University of Northern Colorado wrestling sent three athletes to the nationals tournament in Pittsburgh.
To the Bears dismay, all three wrestlers were done after day one of the tournament.
In wrestling tournaments, there is a winners bracket and a consolation bracket.
Lose once and you get sent to the consolation bracket, lose twice and you are done.
Jacob Seely, Rico Montoya and Chris Sandoval all received two losses on the day, but silver lining is Seely won one consolation bracket match.
Bears Results at Nationals
Jacob Seely
- No. 30 Seely vs. No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)
- Seely loss 16-0
- No. 30 Seely vs. No. 33 Rod Jones (Chattanooga)
- Seely win 8-0
- No. 30 Seely vs. No. 19 Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley)
- Seely loss 10-1
Rico Montoya
- No. 24 Montoya vs. No. 9 Reyvon Foley (Michigan State)
- Montoya loss 15-0
- No. 24 Montoya vs. No. 25 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State)
- Montoya loss 9-5
Chris Sandoval
- No. 32 Sandoval vs. No. 33 Peter Lipari (Rutgers)
- Sandoval loss 7-5
- No. 32 Sandoval vs. No. 30 Nate Limmex (Purdue)
- Sandoval loss 7-4
The Future is Bright
The Bears made some significant improvements this season with a few outstanding performances.
Next season should be a continual improvement as UNC brought in the most impressive recruit class, possibly ever in school history.
Offering depth and talent, Open Mat recruiting class rankings listed the Bears recruiting class to be the fourth best in the nation.
Among some of the most talented Division I wrestling prospects was Greeley Central’s own Andrew Alirez.
After much thought into his future, Alirez committed to be a UNC Bear and will be wrestling only six blocks south of Greeley Central.
With an experienced veteran roster and very skilled incoming talent, the Bears wrestling program looks to be on the rise.
