Glenwood Springs High School was the site of the Class 3A Region 2 boys wrestling meet on Friday and Saturday, where several local wrestlers placed in the top four in their weight classifications to qualify for next weekend’s state championships.

Basalt High School hosted the 14-team qualifying meet, and it was one of the Longhorns’ own who earned the only regional championship among the four local schools (Basalt, Coal Ridge, Rifle and Grand Valley) that were represented.

Senior Brady Samuelson, a Roaring Fork High School student who wrestles for the combined Longhorns squad, won the 190-pound class, pinning Gunnison’s Preston Gomez in 1 minute, 37 seconds.

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Samuelson ran the table through the championship bracket to take the regional title, pinning Delta’s Alex McKenna in 3:09 and then making quick work in the semifinal bout, pinning Pagosa Springs’ Conner Kelly in 1:10.

He makes a return trip to the 3A state championships, where he went 1-2 last year.

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At 120 pounds, Grand Valley senior Teagan Jacobs took second, falling to Alamosa’s Dempsey Gibbs in the title bout by major decision, 10-0. After a first-round bye, Jacobs beat Delta’s Kyle Chaffin by fall in 2:57, then scored a major decision, 12-0, over Gunnison’s Talon Kibler in the semifinal.

In the 165-pound class, Rifle sophomore Isaac Valencia took third, winning by fall in 1:44 over Steamboat’s Finn Rodgers for the consolation win. Valencia got there with a second-round win after a bye pinning LaJunta’s Esai Marquez in 1:57, then falling to Bayfield’s Deegan Barnes in 2:43. He then beat Pagosa Springs’ Harley Armijo with a pin at 2:07 to wrestle for third.

At 144 pounds, Rifle junior Parker Miller claimed the fourth and final qualifying spot to make a return trip to state, wrestling back in the consolation bracket to pin Grand Valley junior Gabriel Mendoza in their second matchup of the weekend, in 4:04. 

Miller advanced with a pin on Owen Kirby of Steamboat Springs, then beat Mendoza in their first meeting Friday, also a pin in 3:44. He then lost to Alamosa’s Donovan Valdez on 6-3 decision, sending him to the fourth-place rematch with Mendoza, after Mendoza lost to third-place qualifier Kyle Kincaide of Delta.

In the 157-pound class, Grand Valley senior Dominic Mendoza earned a return trip to state, placing fourth on a no-contest win in the wrestle back bout. Mendoza got there by defeating Gunnison’s Ashler Schellenberg by fall in 1:44, then Alamosa’s Jaxon Morgan in 4:29, before falling to Moffat County’s Zach Hedmon in 1:44. LaJunta’s Riggin Kinslow-Smart ceded to Mendoza for the qualifying spot.

And, at 285 pounds, Basalt senior Jose Munoz placed fourth, wrestling back to take a no contest win over Brayden Pridemore of Salida. Munoz received a first-round bye, then pinned Pridemore in 32 seconds in the second round. Munoz fell to Bayfield’s Jordan Cundiff in 2:49, before he rebounded to pin Grand Valley’s Richard Terrazas in 2:10. Munoz lost the third-place match to Alamosa’s James Sanchez by pin, in 1:41.

At 132 pounds, Coal Ridge junior Cooper Thurmon just missed out on a trip to state, placing fifth, falling in the third-place bout to Pagosa Springs’ Luke Tressler, and falling in the wrestle back for fourth place to Angel Romero of Delta, 8-4.

Alamosa won the regional team title with 204 points, Moffat County was second with 199 and Gunnison third with 161.5.

Demons’ Kodiak Kellogg headed to state

Wrestling at the 4A Region 3 meet in Durango on Friday and Saturday, Glenwood Springs senior Kodiak Kellogg took third in the 215-pound class, emerging as the Demons’ only state qualifier.

Kellogg won the third-place bout, pinning Sal Mendoza of Pueblo Centennial in 1:42. He got there on a first round bye, then lost to Raul Rascon of Montrose on a pin in 2:17. A medical forfeit put him in the third-place bout.

Girls state qualifiers

Meanwhile, the Rifle and Basalt girls wrestling programs and one Glenwood Springs student who wrestles for Grand Junction Central were at the single-classification regional at Battle Mountain High School on Friday and Saturday.

Wresting for Central this season, Glenwood Springs junior Adalee McNeil placed second in the 170-pound class, dropping a 3-1 decision to Moffat County’s Makaela Simpson in the title bout. McNeil won her quarterfinal match, pinning Belinda Alejandro of Olathe in 1:12, and won a 4-1 decision over Canon City’s Abigale Wold in the semifinal.

Rifle senior Madison Farris took third in the 155-pound class to qualify for state, pinning Olathe’s Aby England in 1:32. Farris had a first-round bye, then beat Gunnison’s Louise Blackley with a pin in 2:33.

At 125 pounds, Basalt senior Nayeli Membreno took second place to qualify, falling to Claire Donahue of Discovery Canyon in the title bout, by pin at 1:21. Membreno won her opening bout on a pin at 1:58 over Florence’s Mercedes Goff, then pinned Moffat County’s Haylee Staker in 3:13, and Durango’s Amiah Hanson in 4:44.

At, at 120 pounds, Basalt junior Paola Cruz Andrade took fourth on a no-contest win. After a first-round bye, Andrade took down Moffat County Abby Martinez in 3:45, then Grand Junction Central’s Jacy Stewart in 2:45.

The boys and girls State Wrestling Championships for all classifications take place at Ball Arena in Denver this Thursday through Saturday.

Post Independent interim Managing Editor and senior reporter John Stroud can be reached at jstroud@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9160.