Editor’s note: The below article has been updated to correct Aidan Collins won by pinfall versus Golden

Ethan Sicat, Luca Rizzo and Aidan Collins were the standout performers for the Summit High School wrestling team at Saturday’s tough meet in Golden.

“Win or lose I’m proud of ‘em,” Baker said. “You don’t always win in life, but you learn from when you’re losing, so you take that and go back to the drawing board. Learn from it, don’t dwell on it.”

Wrestling Golden and Standley Lake high schools, Tigers head coach Pete Baker felt his team came out a little bit flat at their first early-morning meet of the season. However, Baker said Sicat wrestling at 113 pounds was particularly impressive.

With senior leader Gio Marquez unable to wrestle due to a lingering shoulder injury, Sicat stepped up and proved his mettle at the varsity level, defeating his opposition in dominating fashion. Baker knows Sicat’s toughness after going up against Marquez and Tigers star sophomore PJ Trujillo on the mats daily in practice over the past two seasons.

“He stepped up and took that varsity role and wrestled how I expected him to,” Baker said. “He’s a kid who would really shine if he didn’t have such good kids in front of him.”

Baker also credited Luca Rizzo for a dominating showing at 126 pounds, defeating his opposition from Standley Lake in a 16-0 shutout.

As for Collins, the junior Tigers football star continued to show his ambition, he lost a tough 132 pound match versus his Standley Lake opposition by just two points, 4-2. Baker said Collins was on top of his opponent over the final minute of the match, all the junior had to do was put the other wrestler on his back. He said the Standley Lake wrestler stalled out, but Collins couldn’t get a turn despite working and working, the match ultimately running out of time and ending with the referee’s whistle.

Collins also wrestled up in weight at 138 pounds versus Golden, showcasing his heart and hard work in a pinfall victory.

Baker’s praise for Collins was heavy. He said by next season, Collins’ senior year, he could be that kid who grinded and grinded through his high school career, wrestling freshman phenom after freshman phenom, only to earn his way to the state finals at the Pepsi Center in Denver before graduation.

“If I could have got my hands on (Collins) a few years ago, the kid who could go to the state tournament this year,” Baker said. “He just needs to polish his technique and quit making mistakes. He could be a dark horse to make it to the Pepsi Center on true grit and grind.”

Mixing and matching wrestlers in different weight classes from opposing schools resulted in several forfeits for the Tigers Saturday. Besides missing Marquez, Trujillo once again didn’t wrestle an opponent at the 120 pound class because neither school had a 120-pounder to go against the 2020 state-tournament qualifier.

Heading into Tuesday’s Senior Night tri meet at Summit High School versus West Grand and Coal Ridge at 4:45 p.m., Baker said he will request the school athletics department to have senior parents able to attend the final home matches of their sons high school careers. Baker said he is motivated to ask after Golden permitted parents to attend with a model where spectators were specially stationed in physically distanced locations Saturday.

Due to current novel coronavirus regulations, parents, students and other fans are unable to attend Summit High School home sporting events, though a limited number of personnel deemed “essential” — such as game officials, support personnel and sports trainers — are permitted to be in attendance.

“I’d like to see two parents per wrestler,” Baker said.