Koppenhafer learns a lot by attending Team Duals

Koppenhafer learns a lot by attending Team Duals

April 17, 2001

Scott Koppenhafer

BY JIM THOMAS
Sports Editor

Scott Koppenhafer, a junior at Mancos High School, has been wrestling almost continuously since he competed at the Colorado State High School Wrestling Championships in mid-February in Denver. He participated in the Mile High Tournament, a collegiate wrestling tournament where he took second in his weight class and most recently competed at Battle Creek, Mich., in the Kellogg’s-Collegiate Wrestling Coaches Association’s Underclassmen Team National Duals Wrestling Tournament.

Koppenhafer was selected for the elite tournament based on his performances this past prep wrestling season. He finished with a 40-1 record, finishing as state runnerup at 135 pounds in Class 2A. He recorded 17 pins during the season.

"This was quite an honor for him," MHS head coach Travis Bryant said. "I followed his matches on the Internet (www.themat.com). He did a really good job. He got to face some of nation’s best underclassmen."

In the first match, he faced a grappler from the New England-area team who had won state in Massachusettes a couple times.

"I went into overtime with him and ended up beating him 6-4. I took him down right off the whistle. On the mat, I wasn’t wrestling very good and he ended up scoring. He scored on a reversal and picked up an escape late in the third period for a 3-3 deadlock. Both of us were really dead tired but I ended up winning," Koppenhafer recalled.

Although Koppenhafer won his match, Colorado lost the team score 22-29.

He next took on a wrestler from New Jersey (blue team), the next toughest team at the tourney.

"That guy just took it to me," he said. "I was pretty tired from my last match. He would take me down and ride me for a little while and let me go. Then he would take me down again. He would try to turn me to my back but if he couldn’t do it he would let me go and take me down again. He was really tough. He was by far the toughest guy I have ever wrestled."

Koppenhafer lost by technical fall 3-18. His teammates got beat 19-44.

Colorado then met Michigan (blue).

"I had a close match. I took him down right off the bat. But then I wrestled really bad. I ended up tying the score at 3-3. The match went into overtime and he ended up taking my down and then got two back points to win 4-7. I felt bad about that match because I knew I could have won it," he noted.

Michigan beat Colorado 25-32.

Koppenhafer then took on Ohio, the fourth match of the tourney.

"As a team, we were really tired. But this was our best chance of winning as a team. I ended up winning my match 10-0. The rest of my teammates did pretty good. We tied them, 32-32 on the scoreboard. But the team match went to criteria and we ended up winning," he said.

Koppenhafer and his Colorado cohorts faced Illinois. The team lost 21-40 but Koppenhafer prevailed 6-3.

"This guy was head jamming me and tried to get underneath. I kept from being carried over and stayed with him. He was very aggressive. He never stopped being aggressive and kept coming in on my legs. He was pretty good. But I managed to stay on my feet and win, 6-3. " he said.

The final day of the event, Koppenhafer wrestled in several exhibitions.

"In the first match, I had to wrestle a guy from Pennsylvania who was two weight classes above me. He beat me something like 4-14. I wrestled two guys from Michigan after that. I won 10-0 and then I wrestled the guy who beat me in overtime. We ended up going into overtime again and I ended up beating him (he couldn’t remember the score)."

Pennsylvania won the tournament, "by a lot. The only team that came reasonably close was that team from New Jersey.

"I really learned a lot from this tournament," he reported. "I feel like I know a lot more. I learned some more about counters, especially off my feet. Even if a kid shoots, I learned ways to get out of it."

The Colorado team was coached by Ty Tadhum of Longmont High School, Craig Walters of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Sean Marsh from Rampart High School. One reason Colorado did poorly in the team competition was that it ended up getting three wrestlers injured during the first match. They had to give up 18 points per match after that.

He will attend two or three camps this summer. He will play football (wing back and linebacker) next fall and then wrestle (weight yet to be determined) for his final season. Koppenhafer also placed second at state as a sophomore and finished sixth as a freshman.

He is the son of Carla and Gerald Koppenhafer of Mancos.