Nemec records three falls at Severance quad

The wins are still hard to come by for the youthful Niwot wrestling team in 2021, but head coach Bobby Matthews sees promising signs amid the losses that should pay off down the road.

"We're getting much better," he said after a four-way meet hosted by Severance High School on Feb. 20, with Erie and Longmont. "Overall, our practices have been much better. And they're listening, I'm seeing it. And they're having better results, they are going deeper in matches, and the deeper you can go and score points, that's where you're going to learn. Half of our team are freshmen, so the future looks good for them. But it's tough."

Per Matthews, the going was slightly less tough for Niwot at the Severance quad, even if that didn't quite translate into wins. Not that the Cougars were shut out on the day. Junior heavyweight Bryce Nemec recorded quick falls in each of his three matches, while freshman Ben Rauschkolb (195) was victorious in his match against Longmont's Hunter Knight, which was enough to clinch a 36-18 dual win over the Trojans, Niwot's first of the season. It also boosted the freshman's season record to 7-4.

Nemec was impressive in his three wins, pinning his opponents within the first 90 seconds of his matches. His most dramatic moment came against Erie, after he escaped a surprise move that nearly put him on his back. Though he ultimately got the win, Matthews said the first-year varsity junior is sometimes prone to "sloppy" mistakes that are magnified in a condensed season.

"He's tough, he's hard to pin, but again today he got caught in a headlock. One of his two losses this year was a headlock. It's little things like that, there's no room for error. At regionals, if you lose in the first round, you're out this year. "

Nemec represents Niwot's best chance to qualify for the 2021 postseason, and Matthews isn't ruling that out for the junior even though the path is much narrower at this year's regional tournament. Nemec's overall record is 8-2 on the season, and the losses were to ranked seniors. But with just a few weeks to go, Matthews said that Nemec will have to "be much cleaner" to keep those hopes alive.

"In the wrestling room it's much much better-it's night and day. He's much more athletic, he's faster, he's more fluid. If we can translate that out here during the competition, I think he's got a really good shot. I'm happy with his progress in the wrestling room and I think that he's going to peak at the right time."

Also competing for Niwot on the day were freshmen Autumn Rutherford (132) and Jake Hester (160), sophomore Gavin Burrage (220), junior Satchel Hart (138), senior Josh Armas (145), and sophomore Vithal Arya (152), who recorded his first-ever match win in a JV exhibition match against Erie.