It took longer for the Montezuma-Cortez High School wrestling team to drive to its meet at Ignacio High School than it did to wrestle the Bobcats.
IHS won the dual 45-18 primarily because it gained 36 points from forfeits.
Durango High School was supposed to attend the meet, but the Demons backed out, IHS athletic director Rocky Cundiff said.
Only five matches took place during the dual, which featured two empty weight classes and six forfeits.
“For the boys having to put that much practice time, it’s just hard and discouraging for them to not get matches,” IHS alumnus and rookie head coach Cody Haga said. “I mean it is a dual meet, so we’ve just got to make the best of it.”
Isaac Peña did. He pinned Panthers Briggs Durbin at 145 pounds in the first period.
“I like to work my top moves a bit to get it set up and get a takedown going,” said Peña, son of Kenneth and Shasta Peña. “When I get in a takedown, I like to get on top, put a couple moves, work in and put some legs in.”
Ethan Appenzeller mostly fought a war of attrition with Josh Ramos at 126 pounds, but he eventually pulled out a 10-3 victory for the only decision of the night.
Blaine Mickey, Lucas Munroe and Miguel Perez were pinned by Seager Oliver, Levi Gross and Justice Ramos, respectively, at 170, 132 and 152 pounds, respectively.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Haga said.
Josh Gallegos (220 pounds), Christian Knoll (182), Tyler Jordan (113), Dalton Mickey (120), Lorenzo Peña (138) and Stocker Robbins (106) all won by forfeit.
Some of the wrestlers tried to walk out onto the mat for the referee to raise their hand with their warmups still on, but Haga and his coaching staff made them take the jumpsuits off and put their headgear on as if they were checking in to wrestle.
“They work together in the room, so they need to look like a team out there,” Haga said. “When you work that hard, you gain brotherhood.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
