Pine Creek dominates regional, sending 10 to the 5A state meet

In the slim chance that anyone was left wondering what Pine Creek is really made of, senior 195-pounder Brandon Tribble showed the crowd at the 5A Region 1 tournament Saturday with a 3-2, triple-overtime championship victory over Grant Neal of Regis.

The Eagles, ranked No. 2 in 5A in Tim Yount's On the Mat Rankings, won the regional with 261 points (Arvada West was second at 174) with 10 Eagles qualifying for the state tournament this Thursday through Saturday at the Pepsi Center. 

Leading 2-1 in the second overtime Neal (No. 6) let Tribble up, tying the score with 30 seconds left, but couldn't get the takedown to win. Tribble (No. 4) scored an escape early in the third extra period. 

"You know our coach is crazy, right," Tribble asked with a smile afterward, adding "No don't write that". 

Sorry Brandon. 

"He gets us prepared. He makes us do a lot of things that a lot of teams couldn't do because too many kids would quit. He has us buying into the program." 

Top-ranked junior Geordan Martinez pinned No. 18 Joey Laratta of Arapahoe in 36 seconds in the 132 final for the Eagles first individual title. Senior No. 3 Jerry McGinty followed with a 16-0 technical fall over Greeley West's Shedrick Boyd (No. 10) at 138 and junior 145 Derrick Ortiz (No. 6) pinned No. 18 Dylan Formby of Mountain Vista.  

Junior No. 6 Alex Smith finished off the string with a 4-3 decision over No. 12 Collin Pearce of Arvada West. Senior Ian Kluckman (No. 4) won a 3-2 decision over No. 9 Rampart senior Keith Karnes at 285.  

"It's a big boost of confidence going into state knowing we're able to beat some of the best teams in the area by this big (of a margin)," Smith said. 

Doherty junior 182 Ricky Mahan (No. 17) earned his second trip to state with a second-place finish, falling to No. 2 Brendan Vinyard of Legacy in the final. 

Fellow Spartans Nathan Gonzales (120 No. 16, fourth), Thaddeus Hayes (132, fourth), Brandon Supernaw (160 No. 11, fourth), Evan Boulton (138 No. 9, third) and Dustin Malkovich (152, fourth) qualified as well, lifting Doherty to fifth place (118 points).

"We knew we didn't have a full roster so this is good for us, we didn't really expect to finish this high," Mahan said. 

Palmer twins Andrew (126, fifth) and Ryan Pellow (152 No. 14, third) advanced to state for the first time each. Andrew Pellow (126), Nick Benson (170 No. 12) and Kendall Francisco (220, No. 20) all won wrestlebacks to qualify.  

Rampart senior Jason Hill finished third at 170 to join Karnes at state. Liberty junior Chris Fuller (113) finished fourth to earn his first trip to state as the sole representative for the Lancers.