Senior night success

If you haven’t been following the Blackfoot wrestling team this year, you really ought to from here on out. I mean, not only do these guys do a fine job of representing our county, but the matches are all explosive and full of emotion—a real gem in what’s otherwise a long, cold Blackfoot winter.

Here’s what I mean. During the Blackfoot/Poky match, a long-time Pocatello wrestling fan approached me and said, “This atmosphere is incredible. With fans like this, it’s no wonder these guys take so much pride in wrestling for the Blackfoot Broncos.” I acknowledged his read on Blackfoot tradition and the great fans, and enjoyed his disbelief every time another bronco grappler ignited the crowd with a scoring barrage. No matter if you’re familiar with the nuances of collegiate wrestling, watching the Broncos is truly some of the best entertainment in Blackfoot.

Several hometown boys wrestled well on senior night, but nobody compared to senior HWT Roberto Chavez. In one evening he knocked off two of the top ranked 4A wrestlers at heavyweight, Rigby’s Lundquist and Pocatello’s Howard. “This was my third match this year against Howard and every time I’ve lost in overtime. I knew I was going beat him and I think he knew it too.” Chavez’s overtime wrestling was superb, and the Blackfoot faithful rewarded him with a standing O after he denied Howard an escape point the entire overtime period. “There’s my state finals competition,” commented Chavez, which is a probable scenario for the 4A HWT devision.

Two other standouts on the night were 119 Stephen Agee and 130 Koty Cook. Agee is the type of athlete who can rise to whatever level his opponent is on, and compete tooth-and-nail until the very end. Depending on the referee, his match against top-ranked Millward of Poky could have gone either way. He should have a very promising post-seson.

Last year Koty Cook wrestled JV beneath an outstanding 130 lb teammate, and didn’t get much opportunity to show his talent. But this year the story is different. He’s the dark horse no one has ever heard of and he’s beating all the big names. It’s really another treat to being a Blackfoot fan. His loss to Praska of Poky was another questionable officiating call on the night. Let’s hope they meet again at state.

The Broncos are wrestling next at the district tournament at Rigby highschool Feb. 19, and at the Holt Arena for the state tournament Feb. 26-27.

Blackfoot 41 Pocatello 24
103- Juan Navarro (B) dec Taylor Higbee 12-7
112- Kohl Bingham (B) dec Roman Barela 5-1
119- Eddie Millward (P) dec Stephen Agee 8-6
125- Jeremy Robbins (B) pin Nick Anderson 2:40
130- Tyler Praska (P) pin Koty Cook 2:29
135- Stetson Jorgensen (B) dec Sean McClellen 7-2
140- Blake Butler (B) pin Dillon Rice 1:50
145- Dylan Brigham (P) pin Ruben Pulido 1:21
152- Ryan Barrington (B) pin Zak High 4:30
160- Matt Okelberry (P) dec Jon Horak 5-1
171- Dakota Bitton (B) pin Jase Wilson 1:25
189- Zach Reay (B) forfeit
215- Trevor Rupp (P) pin Garrett Buck 3:18
HWT- Roberto Chavez (B) dec Wes Howard 2-1 OT

Blackfoot 43 Rigby 21
103- Juan Navarro (B) tfall Jon Chappell 15-0
112- Kohl Bingham (B) forfeit
119- Matthew Gallegos (B) dec Kienan Kotter 4-0
125- Jeremy Robbins (B) pin Hayden Murdoch 3:22
130- Titus Robinson (B) tfall Colton Kunz 20-5
135- Stetson Jorgensen (B) dec Trent Hale 8-2
140- Blake Butler (B) dec Jacob Passmore 8-2
145- Connor Henderson (B) forfeit
152- Colter Tucker (R) pin Ryan Barrington 5:57
160- Andrew Lords (R) pin Jon Horak 3:04
171- Coltin Hill (B) dec Preston Anderson 5-4
189- Bruce Anderson (R) dec Zach Reay 4-3
215- Drake Peterson (R) pin Garrett Buck 2:26
HWT- Roberto Chavez (B) dec Travis Lundquist 5-4

Advertisement