Ron Ortivez was lone Redskin champion
CENTER- The La Veta Redskins will take three wrestlers to state today, including Ron Ortivez, the 160-pound regional champion. Adam Ortivez (130) placed second and Logan Williams (189) took third. The team finished the tournament in seventh place with 70 points, two points behind Mountain Valley which overcame the Redskins in the last match of the night. (See related stories.)
La Veta took five other wrestlers to the tournament who failed to qualify. Michael Channel (112) lost his opening round match to Joel Villagomez, the number-one seed in the tournament and ranked number 6 in the state. Villagomez was the regional champion. Channel’s next opponent was John Paul Vigil of John Mall who got the pin in 1:38. Channel had a last round bye and finished fifth.
Freshman Dustin Middleman (135) won his first preliminary round but lost in the quarterfinal round against Jon Duran by pin at 23 seconds, dropping him into the consolation round, where he lost to Kevin Park of Ignacio.
Freshman Eric Griego (145) lost by a technical decision, 16-1, to Caleb Van Duesen of Custer County. Griego won the next two matches earning the chance to wrestle for fifth place. He again faced Van Duesen and again was pinned at 1:25 Jesse Bird (152) lost his initial match to regional champion Joey Gallegos of Antonito and then to Brant Shields. The last Redskin wrestler was Heavyweight Elliott Blessman who finished sixth. Blessman’s opening bout was against Panther, Lorenzo Trujillo. Blessman lost a 5-4 decision.
