Pomona boys wrestling remains hungry for more hardware

ARVADA — When Pomona hoisted its sixth straight Class 5A boys wrestling state championship trophy last February at Ball Arena the joyous smiles weren’t there.

While the Panthers kept their remarkable domination when it came to the team standings, Pomona went 1-for-6 in individual state championship bouts. Only freshman Ignacio Villasenor walked out of the arena with an individual state championship title.

“It kind of hurt all of us, not only the people who lost in the finals,” Pomona junior Kalob Ybarra said of reflecting on last year’s final night of the 3-day state tournament.

Pomona also lost its lone individual state champion from last year when Villasenor moved to Stillwater, OK. However, the Panthers still have individual state championship experience with juniors Zaidyn Quinonez, Derek Barrows and Ybarra having all won individual titles as freshmen back in 2023.

“After taking that loss it was hard,” said Quinonez, who wasn’t able to successfully defend his individual state title last year, losing in the 120-pound title match to Pine Creek junior Griffin Rial. “I needed to keep my mindset high and work with my team. We just had to overcome some things.”

Learning from the mistakes from the championship bouts from last season is something that definitely has the Panthers motivated with regionals just a few weeks away and the state tournament coming up Feb. 13-15 back at Ball Arena.

“They are a lot hungrier,” Pomona coach Sam Federico said of his Panthers. “Once we locked it up as a team (last year) we kind of relaxed a little bit, maybe. We know we can’t do that. I think we’ll be ready.”

Pomona looked ready Thursday night during its final home dual of the season. The Panthers took a 52-14 victory over Chaparral. 

“I think we are in good shape. We are getting healthy like I think everyone is trying to do,” Federico said. “I feel pretty good about where our team is at.”

Federico said his line-up is almost finalized with regionals for Pomona on Feb. 7 and 8 at Fruita Monument on the Western Slope. The longtime coach said he has a couple of weights that are very competitive.

“That part is tough,” Federico said of deciding the final line-up for regionals. “Someone isn’t going to go to regionals with a really good regular-season varsity record.”

Pomona currently has eight wrestlers that are all in the top-4 of their weight class by Tim Yount’s On The Mat Rankings. The Panthers will be chased by the likes of Ponderosa, Grandview and Jeffco-rival Chatfield for the 5A team title in a couple of weeks.

“We talk about it a little bit,” Federico said of the state streak that is nearing Ponderosa’s record of eight straight 5A team title from 2003 to 2010. “We have always told the kids, ‘You go do your part and go with your state title. The team points will take care of themselves.’”

Pomona will compete to win its 10th straight 5A Jeffco League team title Friday, Jan. 31, at Lakewood High School. The Panthers have won the Jeffco League title 18 times over the past 20 season. Arvada West broke up Pomona’s last run by winning back-to-back conference titles in 2014 and 2015.

“League is a great accomplishment, but we are really just looking at state,” Quinonez said. “Our main goal is to take our state title. It is still great to win league.”