By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

Even with five players sitting out with various injuries, the Berthoud High School wrestling team took care of business in their final meet of the regular season. The Spartans defeated Mead by a 42-36 final team score last Thursday on the road.

Berthoud offered up five forfeits on the night, but eight of the nine Spartans who took to the mat won their matches, with five of the eight winning via the pin.

Dalton Williams, currently ranked No. 3 in the Class 3A 106-pound division, pinned Roman Salaz in 1:16 and L.T. Torres defeated Brady Borger by a 4-2 decision in 120s. In the 126-pound pairing, Berthoud’s Talyn Massie pinned Keegan Caldwell in 1:51 and the Spartans highest-ranked wrestler, Austyn Binkly (No. 2 in 138s), pinned Mead’s Kyle Johnson 36 seconds into the second period.

Kyle Conlon wrestled into the third period against Randy Martinez and ultimately won via the fall in 4:51 in 145s. Brock Leypoldt picked up Berthoud’s fifth pin on the evening by defeating Joseph Macaluso in just 1:39 in the 152s. In 195s, Spartan senior Brock Johnson defeated Jesus Encinas with a 4-2 decision and Peter Bullet accepted a forfeit of in the 220s. The only Berthoud wrestler to lose a match on the evening was Anthony Trojahn, who was pinned by Tony Romeo in 182s.

Head Coach Will Carron’s Spartans will have a little more than a week from their last match to work on technique and recover from injuries sustained over the long season before going to the first part of the postseason on Feb. 10. Berthoud will head to Eaton on Saturday for the Region Two Regionals meet. Fourteen schools will wrestle in bracketed format with the top four in each weight class advancing to the state tournament at Pepsi Center in Denver, Feb. 15-17.