Can one sometimes have too much of a good thing?
Lying flat on his back, singlet pulled down off his shoulders, after a takedown-filled bout against Centauri’s Spencer Smith on Thursday, exhausted Bayfield wrestling freshman Caelan Ramos certainly looked as if he did.
And he’d been the one performing the multiple maneuvers.
“Just need to get my conditioning a little better in practice, and then I feel like I’d be a lot better,” he said with a grin. “But it felt really good; I went into it with a clear head, just thinking of it as a normal match at a regular tournament.”
But in preparation for the upcoming Class 3A-Region II Championships at distant Basalt, Ramos’ 12-9 victory was one of several efforts head coach Todd McMenimen was pleased to see come against the No. 8-ranked Falcons.
“We wrestled well,” he said. “We’ve had a couple young guys who’ve had to step into the lineup due to some injuries and stuff, but they do what we ask them to do out there: Battle hard, which they did.”
“Regionals is the next thing … we have to really work hard these (next) practices moving forward and just bring it all,” said junior Dante Candelaria, who notched a 4-1 win at 150 pounds over Cyrus Sandoval – preceding Ramos’ victory at 157.
“I’d tried to turn (Sandoval), I tried everything – tried to put in a wing, a half – but could just not turn him,” Candelaria said. “He was so strong, but takedowns got me the win.”
BHS’ back-to-back wins brought them back to 27-15 in the 3A/2A Intermountain League dual, the closest they’d been since 126-pounder Logan Valencia pinned Nik Skadberg 38 ticks into the third period, cutting CHS’ early lead down to 12-9.
Junior Keaton Pickering got the Wolverines on the scoreboard via an exciting 4-2 win over Riley Valdez.
“Keaton’s wrestled Riley the last two years a bunch, and Riley’s a solid, solid kid, no question about it,” McMenimen said. “Keaton knows what he needs to do to stay … out in front of him – he’s in good shape with that.”
Junior heavyweight Jordan Cundiff ended the event claiming a forfeit win, making the final score 42-21 in favor of the guests. Two of CHS’ upper-weight wins, however, also came via forfeit, and 138-pounder Parker Buhr narrowly defeated BHS’ Zayden Cundiff, 2-1, following a tense and scoreless third period.
“It was just really fun seeing everybody get the wins, except a couple,” said Candelaria, assessing the dual as a whole. “But they fought really hard too; they’ll get ’em next time.”
Micah Keys’ men began the varsity action with pins at 106 pounds (Matthew Salazar) and 113 (Aundre Chavez), and later got falls at 132 (Diego Hernandez) and 144 (Ivan Lopez). The Falcons’ other non-pin win came when No. 2-ranked 165-pounder Josh Polkowske defeated lone BHS senior Deegan Barnes 6-1 … on Senior Night, as fate would have it.
“We knew Deegan’s was going to be a tough match,” said McMenimen. “But he’s closing the gap, figuring out how he can wrestle against Josh … and he’s going to get him. Tonight doesn’t matter – we’ll have a chance to see him in two weeks (at state), and that’s when it matters.”
The top-four finishers at each weight at the regional championships will advance to the state tournament Feb. 16-18 inside Ball Arena.
DOUBLE UP: In junior-varsity action, Bayfield freshman 126/132-pounder Reese Appenzeller got the evening underway with a second-period pin of Nathaniel Garcia. Appenzeller later shut down the whole show with another JV win, 7-2, over Konnor Horton.
LADIES WAITING: Unable to get a match against Centauri, Bayfield’s girls wrestlers still relished the atmosphere, particularly seniors Grace Patton and Kori Jenkins, who were saluted on the mat along with Barnes.
“I mean, I started so late,” said Jenkins, a first-year team member, “but you walk into that room … and it’s a brotherhood. Like I said in my (prepared Senior Night) bio, it’s the brothers I never had – and now sisters – that I get to wrestle with. Walking out there, you just feel the love from the community and that’s the best part.”
“And unlike the boys, we don’t have any classifications in regionals; all of us are thrown in together,” she said. “So I think we know that we’re going to wrestle the big dogs and we just have to work the hardest we possibly can. This week is going to be a dogfight, but it’s going to be the best week.”
Along with freshman Bailey Blouin, Bayfield, plus 4A Durango and 2A Ignacio, will compete at the Region IV Championships in Edwards at Battle Mountain H.S. Presently injured Patton is hoping to participate.
