Lobos Lose the Crown to Evergreen

Conifer’s Boys Wrestling team lost a close dual against Evergreen High School on the last home match up of the season.

Patrick Doty, Reporter|February 3, 2023

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Patrick Doty

Senior Jacob Reynolds pins his bloodied Evergreen opponent to the mat. Reynolds emerged victorious from his match. “I was nervous. It was my last match ever at Conifer High School,” Reynolds said.

The Conifer Boys Wrestling team lost the King of the Mountain home dual against Evergreen High School on February 2, 36-45.

“We were kind of playing the underdog, [with a] forfeit in five weights so it was kinda gonna be a tough path for us anyways,” head coach Nick Adamson said.

Conifer held a 30-21 lead with only a few rounds left in the dual, but despite the lead, Evergreen came in late with three forfeits, tallying themselves up to 45 points.

Conifer 2014 alumni Tristan Wolfe (left) who used to wrestle for the Lobos leaps to his feet and cheers loudly following Asher Phillip’s close win on the mat. “There should be way more support for the kids who wrestle,” Wolfe said. “It’s one of the hardest sports out there.” (Patrick Doty)

A large majority of Evergreen’s wins stemmed from their forfeits.  Forfeits are a big weakness for the Lobos, as the lack of numbers on the team means that often they’re faced with holes in their weight classes, and an automatic loss of 6 points to the opposing team.

“There were a lot of forfeits that contributed to it, they have a lot more guys than we do,” Junior Tristan Swanson said.

Adamson notes that this kind of performance is largely unheard of, considering Evergreen’s history of having a well accredited wrestling program, and Conifer being only on year two of its own program.

“It’s great to watch them here, and it’s nice to see that the community has grown,” former Lobos Wrestler Tristan Wolf said.

The match was  the last home game for the Lobos wrestling team, and  senior night.

Junior Asher Philips works his way out of a pin to turn the tables and win the match with only 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock. “Being able to come out and pull that one out with 0.6 seconds left in the match, that was great. If you’re gonna hang your hat on one, that’s the man to do it on,” Adamson said. (Patrick Doty)

Senior Jacob Reynolds, who’s spent two years with the program, admitted he felt the pressure of the night.

“No matter what, I didn’t care if I broke an arm, or if I bled or sweat, I was gonna win this match no matter what,” Reynolds said. 

Reynolds won his own match without much struggle after holding his opponent in a “half nelson” maneuver, even drawing blood against his Evergreen opponent.

Jacob Reynolds holding his opponent in a half nelson before flipping him and going for the pin to secure his win. “I was out there, I was ready, I was ready to win,” Reynolds said. (Patrick Doty)

Senior Jack Fetzer, who is currently ranked 7th in 3A for the 144 lbs division, will be making a run for the podium at state this year.  

Fetzer won his match in a mere 60 seconds, marking the match over hardly before it had begun.

“It felt awesome, there’s no other feeling,” Fetzer said.

The Lobos look ahead to their League Championships meet, today, February 3rd at Golden High School.