6 'Stangs ready to rumble

 

There are a half-dozen reasons why Mullen may make its most noise at the Colorado wrestling tournament in years.

Their names are Noah Linares, Mark Troni, Kaleb Valdez-Lemos, John Sumner, Cole Nading and Hayden Woodruff.

It will be a mix of seniors and underclassmen at the Pepsi Center for the Mustangs Thursday and, hopefully, through Saturday. They have been gradually rebuilding under coach John Howes.

Mullen advanced only three competitors to state two seasons ago and just two the past season, but there will be multiple opportunities to place in the 14 weight classes (finishing in the top six).

Mullen had no regional champions the past weekend at Class 3A Region 3, but garnered two runners-up, two at third place and two at fourth.

First-round bouts are on Thursday.

At 120 pounds, Linares, a sophomore, is 24-7 and earned tournament victories at the Mullen Invitational and the Vikings Invitational at Denver North. He will open against Alamosa’s Brendon Reveles (31-10, a junior).

Troni, a sophomore who has shown promise as well as results, is 30-11. He dropped to 126 from 132 during the season and was third at regionals, second at the Denver South tourney and sixth in the high-end Christmas tourney in Greeley. Troni will begin in preliminaries against Lamar’s Sergio Mendoza (22-17, a junior). The winner most likely will meet top-seeded Jacob Duran (32-1, a senior), who won a state title as a freshman, was third as a sophomore and is coming off a junior season in which he tore a foot muscle nearly a year to the day.

Valdez-Lemos, accomplished as an eighth-grader in the 14-and-under ranks, has come on strongly, including dropping from 152 to 145 and taking fourth in regionals. His first-round foe is Valley’s Zach Brown (32-5, a junior). Zander Condit of Jefferson, a regional champion, is top seeded in the bracket.

As Mullen’s most-experienced and talented wrestler, Sumner, a senior who came down from 160 to 152, is 41-4 and making his second consecutive trip to the tournament. He missed as a sophomore. On the night before the 2018 regionals, it was determined he had a hole in his heart. But now healthy and looking to compete in college, Sumner also is coming off a regional-final defeat to defending champion Nick Gallegos of Jefferson, seeded second. Sumner will begin against Platte Valley’s Willian Cockroft (36-11, a senior).

Excited about his first advancement to state, Nading, a senior and 28-10, was third in the past weekend’s regionals. His first-round foe is Rifle’s Dillon Tiffany (24-6, a senior). The bracket is headed by Valley’s Jaziah Whaley (37-0 in 2019-20 and 166-7 career), a Northern Colorado signee and returning state champion who also was third in two other seasons.

And at heavyweight, some of Mullen’s present and future is represented by Woodruff, a freshman who has gradually and purposely worked his way into contention. He’s 14-7 after finishing fourth in regionals. And he’ll get his opportunity immediately – Woodruff has a first-round date against top-seeded Emanual Munoz-Alcala, a senior who’s 38-1.

Below is a schedule: