Corley, Barela win individual medals

Even as Kutter Corley started to watch a teammate in a championship match, the junior wrestler for Poudre High School still was celebrating his own victory.

Fossil Ridge 125 pounder Taylor Killion, right, battles Mountain Range's Jordan Taylor during the Front Range League Wrestling Tournament at Fossil Ridge High School on Saturday. Killion was runner-up in his weight class.

Corley claimed the title at 160 pounds Saturday at the Front Range League Tournament at Fossil Ridge High School, one of two city wrestlers to take home championships.

Adam Barela, a senior for Fort Collins, also took home a title at 130 pounds. Four other wrestlers from the city had second-place showings, and each school had at least one wrestler compete in a championship match.

"It's the conference tournament and these are the guys you see year-around," Corley said. "It's a big deal to win this tournament."

Following a scoreless first period, Corley took control during the second in his 13-4, major-decision victory over Horizon's Jorge Sanchez.

Corley scored the first point of the match on an escape and then took down his opponent for a 3-0 lead. Two near-fall points pushed his lead to 5-0 and another two near-fall points made it 7-0 after the second period.

"I had an opportunity and caught him on his back. I squared him up and the points started going up," said Corley, who took second place at last year's conference tournament. "I took every opportunity I could to keep him on his back. It was a dogfight."

It was a bloody match that was stopped four times, with Corley needing his nose plugged twice to stop the bleeding. He also ended up with a scratch on his forehead.

"It's about confidence," Poudre coach Barrett Golyer said. "It's about executing and moving in the right direction. I think that's a big deal to him."

The Impalas had the city's best team finish, placing fifth in the 12-team tournament. Poudre finished with 94 points, while Rocky Mountain was sixth (84), Fort Collins eighth (78) and Fossil Ridge ninth (74).

Mountain Range won the league title with 154 ½ points, outdistancing second-placed Greeley West (145) in one of the stronger conferences in the state.

"This is fun for the boys, being conference and being the tough conference that it is," Fossil Ridge coach Brian Killion said. "It's another tournament and another chance to get better before regionals."

Barela won his second conference title with a 5-0 victory over Boulder's Connor Murtha. He also won a league title as a freshman at 103 pounds.

"Since I was a freshman, I wanted it. It means a lot to me," said Barela, who improved to 30-4 this season. "I wanted it real bad today. I've been focused all year. I was expecting it."

Fossil Ridge sophomore Taylor Killion and freshman Payton Tapia finished as league runners-up. Killion dropped a 3-2 decision to Greeley West's Roy Garza at 125 and Tapia lost a 6-5 decision to Boulder Dylan Turley-Rule at 189 pounds.

Rocky Mountain's Derik Padilla also lost in a championship match at 152 pounds, getting pinned by Legacy's Jesee Carlson at 4:32. Poudre's Roman Marquez (171) also finished second, falling 9-2 against Legacy's Dezmon Fernandez.

The Lobos also had four wrestlers take home third-place, including at the lightest two weight classes. Kyler Schmidt, a 103-pounder, earned a technical-fall win over Greeley West's Anthony Garza, while Ben Drysdale (112) beat Greeley West's Adrian DeLaCruz 8-5.

Jay Seefeld took third at 171, beating Fossil Ridge's Dalton DeGroot 8-5. Tony Martinez beat Mountain Range's Jorge Morales 5-2 to take third in the heavyweight division.

Poudre's Anthony Lozano took third at 119, beating Collins' Deon Ayala 8-5, while Fossil Ridge's Austen Lindsay claimed third at 135 pounds with a 7-2 victory. Devin Dunnum also finished third for Fort Collins at 145 pounds, pinning Greeley West's Marci Nieto in 4:41.