BAYFIELD – There are two new head varsity wrestling coaches roaming the mats for Bayfield and Ignacio for the 2015-16 season.
Jordan Larsen has taken over the helm as head coach for the Bobcats, and Neil Barnes is taking over for Todd McMenimen for the Wolverines.
Aside from both being first-year head coaches, there are more similarities between the two coaches.
Both Barnes and Larsen are from La Plata County – Barnes from Durango and Larsen from Bayfield. Both coaches learned under McMenimen while at Bayfield, and both head coaches know wrestling like the back of their hands.
Larsen, 25, wrestled at Colorado School of Mines prior to returning to La Plata County to coach. Last year, Larsen spent the season as assistant coach under Cody Haga at Ignacio and was an assistant coach at Bayfield before that.
So far, taking over as head coach has presented a few challenges.
“It’s been a lot of paperwork and a lot more politics than I prefer, but so far it’s been really good,” Larsen said. “We have about 20 (kids) out, but we’re struggling to get some pieces in line with injuries. If all goes as planned, and if we work hard, we’re looking to have a very good outlook.”
The Bobcats only have three seniors who wrestle at the varsity level, but Ignacio is stacked with nine juniors ready to make an impact.
“We have a really good junior class,” Larsen said. “I would say Lorenzo Peña has good focus. He has a lot of potential this year.”
So far, Peña is undefeated and has been named Most Outstanding Wrestler at both the Wolverine Classic in Bayfield and at the Dawg Fight Invitational in Dove Creek. In the Dawg Fight Invitational, Ignacio took third place out of 14 teams.
Along with Peña, headlining the junior class is Stocker Robbins, who wrestles at the 120-pound weight class.
“I would say Stocker Robbins’ has a lot of potential,” Larsen said.
Other Ignacio wrestlers are Nathan Atencio at the 120-pound weight class, Tyler Beebe and John Alvarez at 132 pounds, Lucas Monroe at the 145 pounds and Timothy Plehinger at 152.
At Bayfield, Barnes’ path to coaching has been a little more hectic.
Barnes went to Durango High School and wrestled at Colorado Northwest Community College in Rangley for two years before returning. Barnes then coached for two years at Ignacio. After a three-year hiatus from coaching, Barnes returned to coach at Durango High School before eventually landing at Bayfield.
After spending seven years as an assistant between Bayfield Middle School and at the high school level, Barnes was finally given a shot.
When McMenimen retired, the vacant job was between Barnes and fellow assistant coach Cole Bafman. While both applied, Bafman initially got the job. But, because of Bafman’s college schedule at Fort Lewis College, Bafman opted against taking the position, and Barnes won the job.
“It’s been a little rough. We knew that Todd was going to resign at the end of last year,” said Barnes, who said he was introduced as head coach in September after school had already started. “So, yeah, it’s a little hectic for me. It has hindered me to learn how to be a head coach.”
The news of Barnes’ hire didn’t give him very much time to prepare for the season, but he said that he still knew most of the wrestlers for Bayfield because he ran the open gyms over the summer.
“I feel like we have a lot of good wrestlers on the roster,” Barnes said.
For Bayfield, Ryan Nava and Sam Westbrook have been rocks on the mat early on, which is impressive because both Nava and Westbrook were on the football team and didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for wrestling season. Nava took first in the 145-pound weight class and Westbrook took first in the 285-pound heavyweight class at the Dawg Fight Invitational.
Barnes also likes what he sees in Colby Baker at 106 pounds, Cody Speece at 120, Cordell Ashcraft at 126, Garrett Beebe at 132, Jake Sandrey at 138, Taylor Winch at te 145, Tyler Conner at 160, Macoy Michaeli at 182 and Dakota Ehart at 285.
Both Bayfield and Ignacio will travel for its next meet Saturday at the Panther Classic at Piedra Vista in Farmington.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
