Host Pine Creek led the pack on the first day of the 5A Region 1 tournament Friday, advancing 10 wrestlers to the semifinals and unheralded

Doherty made a strong showing, advancing five. The Eagles, ranked No. 2 by Tim Yount’s On the Mat, are in position to send a large group to the state tournament on Thursday through Saturday. The top four in each weight class advance to the Pepsi Center.

Pine Creek was expected to be out front, but Doherty opened some eyes with its early performance.

Sophomore Nathan Gonzales, ranked No. 16 at 120 pounds, was the first Doherty wrestler to punch his card for the semifinals with a steady 8-3 decision over No. 15 Adrian Delacruz of Greeley West. Gonzales earned a semifinal match with No. 5 Dylan Bull of Mountain Vista. But he’s not intimidated.

“There are some good teams (here) but we’re right there,” Gonzales said.

Junior 132 Thaddeus Hayes joined Gonzales with a 5-minute, 34-second pin of Rampart junior (No. 21) Joe Kaska. Seniors Evan Boulton (138, No. 8) and Ricky Mahan (182, No. 17) and sophomore Brandon Supernaw (160, No. 11) also advanced for the Spartans.

Pine Creek junior Geordan Martinez stretched his record to 33-0 with a 42-second pin of Greeley West junior Shane Ricks.

Senior Jerry McGinty (138, No. 3) got his first serious competition since injuring his knee three weeks earlier. Wrestling with a brace he earned an 8-2 decision over Liberty freshman Josh Turner and followed that up with a 15-0 technical fall of Palmer’s No. 23 senior Sam McCoy.

McGinty’s return is key to the state title hopes for the second ranked Eagles.

“It’s good to be able to get back on the mat,” McGinty said. “It’s getting my confidence back. It’s been so long it feels like. I’ve been training pretty hard on the bike and the elliptical. I’m right where I need to be (conditioning-wise)”.

McGinty and Martinez are joined in the semifinals by Trenton Watson (106 No. 4), Chris Cos (113 No. 5), Andrew Wallace (126 No. 18), Derrick Ortiz (145 No. 6), Alex Smith (152 No. 6), Alex Markowski (160 No. 4), Brandon Tribble (195, No. 4) and Ian Kluckman (285 No. 4).

Liberty junior Chris Fuller advanced to the 113 semifinals with a tense 6-4 decision over Greeley West’s Dylan West. Fuller opened up a 6-1 lead, built on a pair of takedowns, then got flipped on his back late in the third period but he held on for the victory. The win put Fuller in strong position to secure his first trip to the state tournament when competition resumes today.

“I feel like I’ve got a pretty good shot to go to state,” Fuller said. “I just have to wrestling, not for me, but for God, for my coaches and for my team. When I think about it too much I don’t wrestle my best. When I wrestle for something else it seems to help me out a lot this year.”

Palmer junior Ryan Pellow (No. 14) won his first two matches, including a dominant 16-0 technical fall over Doherty senior Dustin Malkovich. Pellow is trying to make for his first state tourney. tournament after narrowly missing a berth the past two years. “It just gives me high expectations,” Pellow said. “I’ve gotta make it this year and just not even give the other person a chance to knock me out. When you get on a win streak your confidence just gets higher and higher.”

Terrors senior Kendall Francisco (220, No. 20) and Rams senior Keith Karnes (285, No. 9) also advanced.