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Eagle Valley Girls wrestling put two girls into the finals this weekend at the Girls Warrior Classic. This was the first year for the event, attracting 25 teams from as far as Arizona, with the Devils placing seventh.

Eagle Valley Girls currently has five girls competing: Luvlyn Ward at 105, Gabby Littlepage at 110, Lauryn Ward at 125, Julia Borejszo at 140 and Nora Abbott at 155. Luvlyn Ward gave up some poundage due to over reaching weight cert requirements, but still managed to score some points and win some matches. Lauryn Ward, coming off a Western Showdown Championship last week, went on a decent run until losing in the semi-final match to Jordan Heilbult of Eaglecrest and ultimately placing fifth. Nora Abbott had some of the most exciting matches of the day, which was not unusual during her middle school career. She managed to overpower Hayden Garcia of Meeker in Sudden Victory in the cons round 3, however fell short of a podium. 

The two big stories of the day were Sophomore Gabby Littlepage and Junior Julia Borejszo. Both made the championships and both took home silver. “There are big things coming her way in her wrestling career,” head coach Travis Ward said of Littlepage, who drew Battle Mountain’s undefeated Tara Baylor in the finals and lost, but not without putting Baylor to task. 

Borejszo beat all of her opponents from Conifer, Grand Junction and Farmington, New Mexico on her way to the final match. “Julia might have the best natural instincts on the team,” said assistant coach Bob Good. During the quarter finals, Matalina Diaz of Grand Junction headlocked Borejszo head over heels to her back, only to be “rolled through” by Borejszo and stuck in dramatic fashion, earning her the win. Coaches Brandon Hern, Travis Ward and Bob Good couldn’t help but smile knowing they have such a young talented prospect.

Meanwhile, the junior varsity team made their way to Fruita for the Fruita Monument Invite. The biggest stories of the day there comes from Bennett Maloley and Josiah Quinn, who took third and fourth, respectively. Bennett went 4-1 on the day with coaches eyeing him to move to varsity. Josiah Quinn went 4-2 on the day after losing in the quarter finals to Tristan Seevers of Olathe. “Josiah is one of those kids on the cusp of bumping up to the varsity spot when the call comes in,” coach Tanner Archer said.

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The iconic Warrior Classic stands as one of the top five tournaments in Colorado wrestling. Eagle Valley took four upperclassmen. Junior Henry Hovet had the job of wrestling the stacked 138 pound bracket and managed to win a match, declaring his presence. Junior Nathan Leeper had the daunting task of giving up 15 pounds to his competitors due to state weight certifications and manage to go 3-2 on the tournament. “Nathan made the second day of the tournament, which future state champions sometimes fall short of doing,” coach Brandon Hern said. Bode Cobb weighed in light and was forced to compete heavy, but not without putting his competition to the test. He lost a nail biter in the second round to Grand Valley’s Mason Schoeppner in the final seconds.

Sophomore Alex Good brought home a fourth place finish after losing in the third place finals to Jimmy Hamoodi of Denver East. He had previously beat Hamoodi in the Quarters. Good gave the eventual champion his toughest match of the day and gave his fans a highlight reel finish over Canon City’s ranked Blaze Unpingco in the Cons Semis. Good converted a reversal to put Unpingco on his back in the final seconds. 

“Ain’t it great to be a devil!”

Bob Good is the assistant coach of Eagle Valley High School wrestling.