BOULDER — In college, Lyons wrestling coach Chip Sullivan went so crazy to start each match that he’d either win or exhaust himself so badly that he’d lose. A gift and a curse, his ferocity was so uncontrollable that his teammates called him the “Two-Minute Man.”
Sullivan sees a lot of himself when he watched sophomore Jon Hickman attack opponents on the mat. That shared breakneck style paid off for Hickman at the Mike Stanley Invite on Saturday.
Pinning his way through the bracket, Hickman pinned Rock Canyon’s Zach Smith in 1 minute, 10 seconds to win the 170-pound championship match.
“This was a good tournament. I got to see some good competition,” Hickman said. “The Rock Canyon kid was tough. He caught me a couple times and I messed up a little bit. But after that, I sunk back into things and tracked him down to try to get a win.”
Starting the season 3-0 at the Mike Stanley, Hickman is hoping to return to the state tournament after qualifying as a freshman last year.
He’s got the strength and skill, but Hickman said he’s got a lot of work to do. Sullivan said if Hickman plans to continue at his current runaway pace, the sophomore needs to learn from Sullivan’s experience. Hickman needs to learn to breathe.
“Me and him, we both have this problem where when we grab hold and see red, we stop breathing,” Sullivan said. “I’ve realized that I can stop him from going 10,000 miles an hour so I’ve got to make him breath in that 10,000 kilometers. He’s breathing better and that’s how he’s able to pin a kid like that as quick as he did.”
The Lions brought just six bodies to Saturday’s tournament — one junior and five sophomores. Not one of the Class 2A Lions wrestlers were old enough to drive a car. They still placed five of them to take fifth place among a field that ranged from 2A to 5A teams.
Sullivan said it was the highest the team has placed in a tournament during his six years as head coach.
Finishing ahead of the Lions, the Niwot Cougars took fourth place.
Senior Joey Lambert led the Cougars by taking the 145-pound title with a 10-4 win over Skyline junior Jesus Contreras. But, he had to sacrifice his body before he could claim his prize.
“I actually hurt it in my second match. I was snapping the guy down and I felt a muscle in my shoulder stretch and felt a pain down to my wrist,” Lambert said. “Hopefully, it’s not too serious. I’ve wrestled Jesus a couple of times and it was a cross-town rival against Skyline so it was a good way to start the season.”
Though he lost to Lambert in the championship match, Contreras said it was at least nice to see a marked improvement against Lambert. When the pair wrestled two seasons ago, Lambert won by technical fall.
“The match was pretty good but I showed some improvement,” Contreras said. “I just went out there and gave it my all. Last year, I placed third and I got second this year. I was one point away from state last year so I hope I’ve made enough improvement to get me there this season.”
Behind Contreras’ effort and a second-place finish from 195-pounder Steven Feltenberger, the Falcons took 10th in the team scoring.
Sophomore Kenny Jones led the way for the Silver Creek Raptors. He took third place at 195 pounds by pining Nate Ewan in 2:45.
As a team, the Raptors placed 13th.
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Mike Stanley Invitational
At Fairview HS
Team scores — Broomfield 208.5, Cheyenne Central 138, Hinkley 131, Niwot 108, Lyons 81, Fairvriew 79, Rock Canyon 61, Overland 58, Denver West 51.5, Skyline 32, Denver South 31, Denver North 25, Silver Creek 22, Evergreen 0.
Championship matches
106 — Ben Rhoton, Hinkley dec. Daniel Cuc-Capota, Overland, 11-5; 113 — Brandon Tyson, Broomfield, dec. Tommy Stager, Niwot, 4-2; 120 — James Wells, Broomfield maj. dec. Jake Seidel, Cheyenne Central, 11-3; 126 — Darek Huff, Broomfield, tech. Fall Ryder Jones, Cheyenne Central, 17-2.
132 — Nathan Parris, Cheyenne Central, def. Cliff Lester, Fairview, 4-3; 138 — Bryce Meredith, Cheyenne Central, pinned Melvin Gutierrez, Fairview, 1:42; 145 — Joey Lambert, Niwot, dec. Jesus Contreras, Skyline, 10-4; 152 — Jared Albo, Broomfield, tech. Fall Matthew Strope, Niwot, 18-3; 160 — Phil Downing, Broomfield, tech. Fall Jessie Slepicka, Niwot, 17-1.
170 — Jon Hickman, Lyons, pinned Zach Smith, Rock Canyon, 1:10; 182 — Zach Stodden, Broomfield, tech. fall Cito Balsells, Fairview, 18-3; 195 — Luke McAninich, Broomfield, dec. Steven Feltenberger, Skyline, 9-5; 220 — Max Carbajal, Hinkley, pinned Luis Avila, Denver West, 1:12; 285 — Austyn Harris, Broomfield, pinned Shamil Baytarov, Denver South, :54.
Third-place matches
106 — Will Hickman, Lyons, pinned Victor Plasencio, Denver West, 1:23; 113 — Nigel Lopez, Cheyenne Central, pinned Gideon Greer, Hinkley, 1:19; 120 — Rafael Garibay, Hinkley, dec. Preston Cates, Fairview, 4-0; 126 — Austin Ivan, Niwot, dec. Kyle Love, Rock Canyon, 9-7.
132 — Carlos Silva, Overland, dec. Steve Rodriguez, Denver North, 10-3; 138 — Connor Ventura, Broomfield, dec. Kanyon Raper, Lyons, 7-5; 145 — Randall Baker, Broomfield, pinned Trevor Moore, Hinkley, 2:53; 152 — Joe Baca, Cheyenne Central, pinned Seth Nance, Hinkley, 2:39; 160 — Tristan Harper, Hinkley, pinned CJ Evans, Silver Creek, 2:59.
170 — Bryce Lundberg, Cheyenne Central, dec. Dyrian Hallcy, Denver South, 12-7; 182 — Richard Davis, Rock Canyon, pinned Colton Borm, Cheyenne Central, 5:16; 195 — Kenny Jones, Silver Creek, pined Nate Ewan, Rock Canyon, 2:45; 220 — Adrian Garcia, Overland, pinned Lucas Hiebert, Lyons, 2:52; 285 — Brandon Slepicka, Niwot, pinned Aron Vasquez, Lyons, :16.
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