Trojan wrestling launch season with takedown tournament
October 27, 2025
The Colby Community College men’s wrestling team kicked off the 2025-26 season on home mats Saturday, hosting the first Colby Takedown Tournament inside the Colby Event Center under second-year head coach Joseph Cornejo. The scrimmage-style event, designed to maximize mat time and provide early evaluation opportunities, gave the Trojans a chance to test their skills in front of a home crowd while setting the tone for the season ahead.
“I’d say the event went very well,” Cornejo said. “We got great mat time on our feet and it was much needed to kick the season off to see where our guys are at. We won some and lost some, but as long as we fix the mistakes and get better, we call it winning and learning. It’s only winning and losing if you don’t learn from your mistakes and fix them.”
The Trojans showed flashes of power and potential throughout the day, going toe-to-toe with wrestlers from Otero Junior College, Cowley Community College and Fort Hays Tech Northwest. Leading the charge were Talon Suttles, Bryant Jones, and Robert Tatum, who each collected three takedown victories in their respective weight classes. Their steady performances helped set the standard for the rest of the team.
Several other Trojans made an impact with multiple wins of their own, including Luis Vasquez, Daniel Tauyan, Salvador Barintas, Scotty Engle, and Riku Theos, each notching two victories. Younger competitors like Sammie Cyrus, Isaiah Giron, Sebastian Rodriguez, Jovanny Arellanes, Gunner Owens, Kash Alley, and Karim Saifullin also secured key matches that contributed to Colby’s overall strong showing.
Cornejo, who enters his second full season leading the program, said the depth and enthusiasm of this year’s squad are promising signs of growth. “I think overall our team wrestled pretty well for being so young,” he said. “As long as they keep buying in and enjoying the process, this team can accomplish whatever they set their minds to.”
“Hopefully in the future we can expand the tournament and get more teams here,” he added. “Looking forward to seeing what we can build with this team this year.”
The Trojans will now turn their focus toward an intra-squad dual the Blue & White Wrestle off, hosted at the Colby Event Center on October 24. Then they move on to regular-season duals and early open tournaments, where they’ll look to continue developing confidence and consistency. For Cornejo and his young roster, Saturday’s performance was a valuable first step in a season built on progress, persistence, and belief in the process.
