Denied by COVID-quarantine procedures a chance to compete in one last Butch Melton Memorial Invitational at Ignacio High School the previous Saturday, Jeremy Roderick was happy to be back in uniform Thursday as the Bobcats began warming up before the San Juan Basin League Championships in Norwood.
And though the senior heavyweight, as expected, had no opponents, just having his hand raised in victory could prove a morale boost toward ramping up his energy – and perhaps the team’s – for the Class 2A-Region I Championships in Buena Vista on Feb. 11-12 .
Only the top four per weight will see the CHSAA State Championships, Feb. 17-19, inside Ball Arena in Denver.
Roderick’s unopposed SJBL title gave Ignacio – ninth out of 14 teams at Melton – a total of three league champs. Junior 145-pounder Keaton McCoy also won unopposed – save for a 9-4 exhibition loss to NHS’ Gage Owen, eventually the champ at 152. IHS freshman Kendrick Nossaman placed third at 152 after losing to Dolores’ Braden Schmittel by first-period pin.
Able to stick Nucla’s Arthur Connelly 1:37 into the third period in one 170-pound division semifinal, senior Tyler Barnes met up with Mancos’ Cole Dainty-Guilfoyle in the final round. After a scoreless first period, Barnes scored a reversal early in the second and 58 seconds into the period pinned Dainty-Guilfoyle for first place.
One of two 126-pounders present, Asher Gallegos fell behind 5-0 after one period to MHS’ defending 113-pound state champion, Levi Martin, and was pinned 1:21 into the second as the Jays copped a fourth title in as many lower weights.
IHS’ Cayle McCoy went 1-1 at 106 pounds, narrowly defeating Dove Creek’s Jaydon Bailey 6-4 in the third-place bout.
John Riepel went 0-2 at 160 – losing by pin to Mancos’ Ayden Mathews with 15 ticks left in the first period, then 14-6 to Nucla’s Jamar Rankins.
With girls across Western Colorado gearing up for their own regional in Grand Junction, only two competed at the SJBLs – 118-pounders Audrey Roderick of Ignacio and Valentina Tarini of Dolores. The two squared off twice against each other, with Tarini prevailing by pin in 22 seconds, then later in 26 seconds. Lady ’Cats Lexy Young and Faye Hackett also were in attendance, but neither faced an opponent.
Winning 10 of 13 contested matches, and 12 of 15 including forfeits, MHS built upon a seventh-place finish at the Center-hosted, 26-team Valley Classic, held the same day as the Melton, and reemerged as the SJBL’s kings.
106: Dillon Eichner, Mancos.
113: Isaiah Martinez, Mancos.
120: Trevor Paquin, Mancos.
126: Levi Martin, Mancos.
132: J.W. Nasland, Nucla.
138: Jarret Sinks, Norwood.
145: Keaton McCoy, Ignacio.
152: Gage Owen, Norwood.
160: Ayden Mathews, Mancos.
170: Tyler Barnes, Ignacio.
182: Lane Greenlee, Mancos.
195: Gage Buffington, Dove Creek.
220: None.
285: Jeremy Roderick, Ignacio.
