Redskin Wrestlers at the Baca Invitational

by Dreama Ortivez
WALSH — Last Saturday the La Veta wrestlers performed well at the Baca County Invitational in Walsh. The small La Veta team once again placed in the top five against teams from Kansas, Texas and Colorado. The boys did a lot of wrestling as this competition was a round robin style tournament.
Michael Channel placed 4th and went 1-2 at 120 lbs. In his first match he wrestled JD Chenoweth from Hugoton, Kansas. Chenoweth pinned Channel in 1:08. Next Channel wrestled Edgar Villa from Hougton and Channel pinned his opponent in :41seconds. For the third and fourth place match Channel wrestled Luke Loflin from Baca County. Channel was pinned 1:06.
WD Arnold took 1st place and went 5-0 at 132 lbs. In Arnold’s first match, he wrestled Colton Long from Amarillo. Arnold pinned Long in 2:29. Next Arnold pinned Gensis Martinez from Hugoton, KS in 1:10. In Arnold’s third match, he got a 35 second pin against Bryton Coen from Elkhart, KS. In his semi-finals match, Arnold had another pin against Hector Alvardo from Lamar. Arnold pinned Alvardo in 1:13. In his final match of the day, he pinned Cade Alton from Baca County in 1:20.
Adam Ortivez took 1st place and went 4-0 at 138 lbs. In the first round Ortivez received a bye. He then pinned Blaine Winder from Eads in 2:50. Next Ortivez pinned Ceasar Serrano from Lamar in 2:34. In his semi-finals match, Ortivez pinned Justin Westphal from Baca County in 3:48. In Ortivez’s final match, he pinned Austin Billstrom from Amarillo, Texas in 43 seconds.
Austin Taggart went 0-5 for the day at 145 lbs. In Taggart’s first match, he was pinned in 58 seconds by Seph Iman from Elkhart, KS. Taggart was pinned by Lawson Fiss from Hugoton, KS in 1:13. Taggart received a bye in the third round. Taggart’s fourth match he was pinned in 54 seconds by Garrett Robinson from Amarillo, Texas. In Taggart’s final match of the day, he was pinned by Houston Gourley from Baca County in 51 seconds.
Eliott Blessman went 1-4 for the day at 285lbs and he took 4th place. Blessman wrestled Josh Hendrickson from Cheyenne Wells. Blessman pinned Hendrickson in 1:28. Blessman received a bye in the second round. In the third round Blessman was pinned in 2:40 by Justin Leox from Eads. He then wrestled John Gray from Crowley County. Gray pinned Blessman in 1:31. In Blessman’s final match, he was pinned in 3:35 by Alfredo Licon from Hugoton, KS.
The wrestlers have completed more than half of their season, and they only have three meets left before the true test of regionals which will determine if they will make it to the state championships in Denver.
This Saturday the wrestlers will be traveling to Trinidad for the Miner Invitational. Action begins at 9:30 am at the Trinidad High School. Good luck Redskins!