DENVER • Some key upsets helped the Pine Creek cause on the first day of the state wrestling championships, but a pair of gimpy knees could cause some issues Friday and Saturday. Fountain-Fort Carson and Coronado got off to strong starts as well.

Doherty senior Evan Boulton earned a hard-fought 3-2 decision over Pomona’s Austin Marvel in his first state tournament bout at 138 pounds. Boulton had to endure the final 90 seconds of the match with a jammed finger that limited his grip, but he was able to survive a late scramble to hold off Marvel.

“I just wanted it real bad,” Boulton said. “This is my last year so I just want to place. I knew he was going to be tough.”

On an adjacent mat at 138, Fountain-Fort Carson’s Rashawn Benford overcame an early 5-0 deficit and pinned Ponderosa’s Torrey Williams in 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

For Fountain-Fort Carson it was the second pin of night, following a five-minute, 42-second fall for Jacob Mondragon over Poudre’s Matt O’Donnell at 126.

“I just felt like if I went out there and got the first one out of the way then everyone can keep it going,” Mondragon said. “We want people to know that when you wrestle Fountain you got the bad draw.”

Seth Wilson (170), Josh Schoenberger (182) and Tracey Hancock (195) kept that momentum going with first-round wins for the Trojans.

Pine Creek may have been the biggest benefactor of Boulton’s and Benford’s dirty work. Marvel and Williams are key figures for two of their biggest competitors. Pine Creek got wins from most of the slots it was expecting to, with nine wrestlers advancing to the quarterfinals. Trenton Watson got a win at 106 to start the Eagles off on the right foot.

Geordan Martinez (132), Jerry McGinty (138), Derrick Ortiz (145), Alex Smith (152), Alex Markowski (160), Brandon Tribble (195) and Ian Kluckman (285) advanced as well.

McGinty tweaked his injured knee and was in obvious pain throughout his match with Cherry Creek’s Brady Tellis, but fought through it for a 10-7 decision. Tied at 6-6, McGinty chose to start the third period neutral, confident Tellis could not take him down and scored a takedown and near fall of his own. Tellis escaped, but the match ended with both wrestlers on their feet.

“My No. 1 goal is to win a state title and help everyone on the team win a state title,” McGinty said. “That’s pretty much what is keeping me going right now.” 

A knee injury to Chris Cos (113) suffered at regionals became a bigger concern when he dropped his match to Fort Collins’ Dominic Alvarez by 11-2 major decision.

Coronado advanced four wrestlers to the next round: Adrian Cordova (113), Devin House (126), Devan Cruz (132) and Trevor Powers (170).

Palmer Ridge’s Tyler Thalhammer, left, wrestles Broomfield’s Jonathan Stelling in their 126-pound match during first round of the 4A Colorado State Wrestling tournament Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Stelling won 8-1. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

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Coronado’s Devin House, top, wrestles Palmer’s Andrew Pellow in their 126-pound match during the first round of the 5A Colorado State Wrestling tournament Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Denver. House won 19-3. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

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