By Patrick Carey
CSU-Pueblo’s wrestling team competed at the NCAA Division II Super Regional Four Championships at San Francisco State University last weekend.
Going into the tournament the wrestling team had won its last two dual matches in the conference and had high hopes that they would continue with their success.
The team came out flat in the opening round of the tournament and never recovered. Only two of the ten wrestlers that competed placed in the top six. Patrick Carey, a heavyweight wrestler, placed third and Justin Grant who wrestles 165-pounds placed sixth. The team finished in tenth place out of the 11 teams that wrestle in the conference.
Carey was the only member of team to qualify for the national tournament. To qualify for the national tournament a wrestler had to place in the top four in their weight class.
Carey entered the tournament unseeded and wrestled the No. 3 seed Sam Udell of Chadron State first round winning by a 3-1 decision in overtime. He wrestled Nebraska Kearney in the semifinals and lost a close 5-3 decision in double overtime. With that loss Carey had to win his next match to place in the in the top four, which he did winning a 7-4 decision over Adams State.
Wrestling in the third place match Carey faced Udell from Chadron again winning a 3-3 decision with riding time in double overtime.
Grant entered the tournament unseeded and upset the No. 2 seed of the tournament securing a takedown in double overtime to beat Isaiah Jimenez of San Francisco State. Wrestling in the semifinals Grant lost a 6-0 decision to Mesa State. Grant would end up losing his next two matches to place sixth which eliminated him from qualifying for the national tournament.
The rest of the team did not perform as well with only Saul Guerrero, Matt Addington, Trevor Grant and Adam Carey all winning only one match. Carey entered the tournament with a shoulder injury, and wrestler Lyle Evans competed with a neck injury.
Freshman 149-pounder, Jake Snider, faced his brother Jesse Snider from Colorado School of Mines in his first match. Snider had wrestled his brother earlier in the season losing a 12-5 decision. Snider would eventually lose the match by pin. Although he lost by pin the match was much closer, being down by several points Snider went for a desperation takedown and was caught on his back.
With only the national tournament remaining Patrick Carey will be heading to the University of Nebraska-Kearney March 11-12 with hopes of being CSU-Pueblo’s first All-American since the 2001 program was brought back.