Holyoke wrestlers reaching their peak in time for regionals

Leading into the regional wrestling tournament, set for this Friday at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, the Holyoke Dragon wrestlers are fine-tuning their fundamentals; Head Coach Broc Pelle expressed confidence in their progress.

“Everybody’s peaking right at the right time, right before post-season,” Pelle said. “I’m happy where everybody’s at and how everybody’s wrestling right now.”

The Dragons gained “a lot of good matches,” he said, during the Big “O” Memorial Duals in Yuma, Colorado, where – though the team placed seven of seven – they showed improvements when compared to previous matchups. Originally scheduled to compete at a tournament in Eaton, Colorado, Holyoke opted for the Big “O” to get a better lock on some wrestlers the Dragons would face in regionals.

The team’s relatively small size, with six wrestlers competing, counted against it in duals. For each of the 14 weight classes, if a competing team had a wrestler and Holyoke did not, the other team gained six points due to forfeit – the equivalent of a fall.

Thus, due to forfeits alone, Chatfield gained 36 points over Holyoke, Dayspring Christian 24 points, and Yuma and Resurrection Christian 12 points each. Final scores for the duals were 12-60 in Chatfield’s favor, followed by 24-48 for Dayspring Christian, 6-48 for Yuma and finally 24-30 for Resurrection Christian. Chatfield ultimately placed first and Sedgwick County/Fleming second.

Pelle believes the Dragons’ second matchup of the tournament, facing Dayspring Christian, proved their best performance of the day. The team’s heavyweight, Hudson Koellner, took down Dayspring’s Cody Nester for a first-round fall in 1:47; his previous match with Nester, also a victory, went past three rounds and into double overtime. Koellner would go undefeated at the Big “O.” In addition, Tyson Mosenteen, at 150 pounds, trapped Dayspring’s Jaxon Martin in a cradle that became a fall at 1:00. Their last matchup, Pelle said, proved “close,” with Mosenteen winning 7-2 by regular decision.

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