9 Routt wrestlers make state
State-bound Routt wrestlers
Class 3A, Steamboat
113 — Colton Pasternak, 4th
126 — Dakota Thvedt, 1st
145 — Lance Bryant, 1st
152 — Matthew Hansen, 4th
160 — Hayden Johnson, 1st
Class 2A, Soroco and Hayden
145 — Lane Martindale
152 — Jace Logan
195 — Sky Carlson, 1st
195 — Christian Carson, 2nd
A total of nine wrestlers from Routt County high schools emerged from a thrilled two days of regional tournament wrestling to advance to the state tournament, set to begin Thursday in Denver.
State-bound Routt wrestlers
Class 3A, Steamboat
113 — Colton Pasternak, 4th
126 — Dakota Thvedt, 1st
145 — Lance Bryant, 1st
152 — Matthew Hansen, 4th
160 — Hayden Johnson, 1st
Class 2A, Soroco and Hayden
145 — Lane Martindale
152 — Jace Logan
195 — Sky Carlson, 1st
195 — Christian Carson, 2nd
Steamboat Springs had two regional champions, a second-place finisher and two other wrestlers claw their way into the state tournament, winning their final matches to place fourth and get the last spot.
Soroco had three wrestlers qualify, all three advancing to the regional finals and two emerging there as winners.
Hayden, meanwhile, had one wrestler break through to state.
For the Sailors, junior Lance Bryant advanced to the regional finals at 145 pounds, then won his match there in only 48 seconds, securing his first trip to state with a regional title.
Junior Hayden Johnson, a state finalist last season, also won his bracket, the 160-pound division. He got a pin in the second period.
Senior Dakota Thvedt finished second at 126 pounds, also earning the trip.
Things weren’t so smooth for the Sailors’ last two qualifiers.
Both senior Matthew Hansen, at 152 pounds, and senior Colton Pasternak, at 113, lost in the championship bracket. Hansen then lost in the consolation semifinals, too, and had to wrestle for fifth place. After winning that, he got one more match, against the loser of the third-place match. Hansen won again, earning his second trip to state.
Pasternak advanced to wrestle for third, but lost there and had to earn that fourth-place spot. He did, with a first-period pin, also earning the trip back to state.
Rams sending trio
Things were exciting for Soroco, too. All three of the team’s qualifiers wrestled in the regional championship match.
Senior Lane Martindale earned his spot with a second-place finish at 145 pounds.
Junior Jace Logan avenged his only loss of the season, beating Norwood’s Hayden Harris in overtime.
Junior Sky Carlson then pulled an upset in the 195-pound semifinals, then another in the finals. He and Hayden senior Christian Carson wrestled to a draw through three regulation periods and both overtime periods. Carlson finally won the match to take the regional championship, though both wrestlers will represent their schools at state.
For Hayden, Carson’s second-place finish was the highlight. The team’s other senior, Devlyn Mosman, lost his opening-round match, was injured and didn’t wrestle beyond that.
Hunter Planansky made a strong run at the state tournament at 152 pounds, but fell just short, finishing fifth.
To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253, email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @JReich9
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