The Bayfield High School wrestling team proved it belongs with the top wrestling teams in the Four Corners Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Tournament at Pagosa Springs High School. The Wolverines finished fifth as a team with 123.5 points and were behind three state championship-winning teams. Pagosa Springs, the tournament host and No. 2 in the latest Class 3A On the Mat rankings, won the meet with 237.0 points. Meanwhile, Silver City, New Mexico’s defending 3A state champions were second with 230.5 points, and Aztec’s 5A champions were third with 218.5. Monticello, the Utah 2A state champions were fourth.
BHS head coach Todd McMenimen was impressed after a slow start.
“The first round was pretty rough, but as I stepped back and took a look back, we had several kids who wrestled the No. 1 seed right out of the gate,” McMenimen said. “They were mostly the young kids and our lower weights, and after that first round, we improved throughout the day.”
McMenimen compared Pagosa’s style of wrestling to that of the Iowa Hawkeyes, a perennial collegiate national championship-winning team known for being aggressive and risky.
“This tournament had a lot of that style of wrestling,” McMenimen said. “We saw it a bunch today and on Thursday when we lost against Pagosa, as well. We are going to see it going forward, and I really think we can learn a lot from the last few days, particularly from Pagosa Springs, about being aggressive, going for some tough moves and really just going all-out.”
Out of Bayfield’s 12 wrestlers, nine made the podium. Daniel Westbrook, the No. 3-ranked wrestler in his 3A weight class according to On the Mat, won the 220 weight class and in the championship match in overtime, Westbrook scored a sudden victory over Jarryd Pollard of Kirtland Central, and won 3-1. BHS also had two wrestlers take second place, as John Foutz (195), had a top-five clash in the championship match and was pinned by the No. 3 wrestler in his weight class, Pagosa’s Caleb Janowsky, in 1 minute, 24 seconds, while Paden Williamson (182), lost in his championship match against Connor Aragon of Pagosa, 18-6 in a major decision.
“That’s the most I’ve seen out of Paden in a long time,” McMenimen said. “He showed a lot of grit and heart to get to the championship match, and Aragon was better in the finals, but Paden really did have a stellar day on the mat, and it was so great to see.”
“When you look at who finished ahead of us, we weren’t outmatched at all,” McMenimen said. “That’s all you can ask for sometimes, and from here, it’s going to be grueling with Cortez on Tuesday and then Florence next weekend, which is one of the best tournaments in the state. It is grueling, and will really ask a lot out of them, but this is the way we set up our schedule; that’s what we need.”
Bayfield will host Montezuma-Cortez at 6 p.m. Tuesday at BHS.
The Ignacio High School wrestling team also fared well at the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Tournament in Pagosa, as the Bobcats finished 11th with 48 points and had six who placed in their respective weight classes.
Randy Herrera won his third-place match at 285, as he pinned Ty Ashley of Aztec in 1:57. Skieler Grooms (138) was the Bobcats’ second-highest finisher as he took fourth-place and narrowly lost in an 8-5 decision to Cam Hinger of Pagosa. Hunter Robbins (26) and Cesar Pedregon (195) took sixth, Clay Campbell finished in seventh with a forfeit win and Tyler Barnes (145) finished in eighth.
Ignacio will head to the Florence Tournament, at 6 p.m. Friday at Florence High School.
The Durango High School wrestling team was tested Saturday at the Arvada West Invitational, as DHS finished tied at 27th out of 29 teams as it scored 13 points on the day. It was not the only tough break DHS caught; the team had two medical forfeits. Freshman Tyler Woodworth, ranked No. 13 at the 152-pound 4A On the Mat rankings, and DHS’ lone ranked wrestler, fell in the second round of the consolation bracket to Dallas Porter of Arvada West, 15-11. Alex Finneseth (160) also lost in a medical forfeit in the second round of the consolation bracket to Chase Engelhardt of Thompson Valley, 14-5. No Demon wrestler advanced past the second round of the championship bracket. Austin Albrecht (182) was DHS’ high-scorer for the day with seven points, and lost in the third round of the consolation bracket.
“I was proud of a lot of their efforts, but they were going against top-level competition,” said DHS coach Leo Garand. “Austin wrestled really well and went 3-2 on the weekend, and Owen grew exponentially ... not only his intensity, but his technique as well. He wrestled three ranked guys and went toe-to-toe with them. Despite what the scores said, I thought it was a really good test for us.”
Pueblo East won the invitational with 195.5 points and edged rival Pueblo County, which finished second with 188.5 points, while Windsor was third overall with 185.5.
DHS will be tested again when it travels to Page, Arizona, next weekend for the Sand Devil Classic at 9 a.m. Friday at Page High School.
bploen@durangoherald.com
