Top wrestlers in 2A field survive and advance to quarterfinals

DENVER — Prelims of state wrestling are about survive and advance. On Thursday afternoon at the Pepsi Center, Class 2A’s returning state champions, followed this method to a T.

On an opening day where every top two favorite in each weight class advanced, according to On The Mat’s Tim Yount, the brackets were chalk with few upsets. Johnny Loflin, Jesse Reed, T.J. Shelton, and Seth Harrington, the returning crown winners, were dominant in their opening matches.

Baca County’s senior, Loflin — the defending 195 pound champion who is built like a grown man and wrestles like one, too — pinned Jusiv Edwards of Sierra Grande in a mere 20 seconds and walked off the mat quickly and confidently with an eye towards the quarterfinals.

Reed of Paonia, a junior and two-time state champ, moved to 37-0 this season with a 25-second pin of Joma’s Isaiah Sandoval. He was equally impressive as Loflin.

Meeker’s Shelton, winner of the 160-pound class as only a freshman last year, also made quick work of his opponent at 170 with a pin of Yuma’s Justin Leth in 2:43.

Shelton’s coach, JC Watt, was pleased with how aggressively he attacked his opening match and said that Shelton has been strong throughout the season.

“He’s had a good season,” Watt said. “He’s only lost twice. He lost to a kid that’s nationally ranked from Utah and then he just got caught once. He was beating a kid handily, but just got caught once. Other than that, he’s beaten most of his opponents pretty soundly.”

Harrington, a senior state champion in the 132-pound weight class in 2013, is wrestling in the 138-pound division this year for Sedgwick County/Fleming. Harrington moved to 26-3 with a two minute and fifty nine second pin of Swink’s Dominic Gregory.

“It went well,” said Todd Harrington, Seth’s father and the coach at Sedgwick County/Fleming. “He came out as he should have. He got the good takedown and then went to work. He faced a pretty long and lanky kid from Swink and Seth finished pretty well.”

Coach Harrington is confident in his son’s chances, but knows the road to a second consecutive state title won’t be easy.

“The (Ryan) Nordyke kid from Holly is good and then the (J.C.) Henderson kid (from Meeker) and the (Jose) Chavez kid (from Center),” he said. “(Seth) had (Henderson) in the semifinals last year. I think the Chavez kid grew over the summer and was a 120-pounder last year. Those are the three kids that could give him some trouble.”

Harrington is once again in position to contend for the title, but his season hasn’t come without its challenges.

“He started off slow,” said his coach. “He broke his hand early in November when we started practice, so he was out until after Christmas. After Christmas, he came back and has been wrestling pretty well. We bumped him up a weight a couple times.

“All in all, it’s been a pretty good year,” Harrington added. “I think he would like to have those first three weeks back, those first three tournaments of 2013, but we sat him out to let that hand heal up and got him back after it after Christmas.”

Paonia, the two-time defending champs and heavy favorites for their third consecutive crown, are off to a rock solid start with 32 points, eight points ahead of second place Meeker and Norwood with 24 each. Sedgwick County/Fleming is fourth with 21 points and Ignaco and Swink are tied for fifth at 20.

It will take a major upset for the Paonia Eagles to be unseated from their perch at the 2A throne, but Baca County, Sedgwick County/Fleming and Meeker have strong teams and could perhaps challenge Paonia if chips fall in place for them.

The story of Thursday at the Pepsi Center for 2A’s wrestlers was survive and advance. Loflin, Reed, Shelton, and Harrington were able to achieve this and advance to Friday’s quarterfinals as they each seek another individual state title.

Friday’s quarterfinals and semifinals promise to be another testament to the survive and advance method as the stakes get higher and the spectacle that is the Colorado state wrestling tournament will become more pressure-filled.