The state tournament, held Friday, February 16 and Saturday, February 17, marked the end of the wrestling season for high school. Among the five Fossil Ridge High School wrestlers, Nathan Meyer made a statement at the Pepsi Center, where the tournament was held. He was he only Sabercat to place and finished sixth in State.

Meyer wrestles in the weight class of 182. Despite the nerves during the opening round on Friday, he beat Olson from Arvada West 5-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals. He then went on to beat Fries from Legacy by pin in 1:40. The semi finals were then held on Saturday where Meyer was scheduled to compete against Samuelson from Castle View.

Advancing into the semifinals, Meyer lost by pin in 1:55 and dropped to the consolation quarterfinals where he lost to Worthley from Broomfield 7-1. This loss took him to the math for fifth place. Meyer ended his final high school wrestling match with a loss to Strasheim from ThunderRidge 8-6 and take sixth, like he had last year when he made Fossil history. .

“What a few years it’s been, not exactly the outcome I wanted but I can’t thank God enough for the opportunity I had. Wrestling has given me more than I could’ve imagined but it is time to hang up the shoes.”

Alongside Meyer, his co-captain Zach Klingner went the second furthest of the Fossil wrestlers. Even though he didn’t place, he put up a fight until the very end. In his opening round Klingner beat Valdez of Thornton 10-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he lost to Deaguero from Adams City 9-0 and dropped to the consolation bracket. In the second round consolation he beat Valerio from Grand Junction by fall in 1:29 and continued into the consolation quarterfinals. Klingner wrestled his last high school match against Lopez from Coronado where he lost 4-3.

Another Sabercat wrestler, Cody Ginther has a difficult first match by losing to Ranieri from Grandview by pin in 2:24 and dropped to the consolation bracket early in the tournament. His single win at State was in the first round consolation where he beat Hatch from Arvada West by pin in 2:35. However, he ended the season with a loss to Key from Legacy in the second round consolation by pin in 2:26.

Hunter Geist-Sanchez and Austin Yeager both struggled at State and were not able to capture a win in any of their two matches. Geist-Sanchez lost by pin to Collins of Grand Junction in 1:50 during the first round and then also lost in the second round to Nava of Northglenn 11-5. Yeager lost to Deaguero from Adams City 10-0 and then again to Danfelser from Cherry Creek 13-7 in the second round.

The state tournament concludes the wrestling season and the Fossil program says goodbye to five wrestlers, one of which has made history for the school. Hopefully the team will be able to continue making a statement for Fossil wrestling.