1/16/2017 12:35:00 AM   

Woods claims title, Grandview places third at rugged Arvada West Invitational

Five Aurora teams compete in loaded multi-class tournament

By Courtney Oakes
The Aurora Sentinel
 

 
AURORA | Another outstanding tournament, another strong result for the Grandview wrestling team.

The Wolves finished third place in Saturday’s rugged Arvada West Invitational, which featured a multi-classification mix of 20 teams that also included wrestlers from locals Overland, Vista PEAK, Smoky Hill and Hinkley.

Senior Robert Woods won the lone championship for coach Ryan Budd’s Grandview team, which had a total of seven top-four placers. Woods — ranked No. 5 in 5A in On The Mat’s Week 6 rankings — topped Overland’s Kaelin Chin (No. 8) in the second round and went on to win the title with a 5-3 victory over Castle View’s Travis Gallagher in the final.

Junior Giovani Federico (113 pounds), sophomore Fabian Santillan (120) and seniors Armando Santillan (132), Tyler Ross (182) and Gabriel Baumgartner (285) all finished third in their respective weights.

Fabian Santillan had a memorable win over Pomona’s Colton Yapoujian on his way to winning the Reno Tournament of Champions and the two met again in the 120-pound semifinals of the Arvada West tournament. This time, second-ranked Yapoujian won by 11-1 major decision over the top-ranked Santillan and went on to win the championship.

Santillan rebounded and placed third, though he didn’t wrestle the third-place match because opponent Isaiah Bradley of Overland had reached his five-match limit already.

Baumgartner also entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in 5A at 285 pounds and he also was stopped in the semifinals, as he dropped a 5-1 decision to seventh-ranked David Nuriyev of Castle View. Baumgartner pinned his way to third place.

Overland tied for 13th with 52 points, led by senior Sean Kelly’s third-place finish at 138 pounds and the fourth-place results of Chin (195 pounds) and Bradley (120 pounds).

Kelly, ranked No. 12 in 5A, topped No. 11 Jeremy Latham of Grand Junction in overtime in the first round and topped No. 18 Jace Wytulka of Pomona in the second round before seventh-ranked Josh Boulton of Fort Collins stopped him in the semifinals. Kelly beat 3A No. 8 Nicholas Gallegos of Jefferson to make the third-place match, which he won by rule.

Vista PEAK finished in 16th place with 15 points, many earned by junior Jayden Smith.

Smith — ranked No. 11 in 4A — won his first match before he lost to Ross, then won twice in the consolation bracket before a 1-0 loss to Grand Junction’s Hunter Tobiasson (ranked No. 7 in 5A) to come a win short of making the placing round.

Senior heavyweight Ryan Campbell, ranked No. 8 in 5A, fell short of placing for Smoky Hill, but won twice for Smoky Hill, which scored 10 points to tie for 17th.

Hinkley was held off the scoreboard, but competed without standout Serj Chavez.

Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel

2017 ARVADA WEST INVITATIONAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Team scores: 1. Pomona 196.5 points; 2. Grand Junction 165.5; 3. GRANDVIEW 137.5; 4. Adams City 107.5; 5. Castle View 103.5; 6. Coronado 91; 7. Discovery Canyon 69; 8. Jefferson 65; 9. Arvada West 61; 10. Mountain View 56; T11. Fort Collins 55; T11. Thompson Valley 55; T13. OVERLAND 52; T13. Denver East 52; 15. Fountain-Fort Carson 36.5; 16. VISTA PEAK 15; T17. SMOKY HILL 10; T17. Durango 10; T17. Northglenn 10; 20. HINKLEY 5

Aurora placers: 106 pounds — Alex Santillan (Grandview), 4th; 113 pounds — Giovani Federico (Grandview), 3rd; 120 pounds — Fabian Santillan (Grandview), 3rd; Isaiah Bradley (Overland), 4th; 132 pounds — Armando Santillan (Grandview), 3rd; 138 pounds — Sean Kelly (Overland), 3rd; 182 pounds — Tyler Ross (Grandview), 3rd; 195 pounds — Robert Woods (Grandview), champion; Kaelin Chin (Overland), 4th; 285 pounds — Gabriel Baumgartner (Grandview), 3rd