DENVER – The Pueblo East High School Eagles boys wrestling team came to the Class 4A state tournament on a mission to dominate and win state.
Mission accomplished.
Before the finals began Saturday afternoon at Ball Arena, the Eagles placed nine wrestlers to capture their second 4A team championship in a row and fifth state crown since 2019.
East finished with 158.5 points to outdistance second place Roosevelt (141 points)
“It’s our schedule,” East head coach Tyler Lundquist said about the key to his team’s success. “It shows when we get here that we are ready. We know the schedule we have and the way we prepare it gets them ready for (state). There are other places that might be padding records and hiding guys and protecting them. But you can’t protect guys, you can only prepare them.
“This is gratifying and it will probably hit me (Sunday) like it did last year. In all reality, what makes my coaching staff and I what allows us to keep this thing going is that we are really never satisfied.”
This is East’s fifth state wrestling championship joining the ones the Eagles claimed in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025. The first three state crowns came under the guidance of coach Pat Laughlin. This is Lundquist’s third year as the mat boss for East and his ninth with the program.
The Eagles were powered by Uriah Duran (113 pounds), Justus Freeman (157 pounds); Elijah Contreras (190) and Michael McCullough (215) who all collected runner-up finishes.
Freeman, a senior, lost a tough 4-1 overtime decision to Air Academy’s David Burchett Jr. Burchett Jr. had a three-point takedown as the first overtime period expired to get the win. Freeman had a 2-2 record against Burchett Jr. this season beating him 5-2 last week in regionals.
“He was more offensive than I was and he got in better positions than I was at times,” Freeman said. “It is tough losing this match especially since we just wrestled last week.”
Freeman finished his season with a 40-7 record and will continue his wrestling career at Otero Junior College in La Junta.
Couple the Eagle finalists with East’s Noah Sanchez (106 pounds, fourth); Jason Soto (120 pounds, fifth); Michael Banuelos (138 pounds, sixth); Giovanni Sanchez (144 pounds, fourth); and Logan Trujillo (165 pounds, sixth) and the Eagles stayed atop the Class 4A summit. East qualified 12 wrestlers for state.
Canon City’s Elias Koonce edged Contreras 14-11 in the finals. Contreras, a senior, finished the season with a 41-7 record. McCullough, a junior, suffered a 15-0 technical fall to Roosevelt junior Michael Garcia (44-4). McCullough capped his season with a 36-7 record.
Duran was pinned by Greeley Central’s Daniel Romero in the finals.
East was leading Air Academy by 28 points before the finals and couldn’t be caught in the team race no matter what happened in the championship matches.
Severance High School’s Drake VomBaur win third state title in a row
Individually in 4A, Severance High School’s Drake VomBaur stepped further into the ptrep spotlight by becoming a three-time state champion.
VomBaur muscled past Air Academy’s Dylan Saba 7-1 in the 120-pound state finals.
The match wasn’t easy for VomBaur, it was scoreless at the end of the first period. VomBaur had an escape to start the second period and take a 1-0 lead. Then with 15 seconds left in the second he had a takedown to go up 4-0.
(Eric Brown/ebrownfoto.com)
Saba added a reversal of his own at the 1:47 mark of the third, but VomBaur sealed the match with a reversal with 32 seconds remaining.
“I loved that match, I was grateful,” said the junior VomBaur, who has already committed to wrestle for the University of Minnesota. “He was a legit wrestler. A state championship would not have meant anything if I pinned everybody.
“My coaches gave me good advice, and I should not have tied up so much because he was strong. Once I figured that out, I was able to start opening up some offense.”
VomBaur’s first two seasons in prep wrestling culminated with him capturing the Class 4A state titles at 106 and 113 pounds, respectively. He posted a 41-0 record as a freshman and was 39-5 last season. This season he posted a 42-3 record.
“This one meant a lot more to me because I got injured right before (state),” VomBaur said. “I injured my (left quad), and I couldn’t train for a few days and then before that my lower back got injured and then I got sick. I didn’t have a lot of energy, but I was able to overcome all that. I’m just grateful that I was healthy enough to get through this tournament.”
Class 4A boys wrestling champions
| WEIGHT CLASS | CHAMPION | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|
| 106 | Simon Carter | Severance |
| 113 | Daniel Romero | Greeley Central |
| 120 | Drake VomBaur | Severance |
| 126 | Teagan Young | Palisade |
| 132 | Malakii Martin | Roosevelt |
| 138 | Kash Long | Roosevelt |
| 144 | Ty Eversman | Thompson Valley |
| 150 | Kadin Mulford | Palisade |
| 157 | David Burchett Jr. | Air Academy |
| 165 | Wyatt Malara | Thompson Valley |
| 175 | Robert Kendall | Windsor |
| 190 | Elias Koonce | Canon City |
| 215 | Michael Garcia | Roosevelt |
| 285 | Ben Reish | Canon City |
Top 10 teams
| PLACE | TEAM | SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pueblo East | 158.5 |
| 2 | Roosevelt | 141 |
| 3 | Air Academy | 134.5 |
| 4 | Palisade | 131 |
| 5 | Severance | 117.5 |
| 6 | Canon City | 87.5 |
| 7 | Windsor | 86.5 |
| 8 | Widefield | 83.5 |
| 9 | Falcon | 80 |
| 10 | Thompson Valley | 74 |
