[Hardware] Florence Huskies wrestlers bring home state hardware

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PUEBLO — The 2021 Colorado High School Activities Association wrestling championships took on a different look than in years past.

Only eight wrestlers per weight qualified this year, cutting the number of qualifiers in half from the past. The move was made by CHSAA to accommodate COVID-19 capacity limitations.  The venue also was changed from the Pepsi Center in Denver to the Southwest Motors Event Center in Pueblo.

The Florence Huskies were represented in this year’s tournament by Brandon Boehm, a junior who qualified with a first-place regional finish, and Josh Thornton a senior, qualifying with a second-place regional finish.

In the quarterfinal round, Boehm (20-2) was ready to battle as he knocked off Devin Gomez (20-5) of Gunnison in a tightly contested 9-7 decision in the 126-pound division.  In the semifinals, Boehm faced off with two-time defending state champion Angelo Lozado (24-4).  The match came down to the wire with Boehm holding on for an 8-7 decision to earn a spot in the 3A state title match.

In the championship match, Boehm faced off with the undefeated number one seed D`mitri Garza-Alarcon (24-0) of Fort Lupton.  Despite several late scoring attempts by Boehm, Garza-Alarcon came out on top in a 16-3 major decision, giving Boehm a second-place finish and his second piece of state hardware to close out his season.

After his second-place finish, Huskies head coach Bob Masse praised Boehm for his accomplishment.

“He has just gotten stronger as the year has gone on and you always wish that the season were longer,” Masse said. “But he gets to come back because he’s only a junior and a two-time state placer for us. He got to get his feet wet in the finals and that’s good for him, and we expect him to come back next year and do bigger things.”

At 152 pounds, Thornton (21-7) began his senior campaign at state with the upset of a regional champion in a decisive fashion as he defeated Wesley Dubois (19-8) of Bennet by a score of 7-3.

In the semifinal round, Thornton ran into some stiff competition when he faced off with eventual state champion Isaiah Rios (24-2) of Valley. Thornton posted his first loss of the tournament to Rio’s by pin in 0:22.
In the consolation semifinal round, Thornton battled with Anthony Abeta (11-3) of Montezuma-Cortez.  Abeta recorded a pin over Thornton at 2:42 in the match and would go on to place fourth.  In the fifth-place match, Thornton faced off with Wesley Dubois (19-8) of Bennet.  In the final seconds, Thornton held on to a one-point lead to win the match by a score of 7-6 and finished out his career for the Huskies becoming a two-time state placer.

When asked about Thornton’s fifth-place finish coach Masse replied, “Josh, as a senior, had great expectations, he knocked off a No. 1 seed and regional-champ in the first round and then ran into the eventual state champ in the semi-finals. He is a two-time state placer for us.  It was a good career for him. It was a shortened season, but at least we had one and I think they are both pretty satisfied.”