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Mar. 7—The Region 1 Class 4A wrestling regionals took place at Pueblo West High School this weekend, and while the lower weight classes had a tough go Friday, the heavier weight classes came out to perform, qualifying three Cyclone wrestlers on Saturday.
Second place regional finishers for the Cyclones were Matthew Holdredge at 152 and Micah Duran at 160, and Hayden Crosson took first in the 170-weight class.
Head coach Jarrod Purvis said only qualifying three of his athletes is an adjustment from the 13 state qualifiers he had in the 2020 season.
“We kind of knew going into this year with only two qualifiers, it was going to be much more difficult,” Purvis said. “On top of that, I think we had the toughest region in 4A in terms of top in talent.”
Over the two-day regional tournament, the Cyclones faced tough competitors from across the region, but Purvis noted the challenges his team faced when taking on Thompson Valley, Pueblo East and Falcon.
“I knew it was going to be a tough year,” Purvis said. “So, it stinks. I would have liked to take 13 again this year, but our kids wrestled well, they wrestled hard and they battled through the circumstances.”
Purvis noted that the change up in the season’s structure was one of the obstacles that the team had to overcome over the past two months.
“We try to keep them emphasized, keep them focused on the at hand task,” Purvis said. “We were talking about it the other day; we would have been finished with the state tournament two weeks ago (in a normal year.) So just having them stay focused every day, and understand we only have a certain amount of time and when it’s done, it’s done. It’s just about making the most of it.”
Duran, one of the three qualifiers, is one of the athletes Purvis said has fully embraced the limited amount of time wrestlers have on the mat.
The senior has a background in wrestling but didn’t take a liking to the sport until he began competing at the high school level.
“I’ve been wrestling since I can remember,” Duran said. “Then my freshman year came, and I was like, ‘I’m pretty good at this. I like it, so maybe I’ll stick with it and give it my all.’ Now, I don’t have any regrets. It’s not like a character trait, but it definitely teaches you a lot about who you are as a person and life in general.”
The change of heart came, Duran said, when he realized the reins were in his hands.
“My dad was always there, coaching me through it,” Duran noted. “Then he kind of took a step back, and I realized it was in my hands now. What it came down to was I’m going to do this and be good at it, or I’m going to not give all my effort and move on.”
Purvis said watching Duran develop a love for the sport is something that fills him with pride as a coach.
“Wrestling is one of those sports that is just really hard,” Purvis said. “It’s not like you can play games to learn the sport. So, I think getting (Duran) to understand, just go out there and enjoy this — because it’s going to end for all of us. Especially in this sport. There is not a professional league for us to look up to outside of the Olympics, and that’s a less than a 1% chance.
“My job is to get these kids to love the sport and be passionate about it like I am. Hopefully he can pass it on.”
Now dedicated and passionate to his sport, Duran — who is a three time state qualifier — said his only goal is to leave it all on the floor for his final appearance.
“I’m hoping to just go out there and not have a single regret when it’s over,” Duran said. “Just know I wrestled my hardest and that there is nothing more I could have done. It’s just about showing up and handling business.”
With only four days of practice left in this season, Purvis said the regional tournament was a reminder of where the three qualifiers can make last minute adjustments to hopefully place them on the podium next weekend.
“Seeing what we had problems with (Saturday), we haven’t seen many of these teams all year,” Purvis said. “Most of our schedule was top end teams throughout the state, there wasn’t a lot of focus on the teams here in the region. So, to see some of our flaws and fix them. At this point there isn’t much we can do, the kids are going to do what they are going to do. So, maybe just a little tweak in their mindset, or details they were forgetting in a match — things to that effect that will hopefully take them over the edge.”
Chieftain reporter Alexis Smith can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @smith_alexis27.
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