NIWOT — Winning an individual title at the Gary Daum Classic is a big deal to any prep wrestler in the region. For Boulder High’s Martin Selby, it means a little bit more.
One of the top wrestlers in the state, Selby has endured the disappointment of finishing runner-up to a wrestler whom he felt should not have defeated him. Twice in Gary Daum championship matches, Selby has left the circle unexpectedly defeated.
At this year’s Gary Daum Classic on Saturday, Selby finally cleared the hurdle. In the 152-pound championship match, the Panthers senior won a 10-4 decision over Platte Valley’s Clark Jett.
“Winning this one is really nice,” Selby said. “This is my third year making the finals and I’ve gotten second two years in a row. It was especially frustrating since I’ve lost to a guy I beat a few times and another guy who I just couldn’t figure out. I beat people who beat him but I could never beat him. It’s great to win this one as a senior.”
As a sophomore, Selby, who is currently ranked eighth in Class 5A by Tim Yount’s On the Mat rankings, lost to Fairview’s Melvin Gutierrez by one point despite having beaten him twice during the season. His junior year, Selby lost to Longmont’s Ivan Wolf, whose wrestling style was an enigma the cerebral Selby couldn’t solve.
On Saturday, the Panthers placed sixth as a team, edging Longmont by half a point. Morgan Reynolds (113) and Ira Ah (160) placed third individually. William Henderson placed fourth at 170 pounds.
“It was a weird tournament in that several of our older guys didn’t quite meet expectations but a few of our young guys did really well,” Selby said. “It was a good tournament for our young guys.”
The Monarch Coyotes finished second in the team scoring with 148.5 points. Platte Valley won the team title with 177 team points.
Coyotes freshman Cole Polluconi slipped and was pinned by Northglenn’s Maurisio Garcia in the 120-pound finals despite leading 1-0 in the third round. Junior Caden Feenstra lost a 5-4 tiebreaker to Northglenn’s Michael Garcia after four overtime periods in the 132-pound finals.
Also in the finals, Coyotes senior Landon Waddle lost 10-5 to Platte Valley’s Tino Ciddio at 195 pounds and junior heavyweight Ian Scott lost 13-4 to Longmont’s Brandon Ramirez.
“Not too bad for the first tournament after break,” Coyotes head coach Ezra Paddock said. “We were knocking on the door in several semifinals and again in the finals and let some close ones get away. That’s the difference between the good teams and the really good teams so we’ve got some work to do. But overall, we put ten kids on the podium and I think last year we had three so it was a good day.”
For the Fairview Knights, who edged Silver Creek by one point to place fourth in the team scoring, 160-pound junior Dimitri Brown got a tip from Boulder’s Selby that helped him win an individual title. Knowing what to expect, Brown pinned Northglenn’s Jacob Scheller in 1:13 to win the 160-pound championship.
“He (Selby) and I are pretty good friends,” Brown said. “He told me what to watch for, strengths and weaknesses and he said he was going to be pretty strong so I was mentally prepared. I got an early throw, I got an early takedown and I got an early pin. It was a long tournament and I did a lot of sitting today so that really helped.”
Knights 138-pounder Cliff Lester won a 5-4 decision against Platte Valley’s Ryan Waite in the 138-pound championship match.
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Gary Daum Classic
At Niwot H.S.
Team scores — Platte Valley 177, Monarch 148.5, Northglenn 123.5, Fairview 96, Silver Creek 95, Boulder 85.5, Longmont 84, Erie 65.5, Niwot 38.5, Skyline 38, Frederick 30, Lyons 16.
Championship matches
106 — Sawyer Novara, Silver Creek, maj. dec. Adam Evertz, Erie, 11-2; 113 — Nikko Jaramillo, Platte Valley, dec. Uriel Contreras, 4-2 (SV); 120 — Maurisio Garcia, Northglenn, pinned Cole Polluconi, Monarch, 5:07; 126 — Rocky Nava, Northglenn, pinned Tyler Steinmetz, Platte Valley, 0:41; 132 — Michael Garcia, Northglenn, dec. Caden Feenstra, Monarch, 5-4 (UTB); 138 — Cliff Lester, Fairview, dec. Ryan Waite, Platte Valley, 5-4; 145 — Tanner Fetzer, Platte Valley, pinned Jesus Contreras, Skyline, 3:35; 152 — Martin Selby, Boulder, dec. Clark Jett, Platte Valley, 10-4; 160 — Dimitri Brown, Fairview, pinned Jacob Scheller, Northglenn, 1:13; 170 — Fernando Ramos-Vega, Longmont, pinned Gavin Sais, Silver Creek, 1:12; 182 — Kenny Jones, Silver Creek, pinned Jake Longstreth, Frederick, 2:45; 195 — Tino Ciddio, Platte Valley, dec. Landon Waddle, Monarch, 6-5; 220 — Mitch Webster, Silver Creek, pinned Cruz De Lara, Northglenn, 1:10; 285 — Brandon Ramirez, Longmont, dec. Ian Scott, Monarch, 3-0.
Third-place matches
106 — Parker McQuade, Monarch, won by forfeit; 113 — Morgan Reynolds, Boulder, pinned Duncan Lester, Fairview, 4:05; 120 — Tommy Stager, Niwot, dec. William Hickman, 6-3; 126 — Clayton Robinson, Niwot, dec. Taylor Dawal, Monarch, 12-5; 132 — Adrian Rodriguez, Platte Valley, dec. Preston Cates, Fairview, 4-2; 138 — Ben Ferrera, Monarch, maj. dec. Toby Campbell, Erie, 11-2; 145 — Nathan Morris, Longmont, maj. dec. Preston McQuade, Monarch, 11-1; 152 — Nate Prichard, Monarch, pinned Nick Shadler, Erie, 1:41; 160 — Ira Ah, Boulder, injury def. Trevor David, Erie, 0:54; 170 — Austin Albrighton, Platte Valley, pinned William Henderson, Boulder, 3:30; 182 — Garret McCullar, Platte Valley, pinned Logan Goodner, Longmont, 2:01; 195 — Anthony Ornelas, Northglenn, dec. Bradin McElhaney, Fairview, 7-2; 220 — Jeremiah Land, Platte Valley, dec. Duncan Heath, 3-1; 285 — Daniel Martin, Northglenn, dec. Jacob Williams, Silver Creek, 3-2.
