DENVER, Colorado – David Witt is feeling the pressure.

Entering the state wrestling tournament with a perfect record, the Grand Valley senior knows he’s a marked man.

In his Class 3A first-round match against La Junta’s Dylan Wahlert on Thursday, Witt dealt with that pressure admirably. He wasted little time punching his ticket to today’s quarterfinals, scoring a pin in 2 minutes, 58 seconds at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

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Witt, now 40-0, will face Mead’s Greg Rademacher in today’s 170-pound quarterfinals.

Thursday’s win was a business-like affair for Witt, who is wrestling at the state tournament for the fourth time.

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“It’s always been business,” he noted. “Now, there’s a lot of pressure to go out there and do it.”

How does Witt deal with that pressure?

“I try to just prepare for every match like it’s the same,” he relayed. “I just go out there and wrestle my match. I don’t try to switch to anyone else’s style. I just go out there and wrestle hard.”

Not long before Witt put the finishing touches on his pin, teammate Bryan Hegwood notched Grand Valley’s first win of the afternoon.

The 160-pound Hegwood topped Valley’s Larry Bol, 8-1. He will battle Alamosa’s Brandon Bertsch in today’s quarterfinal round.

The sophomore, who improved to 10-11, heeded the advice of his coaches and teammates in his state debut.

“They said it’s going to be tough and to not let the enormousness of this place get to you,” Hegwood said. “They said to just wrestle like it’s any other tournament.”

Suffering losses for the Cardinals were Cody Pfau (106 pounds), Tucker Schultz (126), George Stagg (132) and Michael Salazar (152). All four will wrestle in first-round consolation matches today.

Defeating Valley’s Zac Miller, 7-3, in his first-round match at 138 pounds, Brandon Kittle picked up Rifle’s lone win in 3A competition on Thursday.

Kittle, a senior who improved to 23-10, will face Alamosa’s Pablo Ortiz in today’s quarterfinals.

Bears suffering losses on Thursday were Rogelio Navarro (113), Isaac Rider (120), Dallas Rohrig (126), Coy Zang (138), Tony Galaviz (160), A.J. Cordova (170), Clayton Coombs (182) and Jose Prado (285). Consolation matches await them today.

Coal Ridge senior Devon Godeski cruised to a win by technical fall (18-2) over Berthoud’s Preston Pickert in his first-round match at 138 pounds on Thursday (see story above).

Godeski improved to 25-8 with the win. He’ll take on La Junta’s Josh Del Rio in the quarterfinals today.

Fellow Titan Collin Carbone dropped his opening match at 120 pounds, losing to Alamosa’s Kole Kelley, 9-0. Carbone will wrestle a consolation match today.

jcaspersen@postindependent.com