La Veta wrestlers back in action

by Dreama Ortivez
LA VETA — Last Saturday the La Veta wrestlers traveled to Custer County for the Custer County Invitational. There were 14 teams participating in this tournament including some 4A teams.
Michael Channel wrestled at 120 lbs. and he went 2-2 for the day. Channel wrestled Clay Brown from Sangre de Cristo in the first round. Channel pinned Brown in 4:25. He then lost to Nathaniel Johnson from TCA. Channel fought back and pinned his next opponent, Colin Rafferty, from Custer County in 38 seconds. In Channel’s final match of the day, he lost to Tanner Watkins from Cripple Creek Victor in 1:15.
WD Arnold wrestled at 132 lbs. and he was crowned Champion in his weight class. Arnold wrestled Aaron Mejia from TCA in his first match and beat Mejia 11-5. He then wrestled Cody Willis from Gunnison for his semifinals match. He pinned Willis in 18 seconds. In the finals Arnold wrestled Dillon Vance from Alamosa and pinned his opponent in 3:01.
Adam Ortivez wrestled at 138 lbs. and was crowned Champion of the tournament. In the first round Ortivez wrestled Josh Patterson from Pueblo West. He pinned Patterson in 47seconds. Next Ortivez took on CJ Sanchez from CSL. Ortivez pinned Sanchez in 1:00. In the semifinals Ortivez wrestled Andrew Register from TCA and pinned Register in 1:01. In the finals Ortivez met up with Brock Wahlert from Pueblo West and pinned his opponent in 1:38.
Austin Taggart also wrestled at 138 lbs. Taggart went 0-2 for the day. In his first match Taggart wrestled Justin Weeks from TCA. Taggart lost a close match 8-7. He then wrestled Dylan Koble from Custer County and lost another close match 5-4.
Elliott Blessman wrestled in the 285 lb. weight class. Blessman went 3-2 for the day and took 3rd place. Blessman wrestled Stephen Bradshaw from Canon City in his first round and pinned Bradshaw in 3:22. He then wrestled Dillon Stinson from Rye. Blessman found himself another pin in 2:21. In Round 4 Blessman fell short to Malik Jones from Pueblo West 6-7. In Round 5 Blessman pinned Brandon Ratcliffe from Alamosa in 2:31. In Blessman’s final match of the day, he was pinned by Mark Schroeder from Swink in 2:43.
The La Veta wrestlers are back on the road tomorrow when they will be traveling to Walsh for the Walsh tournament on Saturday. Good luck boys!