There had been close calls and dramatic turns during Friday’s season-opening boys wrestling triangular inside Bayfield High School Gymnasium. But the way the final match ended, Wolverines coach Adam Mars – taking over this winter for Todd McMenimen, who retired – and Ignacio counterpart Jordan Larsen looked like geniuses saving it for last.
Forced to wait at least another 20 minutes or so for the Wolverine-Bobcat dual to get underway after a fire alarm was somehow triggered – with BHS’ Payton Montgomery leading IHS’ Joshua Kerrigan 9-2 with 16.1 seconds left in the opener’s second period – Hunter Mars and Aven Bourriague, evenly-matched 113-pounders, ultimately decided their bout in the final 30 seconds.
Bourriague prevented Mars from escaping from a bottom-position restart and even managed to tack two key points to secure a 6-2 victory. Mars led 2-0 after the first two-minute period, but Bourriague equaled late in the second.
Starting the dual off at 120 pounds, Montgomery ended up defeating Kerrigan by a 16-3 major decision. Porter Sutherlin then stepped out onto the mat to receive a forfeit win at 126, and senior Keaton Pickering then defeated Dillon Brann by 20-5 technical fall – putting Bayfield up 15-0 early, en route to an event-ending 51-15 triumph.
Recipient of a forfeit win at 126 during the meet’s opening dual versus Pagosa Springs, Pickering was bumped up a weight to face Brann instead of BHS teammate Logan Valencia – who notched a second-period pin of Pagosa Springs’ Stephen Pair. The Wolverines started with a 30-0 lead and held on to win, 43-36.
In its matchup with Ignacio, Bayfield jumped on the Bobcats with a 21-0 lead.
Although Lincoln deKay’s shocking pin in the final seconds of the second period helped get Ignacio back into the contest, down 21-12, Bayfield’s lead swelled back up to 45-12 en route to victory.
The Pirates’ Luke Tressler and Colton Lucero initially got Pagosa Springs on the scoreboard with back-to-back first-period pins at 138 and 144 pounds, respectively. However, Bayfield struck back with Daxson Michaeli pulling out a 10-7 win at 150 and Donovan ‘Dante’ Candelaria logging an 11-2 major victory.
Facing Ignacio in the middle dual, the Pirates again fell behind early, 12-6, after Bourriague and Kerrigan each claimed forfeit wins. But Pagosa stormed back to win 48-22.
Pair’s close 8-4 win over Brann at 132, plus a forfeit favoring Tressler put PSHS up 15-12.
Lucero then defeated 144-pounder Zane Pontine 14-8, but deKay brought IHS back to 18-16 with a 12-3 major at 150 over Wyatt Hoover.
Pirate 157-pounder Taylor Hancey then pinned Brandon Blevins at 157, and Carter stuck Cody Pennington at 165 to increase Pagosa Springs’ lead for good.
