Niwot wrestling caps off 2021 season at regionals

The challenging 2021 season finally got the best of coach Bobby Matthews and the Niwot wrestling team at the Class 4A Region 3 qualifying tournament at Loveland High on March 5-6. Despite a season-best effort from most of his wrestlers, no Cougars advanced far enough in their respective brackets to capture a berth to the upcoming state championships. But there were also a number of positives during the weekend, and Matthews is already looking forward to seeing all but one of the youthful squad return for 2022.

"It's mixed feelings for me," Matthews said after Niwot's early exit on day two of the 14-team regional. "Overall, a little disappointed. I thought we'd get at least one kid in state. But, it's the first tournament for two of our freshmen. We didn't have one all year, so overall I'm pleased with how they did today, how they did all season, and I think it only bodes well for the future because the three that were here we'll be back next year."

Due to Colorado State High School Activities Association COVID-19 guidelines, the tournament was held over two days, with seven weight classes competing on March 5, and the next five on March 6. Joining Niwot in Region 3 competition were teams from Erie, Frederick, Longmont, Silver Creek, Skyline, Mead, Mountain View, Roosevelt, Greeley West, Broomfield, and host Loveland. Roosevelt ultimately captured the tournament title, with 239.0 points, followed by Loveland (184.0) and Mead (135.6). The top two clinched team berths to state, and automatic bids for each of its wrestlers.

Niwot ended up much further down on the team standings list, not least because just six of its eight wrestlers were able to participate in the final regular season event. Of those, just one posted a win in the championship bracket, accounting for half of the Cougars' team points.

That honor belonged to junior Bryce Nemec (13-4), who went into the tournament as the number-four seed in the 285-lb class. He received a bye in the first round, and then posted a quick fall (0:26) over Erie's Calin Demmer in the quarterfinals. But that's where Nemec's luck ran out, as his next opponent was top-ranked senior Thomas Brake (20-2) of Roosevelt who would ultimately go on to place first in the bracket. After two grueling periods, his 45-pound weight advantage proved too much for the athletic Nemec, and the junior found himself without the strength to fight being pinned.

"He hasn't really wrestled many kids that are at the upper end of the 285-pound weight class, so he's not used to that weight. And so that takes a lot out of you when you're picking up your 245 pound frame, plus 285 more pounds. It's hard. It's just not having a normal season where he would see more kids like that hurt him."

Nemec was then bumped into the consolation bracket, but lost the semifinal match to Loveland's AJ Anderson in a 7-2 decision.

Two Niwot freshmen also posted wins on day two-Ben Rauschkolb (195lb) and Gavin Burrage (220lb). Burrage pinned a Mountain View opponent in round two of the consolation bracket for his first career victory in a contested match. He then exited the tournament after a second-round pin in the semifinals, his second loss of the day.

Rauschkolb (11-7) also went 1-2 on the day, with a win by fall in the consolation round over Chance Copple of Mead. He was then pinned in the consolation semifinals, despite putting up a good fight against Blake Hopkins of Roosevelt. Afterwards, he credited his teammates for what he considers a successful season, even if it doesn't necessarily show in the win-loss record.

"Having the close-knit team really helps, not only mentally with wrestling, but also definitely with the physical aspects with actually wrestling," he said.

Elsewhere for Niwot, freshman Autumn Rutherford lost her first two matches in the 126lb bracket, while senior Josh Armas (145lb) and sophomore Vithal Arya (160lb) were eliminated after first round losses.

Though he was hoping for another week of competition, Matthews is still grateful that the 2021 wrestling season happened at all, and admires the small band of wrestlers who stuck with the program through a tumultuous year.

"Not being able to go to school, being isolated a little bit away from their friends, hats off to them for getting that done," he said. "We didn't have a lot of issues with eligibility which is something I was a little worried about with them being online, so hats off to those kids for making it happen."