DENVER — From wrestling each other in their basement to grappling with the best the state has to offer, Jackson Eversman and his brother Ty have a bond rooted in the sport.
Thursday night at Ball Arena, the senior Jackson and his sophomore brother Ty both won their first-round and quarterfinal matches to advance to Friday night’s semifinals of the Class 4A tournament, Jackson at 150s and Ty at 144s.
“Wrestling is a way to bond,” Ty said. “We always cheer each other on and I’m always wishing the best for my brother. We have a little wrestling room in our basement that we sometimes roll around in. We push each other to be better and there’s probably no one I wrestle as hard against as my brother. So, it’s a fun relationship.”
“Wrestling good people is always the best way to get better,” Jackson added. “There’s no better competition than someone that has the same experience, genetics and size as you. It’s like wrestling myself if I grew up two years later.”
Those basement brawls have made both of them better, and for the first time, they are both still alive on the winner’s side of the bracket going into the tournament’s second day.
Last year, Ty placed third as a freshman while his brother didn’t make the semifinals.
In Thursday’s first two rounds, Ty won both of his matches by pinfall while Jackson won his first match with a pin and his second by a 17-0 technical fall.
“Today went great,” Ty said. “Just went out and wrestled. Didn’t look ahead of my matches. Took them one at a time and went out and performed. Headed on to the semis tomorrow feeling great.”
While Ty is looking to match or improve on his third-place finish from a year ago, Jackson has taken a different mindset into his final state tournament appearance.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself (last year),” Jackson said. “I was looking ahead, seeing who I was going to wrestle and this year, I’ve just accepted how I do is how I do. I’m going to go out and wrestle one match a time and not really look at the bracket but just go out there and get it done.”
The brothers will be joined in the semifinals by teammate Wyatt Malara at 165s. Anthony Castillo at 106s and Landry Suarez at 215s both won their first-round matches before losing in the quarterfinals. They will wrestle in the consolation second round on Friday.
In Class 5A, Loveland had one wrestler advance to the semifinals in Class 5A. Bryce Hayman won both of his opening-day matches at 190s. Also for the Red Wolves, Dominik Ortiz at 120s and Christian Carroll at 144s won their first-round matches before losing in the quarterfinals and will wrestle in the consolation second round Friday.
RCS’ Stockton, Berthoud’s Farrell advance to semis
Resurrection Christian and Berthoud each had one wrestler advance to Friday’s semifinals in Class 3A.
Defending 285s state champion Samuel Stockton had little trouble keeping his undefeated season intact. He pinned Kaeden Bonilla of Brush in 41 seconds in the opening round and Aaden Quintana of Centauri in one minute, seven seconds in the quarterfinals.
He improved to 33-0 this season going into his semifinal match Friday night.
Berthoud’s Donovan Farrell, making his first Colorado state tournament appearance after qualifying for the Iowa State tournament the previous two years before moving to Colorado, also got through to the semifinals at 215s.
Farrell pinned Jimmy Elledge of Pagosa Springs in 3:52 in the opening round and then Harold McClain of Fort Lupton in the quarterfinals in 1:34. He improved to 44-3 on the season going into his semifinal match.
“Today was good,” Farrell said. “I’m sticking to my plan. I’m keeping to my offense. I’m not getting into any positions that aren’t mine. I’m putting full trust in my training. I’ve been working nonstop every single day for the whole season and I’m ready.
“Semifinals feel good. I’m going to stick to my plan. I’m not going to let this get to my head. I’m going to get a good night’s rest and I’ll be ready.”
Berthoud’s Jaxon Ficarra and RCS’ Josh Stockton both won their first-round matches at 175s before losing in the quarterfinals. Berthoud’s Julia Schnell, who was the state runner-up at 120s last year, won her first-round match before losing in the quarterfinals.
LHS’ Lussenhop on track in title defense
Sophomore Saydee Lussenhop was the only member of the Loveland girls team to advance to the semifinals in Class 5A.
The defending state champion at 110s defeated Clair Kirby of Brighton in the first round with a 19-1 technical fall and then pinned her quarterfinal opponent, Allna Alarid of Pomona to advance to keep her hopes of a second consecutive title alive.
She knows she has a target on her back this weekend.
“This year’s a little different,” she said. “It feels better because I’m under the lights. I have been under them. I have been in this situation. I feel like I thrive here, just around all these people and showing them what I have.
“There’s definitely a target on my back. I can feel it. It’s a little scary, but I feel like I thrive under pressure more. So, I think it’s perfect for me.”
The only other Loveland girl to win her first-round match was Amiyah McGee at 100s. She pinned Denver South’s Jocelyn Serrano in her opening bout before losing her quarterfinal match by a 14-3 major decision to Riverdale Ridge’s Shayla Wolters.
