deKay and Toothaker.
Sounds like a WWE tag team scripted to become an antihero over time.
In reality, with names like that, wrestling had to be involved somehow – as it was when Ignacio sophomore Lincoln deKay and Cedaredge junior Ethan Toothaker went head-to-head (if not jaw-to-jaw in some tie-ups) Saturday night in the 2024 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational’s 150-pound division.
Fifth place at the weight at last year’s CHSAA Class 2A State Championships, Toothaker was a formidable final-round foe, but deKay had a date with destiny he was to keep.
Including pins of Dove Creek’s Konner Spigner and Pagosa Springs’ Gavin Lugenbeel, plus major-decision wins of 14-0 over Bloomfield, New Mexico’s Delayne Luster and 12-1 over Montrose’s Trevan Anstine, deKay capped a perfect 5-0 tourney run by outlasting Toothaker 5-2 inside an electric IHS Gymnasium.
The outstanding performance improved deKay’s season record to 33-1, and led the Bobcats to a seventh-place finish overall. IHS’ 90 accumulated points landed them ahead of Montezuma-Cortez (87.5) but behind Durango (112).
Cedaredge racked up 201 points to earn the team title, and Bloomfield held off Montrose 177.5-172.5 in the battle for second. Farmington, New Mexico, tallied 158.5 points to finish fourth, with PSHS (145.5) rounding out the 18-team standings’ top five.
Additionally for Ignacio, junior Kendrick Nossaman (23-14) went a runner-up 4-1 at 165, pinning three opponents (defeating two in 50 or fewer seconds) and losing only by first-period pin to Montrose senior Quinn Brown – sixth in 4A last season at 157 pounds – in the final round.
Pinning his first three opponents in the round-robin heavyweight division, senior Kyle Rima (24/7) ended up 3-2 and in third place after losing by pin to both Gallup, New Mexico junior Jhalil Denetclaw and Bloomfield senior Robert Williams (who then defeated Denetclaw 2-1 in the first-place bout). Williams was runner-up at last season’s NMAA Class 4A State Championships.
Also for Ignacio, sophomore Aven Bourriague (31-4) placed fourth at 106 pounds, also finishing 3-2 after dominating his first three foes. But in the third-place bout, Cedaredge’s Jared Roberts prevailed 5-0 after six minutes of action. Able to string together three straight wins after a second-round pool loss to Durango junior Wyatt Bartel, Bobcat sophomore Zane Pontine (28-8) salvaged fifth at 144 after pinning Montrose’s Landon Herald-Linville with one second left in the second period.
Sophomore Dillon Brann (132 pounds) and freshman Judah Ashley (120) each placed tenth at the tourney, while sophomore Joshua Kerrigan ended up 11th at 120 after pinning Walsenburg’s Orion Martinez 58 seconds into the second period.
Up next, the ’Cats will travel to Dove Creek on Thursday, Feb. 1, for the 2A San Juan Basin League Championships.
BELT BOOSTS DEMONS: In placing sixth as a team, Durango wasn’t without one placing first as an individual.
Starting with a 17-2 technical-fall rout of Walsenburg’s Silviano Gonzales, senior Riley Belt (27-10 overall) finished 4-0 at 138 pounds after pinning Montrose senior Austin Zimmer in the weight’s first-place bout. Pinning all three of his initial round-robin opponents at 175, and then Cedaredge’s Cole Wyatt to begin championship-round work, junior Braxton Waddell (30-13) was unable to complete a 5-for-5 run as he lost by pin to Farmington sophomore Santiago Gonzales in the first-place bout.
Junior Ryan Dugan (43-3) went 4-1 but finished third at 120. After losing 12-10 to Cedaredge’s Josh Martinez in the opening championship round of the round-robin weight, Dugan bounced back from his rare loss by pinning Dolores’ Jaiden Green in only 23 seconds.
Bartel (144) and junior Cole Pontine (150) each placed fourth at the Melton, going 2-2 and 4-1, respectively. Pontine’s lone loss came via an 8-0 major against Toothaker in the third round of pool-play work; he then earned a 14-3 major over Luster and pinned FHS’ Colin Schake.
Including a final-round, third-period pin of Gallup’s Jordan Gene, his third such victim of the day, sophomore J.J. Vickers ended up 3-2 and fifth at 190 pounds. Sophomore Jacob Belt went 2-3 at 157 and placed sixth, as did freshman Isaiah Aguilar at 113 after a 1-3 showing.
DHS is scheduled to next see action Wednesday, Jan. 31, at a Grand Junction-hosted triangular with G.J. Central also attending.
BHS BACK IN THE PACK: Scheduled to go to Alamosa on the 1st for the 3A/2A Intermountain League Cross-Mountain Duals, Bayfield competed at the Melton but kept some regulars out in order to rest and/or avoid further injury.
Still, the Wolverines – minus seniors Keaton Pickering, Dante Candelaria, Daxson Michaeli and Dawson Lewis, plus junior Hunter Mars and, at day’s end, injured junior Payton Montgomery – put forth promising efforts in finishing 14th overall.
Finishing 3-2 with two pins, sophomore Justin Westbrook placed third at 175 pounds after defeating Cedaredge’s Cole Wyatt 4-0. Classmate Porter Sutherlin went a solid 4-1 at 120, defeating his last two foes – Pagosa Springs’ Stetson Osborn and Farmington’s Gabriel Trujillo – by major decision (12-3 and 10-1, respectively) and placing fifth.
Overall, Bayfield totaled 30.5 points – eight behind 13th-place Dolores.
Including a 19-3 tech over FHS’ Mark Garcia, BHS junior Logan Valencia finished 3-2 and in sixth place at 132 pounds. Sophomore 138-pounder Reese Appenzeller was also top-10, taking ninth after finalizing a 2-2 day with a first-period pin of Walsenburg’s Gonzales.
At Alamosa, Monte Vista will face Montezuma-Cortez for fifth place, Bayfield will challenge the hosting Mean Moose for third, and Centauri will battle Pagosa Springs for the championship. Action is set to begin at 5:30 p.m.
