Shrugging off a loss and powering ahead is a trait that could define the Manitou Springs girls wrestling team for the next month.
The Vista Ridge Alpha Female Invitational tends to attract top-level talent from Colorado (and nearby states) and the Mustangs competed with a lot of that talent.
Abbie Reeves took third in the 145-pound bracket while Kara Donegan took fourth at 135. The key to their placement is that both wrestlers had to shake off tough losses and focus on the next opponent. The fact that they were able to do just that is an indication that these Mustangs aren’t just tough on the mat, but their mental strength is every bit as sound as their wrestling skill.
“You learn a lot more from your losses than you do from your wins,” Reeves said. “We’ve had an easy start to the season against easy competitors, so it was a good, humbling tournament. It was good to see that we were able to push ourselves when we weren’t at our best.”
Donegan’s loss came early as Chatfield’s Lauren Scott beat her with a 14-0 major decision in the quarterfinals. To get to the third-place match, she had to rattle off three straight wins. One came on a medical forfeit but then she pinned Pine Creek’s Katie King and then beat Pueblo Central’s Kenna Pino in a 6-4 decision.
As luck would have it, she saw Scott again in the third-place match and this time Scott scored a pin in the second period.
Reeves scored two pins to advance to the championship semifinals, but like Donegan, it was a Chatfield Charger ending her championship hopes. Ryen Hickey put together a dominant match to get a 17-0 technical fall win over Reeves. But the Manitou senior bounced back in a big way, scoring pins over Harrison’s Valencia Gonzalez and Palmer Ridge’s Miah Lendsey to take third.
Alex Traenkle faced a tough draw and lost her first two matches to end her tournament run early.
But overall, it was a successful weekend as the girls look to build experience and momentum with the state tournament a month away.
“It was a good experience to see those higher-level teams and knowing what wrestling at that elite level looks like,” Reeves said.
The boys had their best showing of the year at Saturday’s Raven Rumble at Denver South. Brodie McCall overcame a first-round loss and battled his way into the third-place match in the 106-pound bracket. He was pinned by Fountain-Fort Carson’s Refugio Lopez and finished fourth.
Braden Legarski won two matches though the course of the day to fifth at 126. Maddox Gonzales also won two matches and ended up taking sixth at 165.
“We had a good week of practice and the vibe and energy were good all weekend,” coach Paul Bonner said. “Senior Will Wickes had the first match of the day, got his first high school career win and we just kept going from there.”
The boys will head to Florence this weekend to battle at the Mel Smith Invitational while the girls against stay close to home and head to Fountain-Fort Carson for Colorado Springs Metros.
Freshman helps Manitou relay team qualify for state swim meet
Swimming is one of those sports where experience matters, especially coming into the high school level. But no one bothered to tell Manitou Springs freshman Brynlee Havens that.
She came into the year with no club experience to draw on and no real competitive swimming experience to speak. But she’s headed to state.
Havens swam the first leg of the 200-yard medley relay that finished the race in 2 minutes, 17.54 seconds at the Pueblo County Hornet Invite. The finish was below the 2:20.00 cutoff which means the Mustangs will compete in that relay at the state meet at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton. Story Aldridge, Savanna Bartko and Natalie Traenkle swam the other legs of the relay.
For Havens, it’s an added bonus on a year that has already been special, just because of the positive experience she has had with the swim team.
“I love how supportive everyone is,” she said. “Everybody is really sweet, there’s no drama. It’s just nice having a group of girls there to support you.”
Aldridge also qualified for her second event as an individual as she went 1:15.69 in the 100 breaststroke. Aldridge had previously qualified for the 50 freestyle.
Getting two positions qualified for the state meet can classify the Hornet Invite as a success for the Mustangs, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. The Mustangs scored just 17 points as a team, placing them 13th out of 13 scoring teams at the event.
“Trying to keep their spirits up after the Hornet can be hard sometimes,” coach Whitney Nuci said. “We can’t compete with the Cheyenne Mountains and we can’t compete with the Lewis-Palmers. So, this [team meeting and meal] is where we try to come together and remember the good stuff.”
And to use that good stuff to generate momentum moving forward. The Mustangs head to Fountain-Fort Carson for the Trojan Invite this weekend and see it as another chance to qualify more swimmers for state. There are several on the cusp of cracking those qualifying times and Nuci knows with the right push, they can get there.
“I like taking the time at bigger invites to point out the skill stuff that I’ve been working with them on that other swimmers do really well,” Nuci said. “That way they can see that it’s not just Coach saying that if you do this, you’ll be better. They can see others putting those words into action.”
And when the action results in a trip to the VMAC, the lessons and the words gain value. And when that value goes up, the team will generate the results needed to head to the VMAC one more time this season.
STANDOUT MUSTANGS
Jarrin Hall (boys basketball): Scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds coming off the bench in Manitou’s loss to St. Mary’s.
Kara Donegan (girls wrestling): Overcame an early loss to finish fourth at the Vista Ridge Alpha Female Tournament.
Story Aldridge (girls swimming): Qualified for the state meet in two events at the Pueblo County Hornet Invite.
