Adams State College Wrestling: ThunderWolves stun Grizzlies, 27-25

ALAMOSA, Colo.- The Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves recorded three pins and a forfeit in the final match as they rallied from as much as 21-9 down to claim a 27-25 upset wrestling win over the nation’s 10th-ranked Adams State College Grizzlies in their home and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener Wednesday night here in Plachy Hall.

The ThunderWolves, who are now in just their second year back after a 7-year without a wrestling program, improved to 3-0 overall and to 2-0 in RMAC action while the Grizzlies slipped to 2-3 overall despite getting bonus-point wins in all five of their victories, including a dual-starting pin-fall by sophomore Torben Walters (Olney Springs, Colo.) and clutch major decision victories by nationally-ranked Kyle Sand (Arvada, Colo.) and Joey Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.).

The Grizzlies also received a dominating 18-3 technical fall win from reigning RMAC Wrestler of the Week Josh Hensley (Alamosa, Colo.) at 141 pounds and a forfeit victory from top-ranked Arsenia Barksdale (Norfolk, Va.) at 125 pounds but could not overcome clutch pins from CSU-Pueblo’s Patrick Carey, Benjamin Collins, a late addition to the lineup, and Justin Grant to claim the win, the Pack’s first over a nationally-ranked team since defeating No. 10 Chadron State on Feb. 14, 2001.

The Grizzlies led the dual until the very end as a third-period fall by Grant over Adams State freshman Anthony Gomez (Albuquerque, N.M.), one of three new additions to the battered Grizzly lineup, in the 165-pound bout pulled the ThunderWolves’ within 25-21 moments before Kellen Desmond received an uncontested forfeit victory at 174 pounds to seal the victory.

The Grizzlies had started the night with a 10-0 lead as Walters pinned ThunderWolf newcomer Adam Carey just 59 seconds into the second period of the 184-pound match before Sand, the last part of a major lineup shift, claimed a 9-1 major decision win over Tony Chavarria in a battle of nationally-ranked wrestlers at 197 pounds.

Sand, the defending NCAA Division II National Champion and the No. 5 man in the country this year at 184 pounds led throughout scoring a takedown as time expired to give the Grizzlies an extra team point with the 8-point win over Chavarria, who is ranked eighth in the 197-pound weight class.

However, the ThunderWolves came roaring back as Patrick Carey, also a newcomer to the coach Dax Charles’ lineup, scored a sudden-victory period fall over Grizzly senior Jeff Schossow (Fort Morgan, Colo.) after the wrestlers traded escapes in regulation.

Barksdale then received the forfeit at 125 pounds to give the Grizzlies a 16-6 lead before sophomore Markus Portillos answered back for CSU-Pueblo with a 6-2 win over Grizzly junior A.J. Alexander (Pueblo, Colo.) in a battle of Steel City products. Portillos, a graduate of Pueblo East High School, was tied with Alexander, who matriculated from Central, at 2 through the second period but then used an escape, a third-period takedown and a riding time point to claim the win.

The Grizzlies still led 16-9 at that point and then went up 21-9 after the intermission as Hensley, who moved into the national rankings for the first time this season at the No. 4 spot on Tuesday, scored five of the Grizzlies’ seven near falls throughout the night while dominating Nick Stahler. Hensley, now a team-best 16-3 on the season, has 13 total bonus-point wins, including one in each of his last 11 victories.

However, the Grizzly momentum would be short-lived as Collins scored a reversal and an ensuing fall just moments after trailing Grizzly junior Nick Dionisio (Greenwood Village, Colo.), who had led 2-0 early on in the 149-pound match.

That stunning victory gave the visitors life although they were still down 21-15 at the time and 25-15 after Deaguero, ranked fifth in the country at 149 pounds, benefited from four penalty points due to stalling, while racking up nearly four minutes of riding time in his decisive major decision win over Quinn Donnell, who had come into the night 5-2 overall and 2-0 in duals meets.

However, Grant would take a 4-1 through the first three minutes at 165 pounds and extended that lead to 6-1 after the second period in his match with Gomez. Grant, now 8-5 on the year, then scored a quick reversal in the third period before sticking Gomez at the 5:36 mark of what proved to be the decisive match.

The Grizzlies, who saw a 9-year-old streak of 24 consecutive dual meet wins over unranked Division II foes snapped, will try to bounce back when they host New Mexico Highlands, currently 0-1, on Friday night at 7 o’clock.

Courtesy of Adam’s State Sports Information