All Manitou Springs High School Varsity Wrestlers will be heading to Regionals on February 15th and 16th. This is a state qualifying meet where the top four placers in each individual weight category will wrestle next week in the Pepsi Center. Seniors and returning state qualifiers Byrd McCarley (12) and Ceasar Sanchez (12) will be setting their sights on getting on the podium.

Coach Paul Bonner, a 23-year veteran of the sport, is very optimistic for the team’s performance at regionals. “We are preparing the team for Regionals by keeping practice time shorter, fine-tuning each individual’s technique, and encouraging them to be confident in their abilities,” said Bonner. He goes on to say that they expect McCarley and Sanchez to return to state along with a few others. The team philosophy is to take one match at a time, don’t read into wins and loses and leave it all on the mat. “I am very proud of these guys and I have the utmost confidence that they will do well, now they just need to believe it themselves,” said Bonner.

“I have two returning state championships, so I shoot to place on the top three at Regionals, but [ultimately I’m] going for number one,” said Sanchez. He’s wrestled at MSHS for three out of the four years because last year he went to a different school, but came back to finish his senior year among his best friends like McCarley.

The other varsity wrestlers include Grayer Whipkey (9), Emmett Wolfe (10), Orion Lavigne (11) and Hunter Gilpin (11). They have all worked hard this season to get to this point to be able to compete in Regionals. The rest of the wrestling team is excited to go to Regionals to support their teammates.