The Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio girls wrestling teams all competed at the Girls Bronco Invitational on Saturday in Kirtland, New Mexico, after Alamosa canceled its tournament because of low numbers.
With 10 teams competing in Kirtland, nearly every wrestler from the county managed to finish in the top six at the Bronco Invitational and three won tournament titles.
Brooke Fenberg of Durango won the 120-pound title, teammate Amiah Hanson placed first at 126 while Faye Hackett of Ignacio won at 132.
DHS head coach Kyle Hanson said the tournament was aimed at getting the girls matches, so some wrestled in pools and others in brackets and true-seconds were also decided.
“We had a great tournament,” coach Hanson said. Six DHS girls competed, five of them at 120 or 126 pounds.
To win the 120-pound title, Fenberg pinned all three of the wrestlers she faced. In the finals, Fenberg squared off with Bailey Blouin of Bayfield and managed to get a second-period fall.
“She did a great job being patient and not forcing things,” the coach said, adding that she’s also diversified her offense from neutral.
At 126, Amiah got put on her back by Tiana Williamson of Bloomfield in the semifinals, but managed to reverse Williamson to her back and pin her to advance.
“She exhibited a lot of heart,” the coach said. “The magic thing about wrestling is no matter where you are in a match, you can come back and win. She got a chance to experience that.”
In the finals, Amiah faced Kacey Brown of Ignacio and won the title with a pin. Brown won her first match, 9-6, and then pinned her second opponent to place second.
Hackett, meanwhile, stayed undefeated with a trio of first-period pins to win the 132-pound title. In the finals, Hackett pinned Maliah Goins of Bloomfield in 1:31.
Madison Egger (100) and Larissa Espinosa (235) also finished second for the Bobcats. while Marlene Martinez-Perez placed fifth at 138 and Audrey Roderick pinned one foe but did not place at 120.
All three Bayfield wrestlers, meanwhile, finished third at the tournament.
Blouin pinned her first two opponents at 120, but after losing to Fenberg she got pinned late by Bloomfield’s Harley Rightmire in a true-second match. Rightmire also pinned Durango’s Hana Maletich in the third-place match as Maletich went 3-2 to finish fourth.
Kori Jenkins went 3-2 at 138 to place third for the Wolverines, and Gracie Patton went 2-2 at 185, but injury defaulted in her final match.
Also competing for Durango, Sadie Hanson competed for just the second time this season and finished sixth at 107. Teresa Benac pinned one opponent in a 1-2 effort at 120, and Quincy Ellis finished seventh at 126.
In the final team standings, Bloomfield finished first with 122 points, followed by Farmington (97), Kirtland Central (86), Durango (71), Ignacio (53), Bayfield (37), Wingate (33), Dolores (9) and Gallup and Northwest (0).
