The Summit High School wrestling team defeated both Middle Park and Platte Canyon high schools in a home tri meet Tuesday night, Feb. 9, by scores of 54-42 and 53-48, respectively.

Tigers head coach Pete Baker was especially proud of his squad Tuesday night for the team accomplishment, considering Summit did not have several wrestlers to fill heavier weight classes. Despite giving up forfeits in a few weight classes, the Tigers were able to capture two team victories because they only lost three matches of the night. Some of those matches involved Tiger kids wrestling above their weight class to match up and provide more mat time for more wrestlers Baker said.

“I have to give a shoutout to everybody tonight,” Baker said.

Baker said the most outstanding performance of the night was one of those Tigers who wrestled up, junior Luca Rizzo. Rizzo, typically a 126-pounder, wrestled up at 132 pounds against Middle Park’s Landon Arraga, whom he pinned in the first 30 seconds of the first round. Against Dean McMahon of Platte Canyon, Rizzo took control of a match that had to be stopped several times due to McMahon’s bloody nose. Eventually, at 5 minutes and 39 seconds into the round, Rizzo put McMahon on his back for the pin.

“The kid from Platte Canyon was fighting the whole time; Luca really had to earn it,” Baker said. “It was an exciting match. It was real good.”

Baker also spoke glowingly of Summit senior Gio Marquez’s grit and competitiveness, wrestling Tuesday night despite a nagging shoulder injury that kept him out of the past two practices. Because Middle Park didn’t have a wrestler to match up with Marquez at 113 pounds, Marquez’s only match of the night was versus Andrew Hanigar of Platte Canyon. Marquez pinned Hanigar at 4:05.

“Gio put his game face on and he was really dominating on his feet, getting takedowns, finally got a takedown where the kid held onto Gio too long and exposed his back, Gio capitalized,” Baker said.

At 152 pounds Sylas Marsteller wrestled the scrappy Colton Brown of Platte Canyon. After some scrambling and back and forth position by position, Marsteller got a takedown and pin at 1:12.

Wrestling at the 132-pound class, Tigers junior Aidan Collins impressed Baker with a technical fall in his match versus Zeke Ballejas of Platte Canyon.

“Normally tech falls are done by kids who’ve been wrestling eight to 10 years,” Baker said.

Tigers 2020 state-qualifying sophomore PJ Trujillo, who is wrestling at 120 pounds this season, did not wrestle at the meet because neither opposing school had a wrestler at 120 pounds.

Summit is next slated to wrestle Saturday, Feb. 13, at a tri meet in Golden.