The latest trek West to Colorado by the Garden City High School wrestling team proved to be tough, if not tougher, than earlier ones for the Buffaloes.

Saturday, the latest tournament in the Rocky Mountain state was at the Arvada West Invitational, and the Buffs finished in a tie for seventh out of 24 teams with 110 points, sharing that spot with Discovery Canyon, Colo. Grand Junction claimed the top team prize with 201 points.

The Buffs were unable to place any of their wrestlers into the finals, with the lone senior in the lineup, Kaj Perez, grabbing a third-place medal.

“I was surprised at how tough the tournament was,” said GCHS coach Carlos Prieto. “There were a number of the top Colorado teams there as well as Scottsbluff (Neb.). Probably about as tough a one-day tournament that I’ve seen in quite some time.”

Perez, competing at 132 pounds, posted a 3-1 record for the tournament, earning one major decision, another regular decision and the pinning Anthony Martinez of Denver East at 2:47 of the second period for his third-place finish.

Freshman Jacob Sims took fourth, going 3-2, earning two hard-fought decisions and a pin, losing to David Biddy of Discovery Canyon, 3-0, in the third-place match.

Refugio Chairez had a fourth-place finish, going 4-1, with each one of his wins coming via a fall in the 285-pound division. Due to a one-day match limit, Chairez had to do a coin flip for third and fourth and lost the flip.

Alexavier Rodriguez took fifth at 170 pounds with a 3-2 mark, earning two falls and one sudden victory decision. Trey Medina also placed fifth at 152 pounds, going 3-2, two of the wins coming by falls and another by decision. His loss in the fourth-place match came in a dramatic 11-9 sudden victory loss to Christopher Fasano of Pueblo County, Colo.

Wyatt McElroy posted a 4-1 mark en route to a sixth-place finish, two wins coming by falls and two by decisions.

“Overall, I liked what I saw from the kids,” Prieto said. “Some of the kids are using techniques that we’ve been working on and others still have not made that transition. So we still have plenty of work to do.”

Next up for the Buffs will be a Western Athletic Conference dual at Liberal on Thursday. They will compete on Friday and Saturday at the Hays Invitational before hosting the Rocky Welton Invitational on Jan. 26 and 27.