Back on the wrestling mat after letting his right elbow, injured before Christmas, heal about as much as deemed necessary, senior Lincoln deKay showed next to no lasting effects Saturday in going 4-0 at 165 pounds and placing first at Ignacio’s 50th Annual Butch Melton Memorial Invitational.
After building up a 10-1 lead in his final bout, deKay finished his day pinning Kirtland Central’s Todd Robinson 1:41 into the second period, but it was his 15-0 technical-fall domination of Cedaredge’s Scott Maxfield in the previous round that ultimately guaranteed deKay the weight’s title.
After losing to Robinson in the first round, foreign-exchange student Moise Grognard managed to win – via pin over Bloomfield’s Adreian Lucero – one of his next two bouts in helping Ignacio rack up 97 points and rank seventh out of 15 scoring boys’ teams. Neighboring Bayfield (98.5 points) ended up one rung higher on the proverbial ladder, topped by CHS (225), with Delta County nemesis Hotchkiss North Fork (173) following and Norwood (113) coming in third.
IHS senior Zane Pontine went 4-1 with three pins and a tech at the fast-moving tournament, reduced in size due to the wintry weather preventing several squads from traveling, but ended up second at 157 pounds after losing a 13-5 major decision to NFHS’ Braeden Flores. Senior 113-pounder Aven Bourriague was also a Melton runner-up; he too went 4-1, but after a 7-2 loss to Bloomfield’s Bryce Lance, he finished his day defeating Cedaredge’s Jared Roberts 4-0.
Freshman Zackariah Loudenburg ended up being the Bobcats’ only other top-five grappler; he went 3-2 at 215 pounds and closed out the event pinning Montezuma-Cortez’s Jacob Tso in 44 seconds, then winning via medical forfeit over Bloomfield’s Cole Gosnell.
Bayfield, meanwhile, had one Melton champion on the boys’ side of things in Justin Westbrook. Competing at 175 pounds, he pinned his first four foes – first-round opponent Kolter Mann of Cedaredge had been ahead on the scoreboard before Westbrook turned the tide – and polished off a perfect 5-0 run through the division with a 12-9 victory over KCHS’ Chance Aspaas.
Pinned by Monticello’s John Leber in Round 1, Bayfield senior Reese Appenzeller – who’d been leading Leber 9-0 prior to the sudden stoppage late in the second period – bounced back to stick his next four opponents en route to placing third at 144. Junior Connor Martindale saved third at 126 after pinning Aztec’s Aiden Goldsmith 1:38 into the second period and finishing 4-1.
Sophomore Max Johnston saved third for the Wolverines at 132 pounds; after being pinned early in the first period by Nucla’s Jackson McCabe, Johnston recovered and routed NHS’ Jonah Richardson via 17-1 tech to end up 3-1 for the tourney.
Sophomore Mason Valencia lost his first two bouts, but then took his next three in earning fifth place at 138.
Bloomfield’s Kellan Ray went on to dominate NFHS’ Derick Sievertsen in the first-place bout, book a 20-4 tech and finish 5-0, and was later announced as the Melton’s Upper Weight Outstanding Wrestler. Also going 5-0 on the day, teammate Lance was named Lower Weight Outstanding Wrestler.
