was voted the MVP by the tournament coaches.

It was the second week in a row that Grout has been named the outstanding wrestler in a tournament. He won honors last week at the Tournament of Champions in Vernal, Utah.

“I wanted to beat him because he beat me in overtime at the state finals last year,” said Grout, who won his title in 2007. “I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to take him down and score some points. It was 0-0 going into the overtime last year and I just wanted to score. There were thoughts of revenge.

“I was hoping for the pin, but you can’t expect them all the time against a good wrestler like Eric. I thought I might get outstanding wrestlers as there were two state champions going against each other in the final. I felt confident I could get it.”

Ponderosa, ranked No. 1 by On The Mat, came away with the team championship.

The Mustangs, coached by Cory McNellis, advanced five wrestlers to the finals, filling the bracket from 140 to 171 pounds. The Mustangs went into the championship round trailing No. 4 Pomona 158.5-158. Also in the field were Legacy (No. 6), Rocky Mountain (No. 7) and Grandview (No. 10).

And, by the time it was over, Ponderosa had crowned all five of its finalists as champions. Jake Snider won at 140, Daniel Kelly won at 145, his brother Steven won at 152, Austin Gabel took the title at 160 and Stephone Kling was victorious at 171.

“I was going for the pin and to get the game points to get ahead of them,” said Snider, who improved to 20-0 after he pinned Arvada West’s Jacob Gerace. “It felt pretty good and I’m feeling good about our team and the chance to go for another state championship.”

And, it appears to be a good stepping stone for Ponderosa.

“I thought it was a solid performance by all our guys,” McNellis said. “We have the five studs who always seem to come through in the tournaments. I think a lot of our guys who were not doing as well at the beginning of the season are starting to pick it up, peaking for state and I think we are slowly but surely getting there.

“I always expect those five to do as well as they did. But I expect all 14 guys to compete and I’m pleased with all the kids today.”

The day began with 73 individuals ranked among the top 15 by On The Mat, a number than included nine No. 1s in the 14 weight classes, four No. 2s and four No. 3s. And all those holding top billing were able to advance to the finals as were a trio of those ranked No. 2 and No. 3.

To make it all the more interesting to the fans was the not having the championship round run in match order. For example, the finals began at 125 pounds, but that match was followed by 215, then 171. It concluded with the 112-pound match.

There were no head-to-head matches between Ponderosa and Pomona in the finals. But the Panthers got a good start when Pomona’s Donny Haupt defeated Rocky Mountain’s Greg Smith 7-3 in their 215-pound match.

“I knew he was going to be strong and tough and I just wanted to keep wrestling hard,” said Haupt, who is ranked No. 2 and improved to 22-3. “He was a tough kid, hats off to him. I was hoping for the fall at the end, when I had him down, but a win is a win. It’s good to have it right now.”

The final match of the night was set for 112, considered the toughest in the tournament, and there was high anticipation that Rocky Mountain’s Jeremey Schmitt and Standley Lake’s Andrew Lujan, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, would meet in the final.

However, Pomona’s Dominic Madril, who was ranked No. 6, upset Lujan, 4-1, in their semifinal bout, sending Madril up against Schmitt.

The home folks had hopes, as well, that Arvada West’s Darian Roberts, No. 3 at 145, would also reach the finals. But they were disappointed when Douglas County’s Robby DePontbraind came away with a 8-6 victory to set up his match with Ponderosa’s Daniel Kelly.

There were no third-place matches due to match counts on the day, and the team points were split by the two wrestlers who had advanced to the third-place bouts.

Championship matches