Niwot sends wrestlers Evans and Burrage to state

Niwot High School wrestling coach Bobby Matthews was pleased with the performance of three of his wrestlers at the Regional tournament last weekend, where two Cougars qualified for the state tournament in Class 4A.

NHS wrestler Ryder Evans placed second at 144 pounds, losing only in the Regional finals. The junior earned the Cougars' highest seed, and will wrestle against Erie sophomore Tyler Muir in the first round at state.

Senior Gavin Burrage placed third at 175 pounds, and had to come all the way back through the consolation bracket after losing in the second round, and won his final match to earn third-place. Burrage will wrestle sophomore Elijah Contreras of Pueblo East in the first round at state. Burrage, who missed part of the season due to injury, has a 20-3 record on the season.

Matthews was excited to see his top two wrestlers make it to state. "Ryder wrestled amazing," he said. "He is 33-6 this season and has a very good chance of getting on the podium this year. Could not be more proud of the way he wrestled this weekend. He is the first Niwot wrestler in the Regional Final since Tommy Stager." Stager went on to win a state championship.

Evans won his first match by major decision, 17-5, over J.D. McCue of Longmont. He followed with a victory over Trevan Anstine of Montrose in the semi-finals by pin in just 48 seconds. In the finals, Evans battled Noah Garcia-Salazar of Windsor, but lost by technical fall, 21-5, at the 4:08 mark.

Burrage's performance had its ups and downs. "Gavin showed tons of heart to come back after a loss," Matthews said. "He pinned the kid who beat him in the third-place match. Gavin has a tough first round match at state but he should be ready. He has missed some time this season due to injury. He wrestled well this weekend."

Burrage lost his first match to Kc Mendoza of Mountain View by pin at the 5:54 mark. Burrage came back to win his next match in 25 seconds by fall over Longmont's Andre Rayes, and followed with a pin at the 4:06 mark over Jayce England of Montrose. That put him in the consolation semifinals against Frederick's Tatum Sanders, and Burrage prevailed in a 12-4 major decision. Matched up against Mendoza again in the third-place match, Burrage won by fall at the 1:44 mark.

Although Evans and Burrage were the only state qualifiers for the Cougars, sophomore Lucas Menza also impressed Matthews. "Lucas placed sixth, which is the first time he has placed in a tournament in his high school career," Matthews said. "Proud of Lucas, he has come a long way." Menza lost his first match by fall at the 1:05 mark to Montrose's James Schaefer, but won his next match in the 150-pound division, with a 9-8 decision over Jacob Sotelo of Vista Peak. he followed with a loss to Brennan White of Loveland in the consolation semi-finals, then fell to Silver Creek's Gus Berg in the fifth-place match.

Moises Carmona won one match in the 165-pound division before being eliminated, as did Pavi Soni in the 190-pound division.

The state tournament begins Thursday, Feb. 15 at Ball Arena in Denver, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 17.