Area wrestlers didn’t waste any time chasing titles this weekend.

With Coal Ridge, Rifle, Grand Valley and Basalt competing in the 3A regional tournament at Pagosa Springs, each program manufactured trips to the podium and state qualifiers in their respective weight classes.

First-place winners included 285-pound regional champion Hayden Grice of Grand Valley and 138-pound regional champ Bryce Rowley of Rifle. In addition, Basalt’s Ruben Samuelson won the 195-pound crown.

Alex Guardado of Rifle won the 195-pound third-place regional title.

Fourth-place winners include Titans 220-pound wrestler Angel Perea and 285-pound teammate Boston Huck, as well as a 195-pounder Brayden Harper of Grand Valley. Brady Samuelson of Basalt also won the 170-pound fourth-place match.

Meanwhile, Glenwood Springs competed in the 4A regional at Cheyenne Mountain.

Demons Leobardo Meraz and Elo Garcia notched fourth-place finishes in the 132- and 152-pound weight classes, respectively.

Up next, Garfield County high school wrestling qualifiers get set to compete at the state tournament March 12-13 at Southwest Motors Events Center in Pueblo. State pairings were to be announced Sunday afternoon.

Individual highlights:

GLENWOOD SPRINGS

At 132 pounds, Leobardo Meraz recorded a 25-second fall over Sarah Christensen of Evergreen in a first-round championship match. After losing in the quarterfinals, Meraz recorded a 25-second fall over Leo Nguyen of Bear Creek in the consolation semifinals. Marez would then notch a fourth-place finish after losing on an 11-1 major decision to Judah Guajardo of Palisade.

At 138 pounds, Ray Rosenmerkel recorded a 1:41 fall over Jacque Laloutte of Evergreen in a first-round championship match. After losing the next round, Rosenmerkel recorded a 2:12 fall over Daquan Diaz of George Washington.

At 152 pounds, after receiving a bye and losing the next round Elo Garcia recorded 4:58 fall over Jackson Grosshans of Standley Lake in a consolation first-round match. Garcia then won by injury over Jaysten Sanchez of Grand Junction Central in the consolation semifinals. Garcia would notch a fourth-place finish after losing on a close 11-10 decision to Manuel Heredia of Eagle Valley in the third-place match.

At 160 pounds, JoJohn Ritter recorded a 33-second fall over Proper Koah of Wheat Ridge in the opening round.

COAL RIDGE

At 120 pounds, Cooper Thurman recorded a 55-second fall over Phillip Hoyt of Grand Valley in the round-one championship match. Thurman also recorded a 3-0 decision over Hunter Bercher of Rifle in the round-one consolation match.

At 138 pounds, Austin Price recorded a 1:28 fall over Paul Schenk of Basalt in a round-one championship match.

At 145 pounds, after receiving a first-round bye Brandon Short recorded a 2:18 fall over Talan Hulet of Delta in a round-one consolidation match.

At 182 pounds, Dominic Centeno recorded a 1:55 fall over Benjie Tomas of Alamosa in a round-one championship match.

At 220 pounds, after receiving a first-round bye Angel Perea recorded an 8-2 decision over Jacob Barr of Middle Park in the quarterfinals. Perea recorded a 4:22 fall over Omar Bernabe of Gunnison in the consolation semifinals. Perea would go out to lose the third place match to Barr, notching fourth place overall.

At 285 pounds, after Boston Huck received a first-round bye, he recorded a 41-second fall over Treyton Sandoval of Delta in the quarterfinals. Huck would later notch a win in the consolation semis and go on to face James Sanchez of Alamosa in the third-place match. A 54-second fall, however, would lead Huck to a fourth-place finish.

GRAND VALLEY

At 106 pounds, after Teagan Jacobs received a first-round bye he recorded a 4:47 fall over Noah Duran of Moffat County in the quarterfinals.

At 126 pounds, after Hector De La Cruz received a first-round bye he recorded a 4:37 fall over Luca Rizzo of Summit in the quarterfinals.

At 132 pounds, Keenan Strauss recorded a 3:27 fall over Jonathan Bolitho of Coal Ridge in a round-one championship match.

At 160 pounds, after Jordan Cedeno received a first-round bye and lost in the quarterfinals he recorded a 1:14 fall over Elijahua Davison of Rifle in a round-one consolation match.

At 170 pounds, Cristian Barragon recorded a 2:46 fall over Levi Miller of Rifle in a first-round championship match.

At 195 pounds, after Brayden Harper received a first-round bye he recorded a 13-3 major decision over Kaleb Brumley of Middle Park in the quarterfinals. He’d then pick up a consolation semifinal win over Logan Garcia of Alamosa to face Ruben Samuelson of Basalt in the third-place match. A 49-second fall, however, would lead Harper to a fourth-place finish.

At 285 pounds, after Hayden Grice received two byes, he recorded a 1-minute fall over James Sanchez of Alamosa. He’d then take rob Kaden McKee of Pagosa Springs of a first-place crown, recording a 5-2 decision for the regional title.

RIFLE

At 113 pounds, Kellen Johnson recorded a 39-second fall over Clancy Swindell of Grand Valley in a first-round championship match.

At 126 pounds, James Webb recorded a 20-7 major decision over Emjai Holder of Coal Ridge in a first-round championship round.

At 132 pounds, Parker Miller recorded a 2:49 fall over Aiden Collins of Summit. After losing the next round, Miller recorded a 2:22 fall over Jacob Skolnick of Steamboat Springs a first-round consolidation match.

At 138 pounds, after receiving a first-round bye Bryce Rowley recorded a 49-second fall over Wes Atcitty of Montezuma-Cortez in the quarterfinals. He then picked up a semifinal win over Blake Juergens of Moffat County via 3:53 fall. Rowley would triumph in the first-place match, beating Rylin Gallegos of Gunnison with a 1:38 fall.

At 145 pounds, Caidyn Wilcox recorded a 44-second fall over Ronen Marsteller of Summit in a first-round championship match.

At 195 pounds, after Alex Guardado received a first-round bye he recorded a 1:42 fall over James Goff of Delta. After suffering a loss in the next round, Guardado recorded an 8-4 decision over Aaron Aucoin of Pagosa Springs in the consolation semifinals. Guardado then claimed a third-place victory, recording a 3:21 fall over Brayden Harper of Grand Valley.

BASALT

At 152 pounds, Ryan Zheng recorded a 12-8 decision over Dominic Mendoza of Grand Valley in a first-round championship match.

At 170 pounds, after Brady Samuelson received a bye he recorded a 53-second decision over Eli Broady of Middle Park in the quarterfinals. After suffering a loss in the next round, Samuelson recorded a 4:41 fall over Christain Barragan of Grand Valley in the consolation semifinals. Samuelson claimed fourth place overall after losing on a 1:21 fall to Clay Sandridge of Delta.

At 195 pounds, after Ruben Samuelson received a bye he recorded a 1:01 fall over Aaron Aucoin of Pagosa Springs in the quarterfinals. He then recorded a 49-second fall over Bradyen Harper of Grand Valley in the semifinals.

Samuelson skated by Cole Moon of Steamboat Springs in the title match, recording a 1:19 fall.

rerku@postindependent.com