Gary Daum Classic brings wrestling fans to Niwot

Niwot High School's wrestling coach, Bobby Matthews, opened the Gary Daum Classic wrestling tournament with a brief tribute to the late NHS wrestling coach, then asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence in honor of the memory of Daum's daughter Lindsay and his granddaughter Meadow who died tragically last summer.

Following the national anthem, the tournament began with 15 schools competing at Niwot High School, including schools as small as Lyons High School and as large as Boulder High School. Matthews turned much of the coaching duties over to his assistant coach, Todd Johnson, allowing him to deal with the myriad of details hosting such a large tournament.

Lucas Menza was the first wrestler up for the Cougars. Menza, who attends Twin Peaks High School, suffered a loss by pin in the 138-pound class.

Freshman Hiraku Johnson, wrestling at 132 pounds, also suffered a loss by pin to an opponent from Fort Morgan. Jacobi Alton, wrestling at 135 pounds for Niwot, also lost his first match by pin.

Ryder Evans, a sophomore, was the first Cougar wrestler to post a victory, winning his 128-pound match, pinning his opponent in the first period. When asked if he was confident going into the match, Evans simply replied "Yes."

In his next round, Evans won again via a first period pin. His day would later end in the third-place match, but not before accumulating 15 total points.

"I'm pretty proud, but I wish I got a better place," Evans said.

Niwot, which placed 13th in the tournament with 44 points, received its best showing from Gavin Burrage. The 175-pound junior pinned his first three opponents and advanced to the first-place match before running out of gas, falling to Fort Morgan's Colin Duckworth. Burrage said his plan was to go aggressive early and while he believed it was a needed tactic, Duckworth had him pinned 43 seconds in.

"I lost because I wanted to pin him in the first round because I knew I couldn't go all three, but I got caught on that," Burrage said.

Johnson remained proud of Burrage for his success against some of the area's top wrestlers. Midway through his junior year, Burrage has already won more matches than he did in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined.

Alton and Eric Falcon (165 pounds) added a combined five points to Niwot's total, both dropping their respective matches in the consolation bracket semifinals. Other Niwot wrestlers competing included Jack Blankenship (120), Russell Ragland (144), Keenan Ryan (157) and Shubham Shrestha (215).

Six wrestlers from Thompson Valley High School placed first to help the Eagles score a tournament-best 294 points. Fort Morgan High School finished second and Skyline High School came in third.

"This is a tough tournament," Johnson said. "Thompson Valley is tough, Holy Family is tough, a lot of good competition. And they (Niwot) went out there and competed and had a good showing."

Like Matthews, Johnson knew Daum well and took immense pride in honoring his late mentor.

"Gary Daum was my high school wrestling coach and now I'm back coaching here," Johnson said. "It's great to put this event on. It's a big fundraiser for us but even more than that, it's remembering a great coach and a great man."