by Derek White

The Colby Community College Trojan wrestling team held their final home event of the season on Jan. 30, a tri-dual with Labette Community College and Barton Community College. They lost both duals, first to Labette ending 34-17, and then a close matchup to Barton ending 27-24.
           In the first dual against Labette, the Trojans had a rough time staying out of tight spots against a more experienced opponent. First year head coach Joseph Cornejo came into position late in the season, putting Colby behind on the recruiting process.Â
           Coach Cornejo was able to fill a team, but with it came wrestlers with little experience compared to the rest of the field in the Jayhawk conference. Even though the team lost both duals, they are miles ahead of where they started the season. Losses do count, but progress is to be valued as well and the Trojan wrestling team is in good hands moving forward.

           Colby only found wins at two weights against Labette, first was 165 pounder Cah’mari Johnson collected the fall over Cannon Carey. This was Johnson’s first match for the Trojans due to eligibility rules, but he proved to be worth the wait. He came out smooth hitting his takedowns, and finding good turns to collect back points against Cannon Carey. Johnson took the win by fall, and set the fans imagination ablaze.Â

           The second win of the dual came from returning national qualifier Nick Martinez at 285 pounds. He earned a fall against Augustus Johns ending the dual with Colby behind 34-17.

           Next the Trojans battled Barton Community, the dual was great with the win being determined on the last match. Going into the heavy weight bout, the Trojans were ahead by three points, but Martinez was unable to secure the win suffering defeat by fall giving the win to Barton 27-24.Â
           The Trojans performed better as a whole, with five of the ten wrestlers collecting wins, but unfortunately it was not enough to secure the team win. At 125 pounds Hunter Sanchez beat Barton’s Jamal Garrett by decision 8-6 to start the dual. Luis Vasquez then secured a win by fall over AJ Almanza at 133 pounds, but the Trojans lost the next three weights. With the dual score at 15-9, Johnson earned a win by decision 6-5 over Barton’s Alonso Frances Aguilar.Â

           The Trojans lost the next bout by fall, then Mouhamadou Sene earned a win by fall over Barton’s Edgar Duarte Quiroz, and Ethan Anderson earned a win due to an open weight putting team score at 21-24.

           The steam ran out for the Trojans as they lost the final matching giving the win to Barton by three points. It wasn’t Martinez fault as several other Trojans could have performed better, but the dual was close, and gains were made by the Trojans.Â
           Next, the Trojans will be traveling to Pratt on Feb. 6 to have a tri-dual with Pratt and Cowley County.Â
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