Wrestling: Cougars on Pepsi Center prowl
Cherokee Trail wrestlers gain five state
spots in first year in 5A
By COURTNEY OAKES
The Aurora Sentinel
Published:
Thursday, February 19, 2009 3:07 PM MST
AURORA
| Cherokee Trail wrestling coach Jeff
Buck is trying to get his wrestlers to
believe the Class 5A state tournament is
just another 16-man tournament like the
ones they’ve wrestled all season.
It’s more significant than that for the
Cougars, and Buck knows it.
In five previous years of varsity
wrestling at the 4A level, Cherokee
Trail’s biggest state contingent was
two. The current group of Cougars blew
that away this season, as five have
qualified for this season’s 5A state
tournament, which runs Thursday through
Saturday at the Pepsi Center in downtown
Denver.
First-round matches are scheduled to
begin at 7:15 p.m.
“We’re very, very excited to get five
kids to state for the first time in
school history,” said Buck, who had a
total of three wrestlers make state in
his first two years combined.
“It’s pretty exciting for the whole
program, and the kids are looking
forward to putting it all together this
weekend,” he added. “Hopefully they go
out and wrestle as hard as they can.
Good things happen from that.”
Buck knew he
had a good, young group, and they proved
him right during the regular season,
where they lost just one dual match all
year in the Centennial League, a
barnsburner with seven-time league
champion Grandview.
The Cougars went on to place eight
wrestlers and take fifth as a team at
the 5A Region 4 tournament Feb. 13-14 at
Central of Grand Junction, coming away
with their bumper crop of five
qualifiers in the process.
Sophomore 103-pounder Chris Buccieri and
junior 152-pounder Ethan Hales made the
regional finals of their respective
weight classes, with Hales coming away
with the program’s first-ever regional
championship.
He pinned Northglenn’s Derek Stearns in
the regional final to add another
highlight to a Cherokee Trail season
that has had plenty.
“I think we’ve been building up for the
last couple of years, but we just
weren’t ready until this season,” said
Hales (28-7), who drew Gateway senior
Justin Freeman (30-7) in an all-Aurora
first round match.
“We did really well in the Centennial
League, and I think that proved to a lot
of us that we could go somewhere and
make state.”
Four of the Cougars went the
conventional way in qualifying.
Buccieri lost his final to Central of
Grand Junction star Matthew Gurule, but
was already assured a state trip, while
125-pounder Collin Gorham and
215-pounder Ben Jordan (whose brothers
Kimball and Daniel represented Cherokee
Trail at state in previous years) also
were safe despite losing in third-place
matches.
Junior 160-pounder Greg Conrardy was a
different story. Thanks to another
Aurora wrestler — Rangeview junior
Hunter McGuinnis — Conrardy got a chance
at a wrestleback after responding from a
loss in the semifinals to take fifth.
Conrardy made the most of his chance,
defeating Denver South’s Andom
Weldehiwet 9-2 to join the state-bound
group to the delight of his training
partner Hales.
“Greg was really excited to make it
through the wrestleback and I think he
could do something at state,” Hales
said.
Buck doesn’t have huge expectations for
his group in terms of wins, but has seen
them go toe-to-toe with quality
opponents all season and thinks
anything’s possible.
Best of all for Cherokee Trail? All five
qualifiers are underclassmen.
Notes:
Grandview
leads Aurora teams with six qualifiers,
while Cherokee Trail and Regis have five
each, followed by Eaglecrest and Gateway
with four each, Aurora Central with
three, Smoky Hill two and Overland and
Rangeview one.