Expected to be one of, if not the marquee bout Friday night, it didn’t come as a shock that, after neither 3A Bayfield’s Connor Martindale nor Hotchkiss-based 2A North Fork’s Bronson Hall managed to score from a restart coming with 0:06 remaining in the third and last regulation two-minute period, the signal was given to put an additional one minute on the clock.
NFHS’ coaches, however, were beyond shocked; they thought Martindale, able to get to his feet after the whistle, had actually been awarded a buzzer-beating escape point after nearly pulling his ankle out of Hall’s grasp.
But once given much-needed clarification by the referee, the Miner men breathed easier for just a few moments, after which Hall – recently ranked No. 1 in Class 2A at 126 pounds – couldn’t prevent Martindale (recently No. 3 in 3A) from wriggling free and scoring a 9-6 overtime win. Martindale couldn’t propel his squad to victory as North Fork defeated Bayfield, 51-27.
But after BHS’ Max Johnston pinned Logan Smith 1:28 into the second period at 132, and Mason Valencia pinned NFHS 138-pounder Akash Murchadha 1:43 into the first, and Reese Appenzeller stuck Jaeger Nay 1:57 into the first at 144, the hosting Wolverines were up 27-12 with a strong chance to spring the upset despite NFHS set to claim forfeits in four upper weights.
Daemon Christner stepped onto the mat next for Bayfield at 150 pounds, but was pinned by Miner Derick Sievertsen with only two ticks left in the second period of what ended up being the bout on which the dual hinged. Flipped, last-second, in head coach Nate Wiggins’ lineup with teammate Braeden Flores, Abel Etter then won by forfeit at 157, and Flores pinned BHS’ Jack Waters in 1:09 at 165 to regain North Fork a 30-27 lead.
Bayfield’s Justin Westbrook then gave it his all at 175 pounds against Braden Laiminger, but lost 9-7 after six hard minutes, and NFHS then polished off its victory.
Which came on the heels of the Wolverines girls squad starting the triangular off with a 30-12 victory over M-CHS. Violet Christner got the event underway pinning M-CHS’ Ava Hawkins in 1:45 at 105 pounds and 110-pounder Allison Thomas followed with a 19-second pin of Jaime Helm.
CeJae Snyder then got the Panthers on the scoreboard by pinning 120-pounder Elly Coey 39 seconds into the second period, but Bayfield’s Delilah Zink (130), Ashlynn Bravo (135) and Jade Kehoe (140) each won by forfeit, increasing BHS’ lead to 30-6 before M-CHS’ Reese Wing won unopposed at 155.
Bayfield’s Diego Cuddie got the boys’ battle underway building up a 6-0 lead through one period at 106 pounds against M-CHS’ Nicholas Martinez, then prevailing by pin 0:44 into the second. Panther Bodie Stiegelmeyer, however, evened the score by pinning Brody Zieske 1:05 into the first period at 113, and Teagun Samora upped M-CHS’ advantage to 12-6 via his forfeit win at 120.
Martindale then pinned Jordan Bia in 40 seconds, and Johnston earned a quality win – while also putting Bayfield up 18-12 – by pinning Keaton Curleyhair 35 ticks into the third period. Valencia then made quick work of Panther Cash Rogers, recording a pin in 47 seconds, and Tyler Berry then pinned M-CHS’ Damian Gonzales in 0:50 at 144 pounds.
Moved up to 150 in order to get Berry a bout, Appenzeller faced Rusty Snyder but lost 6-1 as Montezuma-Cortez stayed in the fight. Daemon Christner, however, put the issue to rest with a 16-0 technical-fall defeat of Orion Martineau – wrestling despite restricted use of a heavily-wrapped right wrist/forearm – at 157.
Waters then pinned Zebulon LeBlanc in 1:28 at 165, and Westbrook, bumped up to 190, pinned Ja’Kobe Begay in 1:44 before M-CHS’ Jacob Tso finished off the dual with a forfeit win at 215 pounds. Appenzeller, Berry, Daemon Christner, Coey, Waters, Westbrook and Zink were all then saluted on Senior Night, elevating emotions even higher before the test against the talented, and fourth-ranked in 2A, Delta County outsiders.
