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Steamboat Springs — The Soroco boys wrestling team may be small on numbers, but it is big on results.

At the Class 2A Western Slope League tournament Saturday in Rangely, Soroco fielded wrestlers in only seven of the 14 weight classes. But five of those seven placed in the top four, propelling the Rams to a tie with Hayden for fifth place overall.

Three Soroco wrestlers won their classes.

Justin Iacovetto, wrestling in the 103-pound class, and Dennis Morgan, wrestling in the 189-pound class, won their class championship matches by pinning their opponents.

Soroco's Joel Schlegel defeated Rangely's Chance Holcomb in the 130-pound class.

The wins now place Iacovetto, Morgan and Schlegel as the state's No. 1-, 2- and 3-ranked wrestlers, respectively, in Class 2A, according to On The Mat Rankings.

Levi Gonzales added a third-place finish in the 125-pound class.

Soroco wrestling coach Doug Gates said Caleb Mitchell wrestled back in consolation rounds and took fourth in the 160-pound class. It was a good performance considering his first-round bracket pairing had him matched with Meeker's Joe LeBlanc, a No.1-ranked, two-time state champion.

Gates mentioned the improvements made by Rams wrestlers Kelly Lipsie and Travis Sales.

Soroco returns to Rangely for the Panther Invitational on Saturday.

Basketball

The Soroco boys basketball had a good weekend as well. Coming off an emotional win against Hayden, Soroco had a respectable showing against Grand Valley on Friday.

Soroco led Grand Valley after the first quarter but found itself trailing 30-27 at the half.

Unfortunately for the Rams, a strong third quarter by Grand Valley proved too much to overcome.

"In the third quarter, they jumped on us and started getting hot from the three-point line," Soroco coach Sam McLeod said.

Despite outscoring Grand Valley in the fourth quarter, Soroco lost the game, 66-46.

"It definitely showed me that we can play with anybody," McLeod said. "There's nobody that's really tougher than Grand Valley (10-2 overall)."

The Soroco boys carried the momentum into their Saturday game against North Park, rolling over the Wildcats, 63-58.

This time it was the Rams who exploded during the third quarter to break open a close game.

Bryan Spaeth scored 16 of his team-leading 24 points in the third quarter. Steven Meade added 18 points on the night, and freshman Cody Miles had seven points and 14 rebounds.

"They showed character at the end and did what they needed to do," McLeod said.

The Soroco girls did not fare as well. They lost their Friday game against Grand Valley by a score of 41-30, and fell to North Park, 51-18, on Saturday.

The Soroco girls and boys basketball teams play at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., respectively, on Friday in Meeker.

- To reach Dave Shively, call 871-4253

or e-mail dshively@steamboatpilot.com