DENVER — Three Fort Lupton wrestlers placed at this year’s state tournament. Ben Medina (103 pounds) and Timmy Ornelas (220 pounds) took similar paths to their third-place finishes at the state 4A wrestling tournament. Jordan LaRoche took a slightly less strenuous road to his fifth-place effort at 132 pounds.

    But all three were in positions where one loss could have meant going home without standing on the awards stand Saturday afternoon.
    Medina and Ornelas lost their first-round matches — Medina to Miguel Vega of Glenwood Springs, 8-7, in the first round at 106 pounds, and Ornelas by a count of 5-0 to Air Academy’s Rip Price. And each won every match through the consolation bracket — a total of five straight — to earn his third-place trophies.
    Medina (28-11) beat Michael Ramirez of Pueblo South 9-0 Saturday in the third-place match. He was not available for comment.
    Ornelas (39-5) polished off his run through the consolation draw with a pin of Pueblo South’s Jesse Gribble in 1:44 of their consolation final.
    “Well it could have went better,” Ornelas said. “After I lost Thursday, I had a real gut check moment, and I came back out to show that I did deserve to be there and took third.”
    LaRoche (26-6) won his first-round match, an easy 13-3 decision over Jackson Wood of Pueblo South, Thursday night. His first loss was in the quarterfinals Friday afternoon, a 5-0 decision to top-seeded Cody Weitzel, of Valor Christian. LaRoche had to win three straight consolation matches to be in a position to place.
    His final win of the tournament was a 7-2 decision against Jacob Gerken of Fort Morgan Saturday afternoon. LaRoche, a senior, is weighing his options, which include wrestling at Western State or the University of Northern Colorado.
    “I was happy with how I did,” he said. “I came back from an injury, finished my season off good and didn’t quit. The things that went right were placing, working hard and finishing. Some things that didn’t go so well were getting hurt (long before the state tournament), not being able to compete 100 percent and finishing the season off the way I wanted.”
    Fort Lupton’s other state qualifiers did not place. Sonny Espinosa of Pueblo Central, who eventually finished third, pinned Dakota Macy in 1:53 of their first round, 120-pound match. Gavriel Houston of Elizabeth got a takedown as time ran out in the third period to beat Macy 6-4 Friday afternoon. The Fort Lupton freshman finished the season with a record of 25-16.
    “I liked the experience,” Macy said. “I have three more years to look forward to this. The crowd really didn’t get to me. It’s the fact this was the state tournament that got to me. I’m happy I made it, but I could have done much better.”
    At 152 pounds, Marcus Velasquez of Montrose pinned Phoenix Ginther in 4:53 of their first-round contest. Ginther lost a 5-3 decision to Jordan Holmes of Cheyenne Mountain in Friday afternoon’s consolation round. Ginther, a senior, finished the season with a record of 21-12 and his first state tournament berth.

Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith at ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com or at 303-659-2522, ext. 224.