Wrestlers ready for regionals

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mustangs have seven hopefuls headed to 3A Region 3 at Holy Family.

Elimination wrestling is here, the best time of a unique season that always gets better at the end.

Mullen will head to Holy Family in Broomfield on Friday-Saturday (Feb. 14-15) for Class 3A Region 3 competition.

Four wrestlers at each of the 14 weight classes will advance to the ensuing week’s Colorado championships that will be held at the Pepsi Center.

Mustangs head coach John Howes said he believes there could a minimum of five state-qualifiers from his current group.

Heading into regional preliminaries, Max Gonzales (113 pounds), Noah Linares (120), Mark Troni (126), Kaleb Valdez-Lemos (145), John Sumner (152), Cole Nading (160) and Hayden Woodruff (Hwt.) bring some know-how and confidence with them. Blake Elms (138) would be an eighth Mustang headed to regionals, but Howes said he’s still having problems from a broken wrist suffered during football season.

Sumner has been Mullen’s most-consistent wrestler this season. He’s also the lone Mustangs entrant into the postseason who has qualified for state. He did so as a junior after suffering an illness on the eve of regionals when he was a sophomore.

Now 40-3, with one of the losses by injury default, Sumner said the final days with his team “are kind of bittersweet. I’m looking forward to college, but I like my team this year. We have good chemistry and next year will be different for me.”

He’s deciding between Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Western University in Gunnison.

However, if he wants to accomplish something before he leaves Mullen wrestling, Sumner knows what awaits him – the defending 3A Colorado champion, Nick Gallegos of Jefferson, is in his bracket at Holy Family, someone he could go against more than once in this postseason.

“I’m confident going in,” Sumner said.

Sumner is ranked No. 4 at his weight in 3A by On The Mat as is Linares, a sophomore, another fair bet by the Mustangs to win his weight and grab a good seed into the Pepsi Center.

As the top-ranked entrant at his weight in the region, Linares said “I’m pretty confident, not too worried about anything. I just want to out there and do what I do.”

Not to get ahead of himself, Linares said, but advancing to the state field “has been something I grew up with and watched others in high school do. It would be good to finally do it after I didn’t last year.”

In 2018-19, Linares dropped his final regional match and finished fifth.

Mullen will be competing with the host Tigers as well as Alameda, Arvada, Bennett, Denver West, Englewood, Fort Morgan, Jefferson, Middle Park, Sheridan, Skyview, Strasburg and Weld Central.

Friday’s session will begin at 2 p.m. and contain first-round matches and quarterfinals, and two rounds of consolations. On Saturday, semifinals will start at 9 a.m. followed by consolation third round and semifinals, the parade of champions, championship matches and wrestlebacks.

“They should all be on the podium this weekend,” Howes said of his entrants.
 
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