Conifer Lobos Boys Wrestling Grapples With Loss

Conifer Boys Wrestling lost their dual meet against Rampart High School Jan. 10th. due to multiple wins by forfeit and match losses.

Though Conifer did not beat Rampart, the match yielded some success.

“Everything went pretty well, everyone performed basically as expected,” Boys Wrestling Head Coach Nick Adamson said.

Senior Jack Fetzer emerged as the star of the night, winning not one but two bouts. Both ended in a takedown of Rampart’s wrestler, red-faced and grunting the whole time. The other two victors of the night were senior Jacob Reynolds and junior Asher Phillips.

“I was against an easier kid so I won, but he was a lower skill set so I didn’t have to try as hard. I like matches where I can try,” Reynolds said.

Assistant Coach Tim Book suggests Conifer fans look out for Fetzer, Reynolds and Metzger  in the postseason.

“Jack Fetzer unfortunately didn’t wrestle the last two years, but I have a feeling he’s going to run deep into the tournaments,” Book said.

Philip’s mother, Amanda Phillips, was especially excited to see him win his bout. For most of his wrestling career, she has been his “bad luck charm” and tonight was one of the first bouts she has seen him win.

“It’s kind of amazing to see, you know, a little baby now is wrestling and is so strong,” Phillips said.

The night was not a success story for everyone, though. Sophomore Ben Metzger lost his match after three rounds. Because neither wrestler had completed a takedown in the time allotted, Rampart’s wrestler was declared the winner based on points. 

“Frankly, I think I could have done better,” Metzger said. 

Adamson noted that though wrestling is an individual sport, the sheer amount of mental and physical stress that the players go through together creates a tight-knit team. Last night’s dual only proved this as teammates shouted encouragement and advice from the bench. Whenever a teammate came close to completing a takedown his teammates would be out of their seats, acting like the fans at the World Cup Final.

“Even though it’s an individual sport, wrestling teams have more unity than a lot of team sports,” Adamson said.

Now that their season has three weeks left the Boys’ Wrestling team is looking towards regionals and state qualifiers.

“Right now we’re basically gearing up to try to perform in that regional tournament as best we can and try to qualify as many wrestlers to get to that state tournament as possible,” Adamson said.

Experience levels on the team are widespread. Newer players are focusing on fundamentals while veteran players are working on higher-level techniques. Book notes that the team will be specifically focusing on bottom work, footwork, and takedowns in preparation for the regional tournament.

“The guys are continuing to get better at the things that we’re working on each day. We’re continuing to improve throughout the end of the season,” Adamson said.

Their next home dual will be on February 2nd against Evergreen High School. Varsity League Championships will be on February 3rd at Alameda High School and JV State will be the same day at Northglenn.