'Stangs aren't in Kansas anymore, but left as 6th
O'Blia, Antillon, Linares and Troni are champs as Mullen shines out of state; Mustangs keep high-end season rolling.
Mullen’s wonderful wrestling season continued this weekend as the Mustangs made a bunch of mat noise out of state.
In Overland Park, Kan., the Mustangs roared to sixth place in the Blue Valley Northwest Husky Invitational. They totaled 223.5 points, advanced five to the weight finals and took four championships.
"They are wrestling well,” a pleased head coach John Howes said.
Dale O’Blia (106 pounds), Gilbert Antillon (113) Noah Linares (132) and Mark Troni (160) led the way as champions.
The defending Colorado 3A champion at 106, O’Blia had a first-round bye before pinning his way to a title, only one of the four matches going beyond the first period. He won his final bout in 1 minute, 4 seconds to advance to 30-0 on the season. The sophomore is 48-0 to date.
At 113, Antillon, another sophomore, also began with a bye. He followed with three falls and took a 7-4 decision in the final to push his season record to 25-8.
Linares (132), a senior, followed his first-round bye with a couple of pins and a 7-4 decision. In the title bout, he gutted out a 1-0 decision, additional experience that should come in handy down the stretch of the regular season. He is 27-5.
And at 160, Troni was notably impressive, earning four falls on the way to the title bout – three by 33 seconds or less. In the final, the senior won by major decision (14-3) to improve to 31-3 in 2021-22.
Junior Kaleb Valdez-Lemos (170) was runner-up, getting pinned in 2:55.
Additional team points came from Cayden Robbins (eighth at 120); Gabriel Carrington (12th at 138); and Adam Domenico (14th at 145). Concerning season marks, Robbins is 15-9; Carrington is 11-15 and Domenico 17-12.
Mullen gets back into Colorado competition with back-to-back Centennial League matches, Wednesday at Cherokee Trail and Thursday home vs. Eaglecrest, both at 7 p.m.
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