The Manitou Springs wrestling teams will get their first taste of postseason action when they head to the Tri-Peaks League tournament in Buena Vista this week.
The tournament should give the Mustangs a good idea of their abilities with regionals on the horizon a week later.
Throughout the roster, the Mustangs have four wrestlers who have at least eight wins under their belts. Of the four, just Grayer Whipkey and Terry Lindh have more wins than losses.
This weekend will serve as an important battleground to get those two, along with Cody Wyman and Bradyn Dowling, prepared to qualify for state.
“We talk a lot that anything can happen,” coach Paul Bonner said. “Ranked kids can get beat and kids that aren’t ranked can show up. Anything can happen on any given day.”
The tournament will take place over two days at Buena Vista High School. The Mustangs have seen limited action against league opponents in some ways. Lindh has just one match against a league foe, when he pinned Florence’s Weston Sweigart at the Mel Husky Invitational in mid-January.
Despite the limited action against other Tri-Peaks competitors, the Mustangs are familiar with the opponents they’ll face and will look to gain major momentum before going to regionals.
“I had a discussion with Grayer and Terry and we were looking at rankings and Grayer, in particular, could have two or three ranked kids (in his path),” Bonner said. “He’s accepted that challenge and he’s looking forward to wrestling some good kids.”
The same can be said for the girls wrestlers. They also go to Buena Vista for leagues this weekend. With Hannah Hollick-Mitchell and Abby Reeves each coming off top-four finishes, they also want to get some positive results as they take aim at regionals.
Hollick-Mitchell carries a 10-5 record into the Tri-Peaks tournament, while Reeves sits at 6-8.