2A & 3A wrestling: John Mall’s Andreatta begins quest for redemption
DENVER — Jonathan Andreatta’s quest for redemption took all of 50 seconds to get underway.
After failing to capture his third state title last season, the John Mall senior was all business in the first round of the Class 2A state wrestling tournament. He beat Cheyenne Wells’ Jade Cozart in less than a minute to advance to the second round, which will begin on Friday.
“I just wanted to get out there and get the pin,” Andreatta said. “I wanted to get rested up for tomorrow.”
He’s coming off a disappointing loss to Quenton Montague in last year’s 120-final. He hasn’t competed at Pepsi Center since that loss, and walking around the catacombs did bring back some tough memories of that defeat.
“Walking through these halls, I’ve had some recurring nightmares,” he said. “That kind of sucked, but I’ve practically forgotten about that and I’m ready for this year.”
And he has shown that on the mat. Andreatta’s loss in that state title match is his last loss in high school competition.
When looking to get back to that top spot on the podium, he came into the 2016-17 season tackling only the obstacle directly in front of him.
“I’m just focused on the quarterfinals,” he said. “I’m just taking it one match at a time. It’s just another day.”
He’ll be back on the mat Friday at 9:30 a.m., taking on Cameron Holmes from Wiggins. Holmes advanced with a 15-4 major decision over Chris Lovato from Hotchkiss.
Pin stats
- Paonia’s Trevor Smith had the fastest pin of the 2A/3A prelims — it took him 10 seconds to win his first-round match in the 2A 285-pound bracket.
- Rocky Ford’s Jacob Rodriguez had the first match of the day at 2A 106 pounds, and he made it a short one. The senior, a two-time champion, pinned Rye’s Zachary Ruiz in 14 seconds.
- Rodriguez’s teammate, Carlos Magdaleno, pinned his opponent in 15 seconds at 160 pounds.
- One other wrestler, Trenton Armintrout of Norwood/Nucla, had a pin in less than 20 seconds. He won his first-round match in 19 seconds.
- Trinidad’s Jesus Diaz had the fastest pin in 3A’s first round, winning in 27 seconds.
- There were a total of 100 pins in during the 2A/3A prelims, including 27 that happened in less than a minute.
- Meeker and Paonia each had seven pins as a team.
Notables
- Natalie Benavides of Del Norte, the lone female qualifier at the state tournament this season, was pinned in her first-round match by Meeker’s Sheridan Harvey. She moves to Friday’s consolation round. Benavides is the eighth girl to ever qualify for the state tournament.
- Platte Valley leads the 3A team race after the prelims with 21 points. Defending champion Valley is in second with 19.5, following by Jefferson (19). La Junta and Sheridan are tied in fourth with 16 points.
- Rocky Ford is out front in the 2A standings, leading with 37.5 points. Meeker (30) is second, followed by Paonia (28), John Mall (26) and Fowler (20).
- Alamosa’s Isaiah Delacerda, wrestling in 3A’s 113-pound division, began his quest for a third title with a pin of Fort Lupton’s Derrian Jaramillo in 1:35.
- Fort Lupton’s Jody Sandoval II pinned Eaton’s Jackson Contreras in 33 seconds at 3A 126. Sandoval is a two-time champion.
- The 285-pound bracket in 3A figures to be highly competitive. Among the field: Mullen’s Sam Deseriere, a returning champion who is unbeaten; Sheridan’s Ricky Ayala, another returning champion; and Bayfield’s Sam Westbrook, another unbeaten. All three won their first-round matches.
- Each of the 11 returning champions and four unbeaten wrestlers in 2A and 3A won their first-round matches.
