NHS Wrestling season ends

Niwot High School wrestlers came up short of qualifying for the state tournament, but three wrestlers placed at the regional tournament.

"We had two sixth-place finishes and one fifth-place," head coach Bobby Matthews said after the Feb. 11 tournament. "It didn't live up to my expectations," Matthews said, "but I saw growth throughout the season, and it finished pretty well."

Youth and inexperience as well as injuries haunted the Cougars this season, with only one senior on the squad. The lone senior, Eric Falcon, who wrestled at 165 pounds, suffered an injury in the last few minutes of practice on the day before the regional tournament. "There was no way he could go," Matthews said.

Junior Gavin Burrage took fifth place at 175 pounds for Niwot, the highest place of any Cougar wrestler. The first four places qualify for state, so Burrage finished just out of the running. He also had the misfortune to go up against the number one seeded wrestler in the wrestle-backs due to an upset in earlier rounds. The number one seed finished fourth.

All things considered, Matthews was proud of Burrage's season, as he finished with a 37-12 record. "Gavin had a great year," he said. "It's only his third year of wrestling. He won only once, at regionals, as a freshman, wrestling at 220 pounds. In three years he went from one win to 37 – pretty impressive."

Matthews, who had hip surgery a year ago, sometimes wrestles with Burrage in practice or during drills. "He would pick up on things I would do to him, and then he would do them."

Sophomore Ryder Evans took sixth place at 132 pounds. "If he was healthy, he probably would have qualified for state," Matthews said. "He was sick for a week-and-a-half. In every match he was in it or ahead, but he lost by one or two points." Evans finished with a 31-15 record for the season.

Freshman Jonathan Lopez also finished sixth, wrestling in the heavyweight division (285 pounds). "Jon had not won a varsity match all year," Matthews said. "He beat a kid with a .500 record, and got a pin. He was figuring it out at the end of the season."

Lopez has two brothers who wrestled for Niwot – Giovanni Lopez, and Jose Lopez, who went on to wrestle at the junior college level. Both have helped out with the Niwot program this season as volunteer assistants.

Lynn Voss, an orthopedic surgeon in Longmont who wrestled at Johns Hopkins University, has also helped out this season, particularly in January. "It's nice having them," Matthews said.

Matthews is encouraged for the future of the program. "It bodes well for the program to have three regional placers," he said. Matthews has been working with wrestlers at Sunset Middle School as well, where Aaron Martinsen is soon retiring. "Covid hurt us a lot," Matthews said. "We lost a whole year. We're trying to get it back with help from Todd Johnson, who has been an assistant coach."