It’s been a long time since Heritage had a grappler in the state
wrestling finals.
And with a new unique hair cut, or hair shave, heavyweight
Jeremy Todd was determined to be the one to do it.
Heritage High School wrestling qualified three grapplers to the
Class 5A state championships Feb. 17-19 at the Pepsi Center in
Denver, including 130-pounder Josh Bohney, Billy O’Brien at 160 and
Todd, who has given up a ton of weight to wrestle among the state’s
285’s.
Todd earned his place in the heavyweight finals but went home
with the silver medal after losing to heavily favored and
undefeated Connor Medley of Loveland by pinfall at 4 minutes, 21
seconds.
Josh Bohney (130)
Bohney, a junior, had a tough draw in the 130-pound tournament.
His preliminary bout was against favored senior and defending
champion Carter McElhany of Coronado. McElhany beat the Eagle with
a 15-0 technical fall.
Once in the consolation bracket, Bohney lost an 11-5 decision to
Greeley West’s Shedrick Boyd. The junior finished his mats season
with a 28-17 record.
Bill O’Brien (160)
O’Brien, a senior, had a bit better success in the 160 bouts. He
made the championship quarterfinals after a 4-2 decision over
Dallas Fite of Fountain-Fort Carson. O’Brien was defeated 4-3 in
the next round by Fort Collins’ Riley McConnell, who went on to
finish sixth place.
In the consolation matches, O’Brien beat Sam Hinkle of Palmer
with a 7-2 nod, but he saw the end of his senior year of wrestling
when eventual fifth-place Continental League competitor Mike Carter
of Mountain Vista sent him home on a 7-3 decision.
O’Brien finished his season with a 32-14 record.
Jeremy Todd (285)
Todd, a senior, entered the state championships’ heavyweight
bracket with only one loss on the season. He wrestled less than
seven minutes total to make the championship bout against
Medley.
In the first round, Todd posted a pinfall at 3 minutes, 9
seconds over Mike Howshar of Eaglecrest. He followed up with
another at 55 seconds in the quarterfinals over cross-town rival
Joe Zaccardi of Arapahoe.
In the semifinals, Todd pinned Brighton’s Sebastian Romero at
2:36. The Eagles senior finished his silver medal season with a
39-2 record.
