Five See Success at Torgensen Invite

The Christmas presents had been opened, the new year's celebrations had, and on this past Saturday your Severance Silver Knights headed to Fort Collins High School and took part in what has become a perennial classic, The Torgensen Invite. With eighteen (18) teams present, there was competition at every weight, and your Silver Knights had some great success on the mat.

The Lightweights Came to Crush

In what is becoming the standard operating procedure for Severance Wrestling this season, the lightweights showed up to the Torgensen with intentions to dominate the competition and did it. The Silver Knight wrestlers took control of the mats in the first four (4) weight classes, taking three first(s) and a third. Each of the lightweights were dominant in their own way, and each brought something special to the table.

Simon Carter (So., 106) Took Top honors at the Torgensen Invite.

Simon Carter (#1,4A)(106, So.) absolutely annihilated the competition on his way to winning the 106 weight bracket. His first three matches were completed by Fall in :27 seconds, :23 seconds and :37 seconds. Carrying a full head of steam into his final match, SImon controlled the tempo, had a significant riding time advantage and sealed the match with a 9-0 Major Decision. He did not give up a single point, and controlled every facet of his matches from the first to last whistle.

Tatum Garcia (So.,113) started the day seeded #15. He took it personal and won the bracket decisively.

Tatum Garcia (#3,4A) (113, So.) had a stand-out day of his own, going from the #15 seed to winning the 113 pound bracket. His first round match was against the #2 seed from Denver North, and that match proved pretty quickly the inaccuracy of the tournament's seeding. Tatum dominated the match starting at the first whistle and wrapped it up with a fall midway through the 2nd period. He followed that up with a :32 second pin, and a semi-final win by fall. His final match looked like it was going to be a nail biter, but through consistent pressure, deep shots and some really impressive movement from bottom and in and out of bad situations, Tatum took the 10-5 decision and the top of the podium. 

Drake VomBaur (Jr., 120) Continued his winning ways taking first, as well as logging his 100th High School win.

Drake VomBaur (#1,4A) (120,Jr.) did Drake style things on a day that would see him accomplish a major milestone in his own wrestling Journey. After a first round bye, Drakes quarter-final match would see him outscore his opponent 13-1 and end the match by fall only :15 seconds into the second period. In his semi-final bout, one that would be his historic 100th high school win, Drake took Kole Bauman of Chatfield to deep water and won by tech fall 19-2. In the final, a match that was a re-run of the Roosevelt invitational final, Drake took (#3,3A) Ben Gomez through 3 periods to a 16-3 major Decision.

Dennis Campos (Jr.,126) Battled hard going 3-1 and taking 3rd in a TOUGH 126 pound bracket.

Dennis Campos(#7,4A) (126,Jr.) battled through a hard bracket to a third place finish. He scored a huge 15-0 tech fall in the first round, and followed that up with a fall late in the first period against Donovan Heineman of Sergent. In his semi-final match, Dennis met (#3, 4A) Dylan Saba from Air Academy High School, and although Dennis went toe to toe with him for three periods, he ultimately gave up an 11-1 Major decision to Saba. Refusing to not medal though, and with just a little bit of a chip on his  shoulder like we have come to love from him, Dennis showed up to his third and fourth place placement match and white-knuckled a 6-4 decision against Jayden Wise of Fossil Ridge.

Our Big Battled Big!

Brody Vondy (Sr.,285) Took 2nd and looked great as he heads into the meat of the season.

Brody Vondy (#10,4A) (Sr.,285) wanted to make sure that no one forgets there are heavies at Severance too! Seeded #2 at the start of the day, he had a first round bye. Brody gutted out a great 6-4 decision against CJ Robinson of Fort Collins, battling for a big reversal in the 2nd and a huge takedown in the 3rd to seal the deal with an 8-4 win. His Semi-Final match only required one reversal in the early part of the second period to allow him to snatch a second period fall against Eli Rodriguez of Longmont and set him up for a match with in-district rival, (#5,4A)Grady Agone of Windsor. In that final match, both wrestlers struggled to get going early, but Agone got a takedown against Brody with :28 seconds left in the 3rd to take the win, 3-0.

TEAM PERFORMANCE ON THE COME UP

As a team, Severance took 4th in the pool, coming in behind Windsor, Air Academy and Fort Collins. It was a solid performance, but there is still serious room to grow as we come into the meat of the season.

This team has the building blocks to make a HUGE end of the season run. To do so, though, they will need to see some of its major players heal up from injury and get back in the active rotation, get rid of the recurring sickness that’s been an indiscriminate enemy, and most especially need to see real consistency, drive and performance from the whole of the team. If that happens, there is no doubt this will be a team lighting up the scoreboard at Ball Arena in February.