Wyatt leads Ignacio senior sweep

IGNACIO

Colton Wyatt clearly wasn’t as nervous as his mother.

The Ignacio High School senior, with his mother Stefanie offering words of encouragement from the front row of the bleachers, wrestled in his trademark calm-cool-collected style Saturday in the final two matches in his hometown.

Wyatt won both matches and the 195-pound title in the annual Butch Melton Invitational at the Sun Ute Community Center, giving the hometown Bobcats a perfect 3-for-3 senior sweep in championship matches.

Teammates Alex Peña (126) and Teagan Overturf (152) also won tournament titles in their final prep wrestling appearances in Ignacio.

Balanced Bayfield, with two champions, two runners-up and three third-place finishers, won the tight team battle Saturday with 232.5 points.

Piedra Vista of Farmington, the defending New Mexico state champions, finished second with 216 points and two champions.

Durango, with three champions and four second-place finishes, came in third with 199.5 points one night after beating Bayfield and Ignacio in dual matches at the Bayfield Triangular.

“Colton’s wrestling injured, but he’s wrestling up to his abilities,” Ignacio head coach Bob Overturf said.

“He takes what they give him,” Overturf said after Wyatt pinned Amos Brown of Bloomfield in the semifinals and decisioned Christian Acosta of Piedra Vista 5-1 in the championship match.

“I’ve been riding the air bike and lifting (weights),” Wyatt said of his “training” as he recovers from an ankle injury that has limited his mat time in practice.

“None really. No ... mat time at all,” said Wyatt (20-4).

Plus, he battled the flu this week.

“I’ve been sick the past week. I threw up like three or four times (Friday),” Wyatt said with an impish but championship smile.

Without significant practice time, Wyatt said he had to rely on his experience.

“I just remember all the moves we’ve gone through ... over and over. It’s hard to forget them after drilling the last four years,” said Wyatt, the son of David and Stefanie Wyatt.

He commended his senior teammates Peña and Overturf for taking Saturday’s titles as well.

“Alex’s match was awesome. He’s always able to do whatever he needs to ... he never panics,” Wyatt said of Peña, a three-time state champion who had to come from behind in dramatic fashion in the 126-pound championship against Ryan Daves of Montezuma-Cortez.

Daves led from the start, at one point up by three points.

But Peña squirmed away for an escape point to tie the match 8-8 with 1:11 remaining.

As he has done countless times, Peña worked a late takedown with less than a minute to go. He won 10-9 and was named the outstanding wrestler in the lower weight classes.

“Alex had me pretty amped up after his match,” said Overturf, the son of Connie and head coach Bob Overturf. “That definitely made a difference in my match.”

Overturf, who pinned Seager Oliver of Cortez in the 152-pound semifinals, had a rematch with Durango’s Gabe Crawford in the title match.

“He (Gabe) caught me (Friday), but I got him back (Saturday),” Overturf said after his 14-6 win over Crawford. Crawford had won an 8-3 decision Friday night.

“Teagan came back with his head on right. He wrestled well,” coach Overturf said.

“And Alex ... what can you say,” Overturf said. “He’s ... Alex. And the kid he beat is ranked No. 4 in the state in 4A. A big win.”

Peña, per usual, downplayed the effort required in his dramatic comeback.

“You have to keep your head straight all through the match,” Peña said.

“You lose your head, you lose it all,” said Peña, who improved to 23-2 in his senior season.

Ignacio also collected a third-place finish from Jeff Herrera at 132 pounds – a division won by the Demons’ Nick Tarpley, a sophomore.

“I shot early and go an early takedown,” Tarpley said of his championship 8-2 decision over Tyler Ebberts of Dove Creek.

“I always try to get that first takedown,” said Tarpley, the son of Tracy and assistant coach Brad Tarpley.

The Demons also crowned tournament champions at 145 (Christian Stadler) and 285 (Trevor Gillen).

Stadler won a tense 9-7 overtime decision over Ryan Rino of Piedra Vista in the 145-pound championship. Stadler pinned Michael Dupree of Bayfield in the semifinals.

Gillen, undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at heavyweight, recorded two quick pins, won the Butch Melton title and was voted the outstanding wrestler in the upper divisions.

Gillen pinned Matt Eckstein of Bayfield midway through the second period. Gillen (33-0) pinned Chris Kennedy of Bloomfield at 1:35 of the opening period in the heavyweight championship match.

Durango’s four second-place finishers were Matthew Lavengood (106),Crawford (152), Dakota Sutherlin (160) and Lucas Sinnig (170). Garrett Marcum (138) added a third-place finish for the Demons.

The team champion Wolverines from Bayfield were led by state champion Aaron Velasquez (160) and Jon Roberts (170), both of whom won Butch Melton titles Saturday.

Roberts pinned Durango’s Sinnig in the first period of their title match. Roberts had pinned Justen Lucero of Pagosa Springs in the semifinals.

Velasquez won a hard-fought 9-4 decision over Durango’s Sutherlin in the championship – a renewal of a wrestling rivalry that started in eighth grade.

“He (Aaron) beat me my eighth-grade year for first place (in the season-ending tournament,” Sutherlin said. “And he’s beaten me the last two years by pin. But I feel like I gave him a decent match ... him being a state champion and all,” said Sutherlin, the son of Brady and Raquel Sutherlin.

Bayfield also had runner-up finishes from Joe Zink (138) and Eckstein (285).

Bayfield had thirds from Colter McMenimen (113), Drake Rhodes (120) and Allec Rodriguez (126)

“Winning this tournament on my last go-around, winning a tournament named after my friend ... that’s so cool,” veteran Bayfield head coach Herb Stinson after the Wolverines collected the team championship trophy.

Stinson, who is retiring at the end of the year after 42 years in coaching (and teaching), was presented a special award by the Ignacio Wrestling Club and the Bobcats in recognition for his service to the wrestling community.

“It was really exceptional getting (the award) from Dixie,” Stinson said of the wife of the late Butch Melton, known as the grandfather of Ignacio wrestling.

“It was a special moment,” Stinson said.

Other Butch Melton champions for 2012 were Sam Sandoval of Piedra Vista (106), Anthony Juckes of Piedra Vista (113), Cole Baughman of Dove Creek (120), Dalton Randolph of Dove Creek (138), Trenton Gustafson of Cortez (182) and Landon Yazzie of Newcomb (220).

dstrode@durangoherald.com