DENVER — It was deja vu for Thompson Valley’s Wyatt Malara in Saturday night’s Class 4A 165-pound final against Air Academy’s Thomas Martell at the state tournament at Ball Arena.
Malara had just wrestled his championship bout opponent last weekend in the finals of the Class 4A Region 1 tournament at TVHS. And just like that regional final, Malara defeated Martell. Saturday night’s victory meant so much more for the senior in the last match of his high school career.
It took Malara only 2 minutes, 49 seconds to defeat Martell by fall.
“That was amazing,” Malara said of his championship moment. “I mean, obviously, I’ve never been there before, and it was probably one of the better feelings. He was pretty good on his feet and I knew he was going to do the same things he did last week, so I waited for him to make a mistake and then just took care of it from there.”
Malara’s championship was easily his best finish at state. He was sixth as a sophomore in 2024 at 157s.
It was a fitting end to a career that featured multiple state tournament appearances.
“I’ve come a long way,” he said. “I worked on a few things and I’m pretty proud of it. It’s about as good as it gets.”
Malara didn’t have to look far for some extra motivation and inspiration. Just a few matches before his, sophomore teammate Ty Eversman won his first state championship at 144s, defeating Roosevelt’s Chris LaLonde in a tight 9-8 decision.
LaLonde scored a point in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the second, where Eversman picked up four points to LaLonde’s one to take a 4-2 lead into the final period.
Eversman got a four-point near-fall late in the third period to go ahead 8-2. LaLonde closed the gap with a reversal and two points for Eversman stalling, the last of which came with just one second left.
“That’s a really tough opponent and a big win there,” Eversman said. “He’s a really good wrestler. I was glad to get that one. It’s a great feeling to get that accomplishment.”
Eversman was third last year as a freshman and now has a chance to win two more.
But just like he did this season, he plans to go through his next two seasons taking it one match at a time.
“I just take it one day at a time,” he said. “I’ll just work hard every day and the points will come. The wins will come. You just have to work hard and get better every day.”
With the two championships, the Eagles earned another top 10 team finish. With 80 points, they ended up ninth in Class 4A.
In Class 5A, Loveland’s Saydee Lussenhop and Bryce Hayman fell short in their championship matches, but both ended up as state runners-up.
Lussenhop, who won her first state title at 110s, knew she had a target on her back all weekend and ended the tournament with a 6-0 loss to Falcon freshman Allison McDaniel.
With two top-two finishes in the first two seasons of her high school career, Lussenhop was already thinking about coming back stronger and hopefully seeing McDaniel again in a year.
“Tough match, definitely,” Lussenhop said. “I went out there, tried my best. It’s really just something that I’ve got to come back from. It was a great match, good match to wrestle in the state finals. I’m thankful I got the privilege to be in it again. The finals is an amazing experience. I’m hoping to come back stronger, just get her back next year. Just come back even stronger.”
Hayman lost his championship match at 190s to Pomona’s Emerson Claeys by technical fall in 3:23.
The senior, who said Friday he didn’t even expect to make it to the finals, ended his high school career with his best finish at the state tournament.
