Jefferson boys wrestling edges area rival Alameda in pin-fest

EDGEWATER — Boys wrestling teams from Alameda and Jefferson got the competitive juices going in the first action of the season.

Jefferson hosted the Alameda Pirates in a dual in both teams’ regular-season opener Wednesday night. The Saints — No. 9 in the Class 3A CHSAA’s preseason coaches’ poll — just edged the Pirates 40-36 to take the victory.

“It’s good to see good competition,” Jefferson coach Oscar Fonseca said of facing Alameda. “These kids know each other. They wrestling off-season together and cheer each other on. Even in competition they put that aside and battle against each other to make themselves better.”

Jefferson senior Isaiah Gallegos didn’t have to wait long for his first match of the season. Gallegos — 3A state champion at 144 pounds last season — was the second match on the mat. 

“I was a little nonchalant at first,” Gallegos said of the Saints first regular-season action. “Once we ran out and started to warm up all the nerves turned into excitement.”

Gallegos pinned Alameda’s Aneneas Navarrow with 57 seconds remaining in the first period.

While repeating as a state champion is obviously on his radar, Gallegos said he doesn’t feel an extra pressure being a defending state champion.

“I’m always striving for bigger goals,” Gallegos said. “I have way bigger goals than being a state champ.”

A team goal of winning the Saints first team state title is something Gallegos believes in possible.

“I absolutely think we can win a state title as a team,” Gallegos said. “We have a lot of good guys. We just need them to attack. I do believe we can win it all. We just have to keep grinding it out for the rest of the year.”

Jefferson racked up five pins against Alameda. Freshman Isaac Quiroz Garcia (126), seniors AJ Alvarado (132), Gallegos (150), Enzo Hernandez (157), along with junior James Hitzeman (190) all got first-round pins against the Pirates.

“They have blueprint and there are a lot of seniors,” Fonseca said of the make-up of his team this season. “It’s going to be a fun year.”

Alameda also showed it has some strong talent. The Pirates also got five pins. Caleb Bellejos (120), Muskhtar Hashimi (138), Anthony Torrez (144), Tyler Padilla (165) and Amelio Cruz (215) all got their first wins of the season via the pin.

“Right now we’ve got seven or eight that are already seasoned,” Alameda coach Frank Trujillo said of the make-up of his team. “We’ve got another eight that are right behind them that are picking things up quick. It’s fantastic.”

Alameda was second in its 3A regional last year behind Holy Family.

“We wanted to build on that,” Trujillo said of the strong finish at regionals a season ago. “Once we get going we keep bringing it and bringing it. Even after a loss, our guys come back and do what they need to do.”

The only match that went the distance Wednesday night was at 113 pounds. Jefferson senior Aaron Quiroz Garcia took a 15-5 victory over Alameda senior Hamid Hashimi in a key match that determined the team win for the Saints.

Jefferson clinched the team victory when Alvarado pinned Alameda junior Kennedi Foreman at 132 pounds.

“It has always been a close dual. I thought we would dominate a little bit more,” Gallegos said. “We have a lot of guys with special talent. I’ve been working with a lot of them trying to get them better. We just need to grind more and work on the fundamentals.”

Fonseca and his coaching staff has turned Jefferson into a consistent threat in 3A and the school has multiple individual state champions under Fonseca’s tenure. 

“It’s 78 days away,” Fonseca said after taking a quick glance at his phone that has a countdown to the state tournament that beings Feb. 19 at Ball Arena in Denver. “It’s a process. We’ve been doing this for a while. James (assistant coach James Vogel) and I have been together for 19 years coaching together. We know where to push them and get them ready for regionals and state.”