The County Line Rivals, consisting of wrestlers from McClave, Wiley, and Eads, have once again wrestled their way to the Colorado State Wrestling Tournament. The team is coached by Hayden Uhland from Eads and Trenton Piatt from McClave. This is Piatt’s first year and said, “I am enjoying this opportunity and would love to continue coaching them.” He added, “It is a little different, competing with Rivals, but it is great to see these kids come together, push each other, and win together.”
The schools take turn practicing in McClave and Eads on different nights of the week. Although this does seem like a big hassle, according to Piatt, it has been going very well, even better than expected. During the season, the team attended wrestling tournaments in Fowler, Limon, Eads, Holly, Lamar, Yuma, Strasburg, Rocky Ford, Stratton, and Crowley County. Regionals were held in La Junta on February 14th and 15th, where seven County Line Rivals claimed a spot to the state tournament. McClave’s Jaime Ibarra (185 pounds) took home the Regional Champion title. Wiley’s Tate Krentz (132 pounds), Aiden Michael (145 pounds), and Ty Michael (113 pounds) all placed third. Eads’ wrestlers Taite Johnson (220 pounds) won third while Jones Brooks (195 pounds) and Chase Stalensburger (285 pounds) both won fourth.
Jaime Ibarra was very excited about his regional championship title and had high hopes for the state tournament. He went to state with 32 wins and only two losses. Jaime said, “It stinks that the season is nearly over, but it feels really good to be doing as well as I have been.”
The state tournament was held on February 20th through the 22nd at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Jaime Ibarra won his first match but lost his second. However, he won the next two, allowing him to claim the third place title at 185 pounds. Rival wrestler Taite Johnson also placed fifth at 220 pounds. (Article written by Trace Cox in The Cardinal Connection)