Wrestling making headlinesThe Regional Class 4A wrestling meet was held Feb. 16 at the Pueblo Events Center. The preliminary bouts were held Friday. Falcon finished the regional meet in eighth place in team standings with 93 points to lead Metro Area 4A teams. Four Falcon wrestlers qualified for the state tournament in Denver. The top four in each class advanced to the state finals, which began Feb. 21 (after the NFH went to print). Seniors Marcus Trujillo at 130 pounds, Zach Roscoe at 135 pounds, Jesse Brown at 171 pounds, Brenden Condon at 215 pounds and Ben Angel in the heavy weight class are leading the way for the Falcons. “Underclassmen Jose Cos, Dillon Keller and Mike Dees will be extremely tough on the competition as well,” Andy Franko, athletic director and wrestling coach, said. “The coaching staff and dedicated wrestling fans look forward to a great state tournament run for the 2008 4A Metro League champion Falcons.”At the regional meet, Roscoe (135) was Falconís only finalist. He lost 7-1 to Jeremy Aguero of Pueblo South. Jose Cos (140) placed third, pinning Pueblo Centralís Andres Pacheco, while Jesse Brown (171) and Ben Angel (285) finished fourth in their classes.Roscoe will take on Scott Schaefler of Greeley Central, while Cos meets Houston Mader of Steamboat Springs, Brown wrestles Devin Hightower of Widefield and Ben Angel meets Tim Saucedo of Northridge in the state finals.Track talkEach year, on the third weekend in February, the Simplot Games offers athletes the opportunity to go head-to-head against the finest high school competitors in the United States and Canada. Held in Pocatello, Idaho, Simplot Games is the nation’s premier indoor track and field event for high school athletes. About 2,000 high school athletes participate.In the track and field event, Wes Rickman, a Falcon junior, won the biggest race of his career – the 3200-meter boys division. Rickman’s time was a personal best at 9:16:39. He won by 16 seconds. Last fall, Rickman placed second at the state meet in the two-mile distance.Other Falcon high school athletes participating included senior Keenen Ballage, who placed sixth in the 60 yard dash, and Kevin Johnson, who placed ninth in the 1600-meter event. Ballage has accepted a track scholarship to Colorado State University. Johnson placed fourth in the youth division in the 5000 series at the 2007 Junior Olympics.”We are starting our team practices next week for the Spring season. For the team as a whole, we are very optimistic,” said Cameron Magnall, track and cross country coach.Basketball bitsThe basketball season is almost ending. At this point, the boys’ team is 6-8 in the conference and 11-10 overall. On Feb. 19, they defeated Woodland Park on the road 77-72 in overtime. Three of the Falcons ended up in double digits: Gabriel Jackson scored 22, Adam Link contributed 20 points and Eric Perez finished with 17 points for the night.The Lady Falcons, after losing three close games in a row, pounded the Woodland Park girls 53-32. Rose Waskowsky scored on three field goals. Amber Wilmore scored 15 points and Kiah Hicks added 10 to the Falcons’ total. The girls are now 9-5 in the conference and 13-7 overall.
