Although Durango High School junior Lillian Fenberg was disappointed with her runner-up finish in the 5A state wrestling championships, she was rewarded for her hard work by winning The Durango Herald poll for best DHS winter athlete.
Fenberg won the poll with 69.83% of the vote, followed by boys wrestling sophomore Ryder Martyn in second with 20.69% of the vote. Girls basketball senior Claire Goodwin finished third with 8.62% of the vote, and skiing’s Corbin Horrocks finished fourth with 0.86% of the vote.
“It’s super nice,” Fenberg said. “It was cool that a lot of my family voted for me and a bunch of other people.”
Fenberg and her twin, Aleia, have improved since they started wrestling on the varsity level in 2023-2024, and Fenberg showed she is one of the top wrestlers in 5A throughout the winter.
After a disqualification ended her sophomore campaign in regionals, Fenberg finished her junior season with 45 wins and eight losses.
Fenberg made it to the first-place match of the CHSAA 5A Girls Region 2 regional and finished second. She then had an impressive run at state in Ball Arena in Denver, controlling her first three opponents to get to the final. She lost 1-0 to Columbine’s Makena Heston, but it was a statement performance as Durango’s first runner-up in girls wrestling.
The star junior was sad and unable to talk about the result for about a week, but Fenberg realized she could have been more prepared for that specific type of match, and she’s ready to prepare for the next six months.
“I’m definitely missing it a little bit,” Fenberg said. “It’s weird because it was such a big part of everything I was doing. All of my free time was put toward that. Now, I’m still doing club, but it’s only two days a week.”
Fenberg is using her club freestyle season to be more aggressive and ready to take shots. The freestyle she’s doing promotes action, so she’s getting more comfortable taking shots from her feet.
The offseason brings some relaxation with her diet and on the weekends. However, Fenberg has signed up for a marathon in Moab, and she wants to do the Iron Horse, so she’s excited to get back to her best fitness level for those events.
Women’s wrestling is really taking off at the collegiate level. Fenberg hasn’t talked about the possibility of wrestling together in college, but she’s leaning toward it along with studying nursing.
“Getting into nursing would be really fun to have those skills,” Fenberg said. “But I’m also in some medical classes right now, and it’s grossing me out way more than I thought it would. So I don’t know if I’m going to do it; I need to look more into that.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
