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Demons battle for spot in state tournament

Dugan qualifies, Riley Belt in hunt
Izik Garrett of Durango High School puts Donovan Bolton of Montrose High School to the mat on Friday in the 120 pound weight class during the first round of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)

Durango High School hosted arguably the toughest of the four 4A regional wrestling championships on Friday and Saturday.

Four of On The Mat’s top-10 ranked teams in Class 4A competed at DHS, and some of the weights had more ranked wrestlers than that.

No. 3 Pueblo County, No. 5 Falcon, No. 7 Montrose and No. 9 Roosevelt were a few of the teams that competed with Durango’s Demons.

“It was intimidating when I saw the list come out; I knew it was going to be tough,” said DHS sophomore Ryan Dugan. “This is the toughest region in 4A. I think everybody knew how tough it was going to be and we rose up a bit and brought more intensity. We knew it was our home field and we had to represent.”

Dugan ended up qualifying for state with a third-place finish at 113 pounds.

Riley Belt was also still in the hunt as this paper was going to press, but he needed to win his true-fourth place match at 132 pounds to punch his ticket to state.

Wyatt Bartel of Durango High School battles Leobardo Meraz of Glenwood Springs High School in the 138 pound weight class on Friday during the quarter finals of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS.

To qualify for state a second year in a row, Dugan had to square off with six the top-10 wrestlers in his weight. He used a leg trip get a quick fall in his quarterfinal against Elijah Roque of Pueblo Centennial. In the semifinals, Dugan took on the No. 4 ranked wrestler, Robert Joseph Meza III from Falcon. Meza got the first takedown, then started the second period with a reversal to go up 4-0. Dugan, however, escaped and then caught Meza and put him on his back for a four-point move that tied the match, 5-5.

In the third period, Dugan went out of bounds just before getting taken down and was dinged with a stalling call. With 16 seconds left in the match, Meza shot Dugan out of bounds and Dugan got called for stalling a second time, giving Meza one point in what ended up being the difference in a 6-5 match.

One more loss could have ended his season, but Dugan was up to the challenge.

“I felt a little pressure, but I was just focused,” he said. ”I knew I had to win, there was nothing else to it. My midset was I had to beat everybody to take third.“

Dugan pinned Ricky Olmos of Montrose in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match, he took on Cade Liniger of Roosevelt. Dugan got the first takedown, but Lniger tied the match with a pair of escapes. Liniger then shot in on Dugan, but Dugan sprawled and was able to catch him with a barbwire and pin him in the second period.

The win was Dugan’s 52nd on the year, improving his record to 52-4 heading into the 4A state championships Thursday through Saturday at Ball Arena in Denver.

Belt also reached the third-place match for DHS. He pinned his first opponent in just 1:08 after taking him down with a fireman’s carry. Belt lost 11-2 in the semifinals against Izaiah Padilla of Pueblo County, but came back and pinned Bryan Marquez of Pueblo South in the consolation semis. Belt, however, lost his third-place match to Jason Soto of Pueblo Centennial, forcing him to wrestle Joaquin Coca of Falcon in a true-fourth match.

Wyatt Bartel (138), Braxton Waddell (170) and Miguel Stubbs (190) all won their fifth-place matches for Durango. The three wrestlers, however, had previously lost to fourth-place finishers so they didn’t get an opportunity to wrestle back.

Bartel started strong and pinned Ashton Massey of Falcon and then beat Leobardo Meraz of Glenwood Springs 12-8 in the quarterfinals. Bartel, however, lost by fall in his next two matches before picking up a win by medical forfeit in his fifth-place match.

Waddell went 2-2 at 175, pinning Cody McCulloch of Falcon in only 23 seconds in his fifth-place match.

Stubbs also went 2-2 at 190. In his fifth-place match, he pinned Corbin Wallace of Montrose.

Izik Garrett was the first Demon to wrestle and gave the team an early spark with a 7-6 win over Donovan Bolten of Montrose. Garrett used a pair of takedowns and then a half nelson with a leg in to take a 7-1 lead and then held to win despite getting cradled in the third. Garrett faced the No. 1 seed in his next match, Isaiah Flores of Wheat Ridge, and nearly pulled out the upset. Garrett led 4-1 enterring the third and still led late, but got reversed to his back in the waning seconds and fell 8-6. His next match was also close, but his season ended with a 4-2 loss.

Dillon Harris also started strong at 126, getting an early takedown and nearfall to take a 5-0 lead and eventually beat Erik Chevalier of Golden 7-0. Harris, however, lost his next two matches by pin and major decision.

Brett Franklin lost his first match at 285. He then took the mat in the final match on Friday and advanced to Saturday with a pin against Robert John of Vista Ridge. Franklin led 2-0 entering the third, then caught John and put him on his back.

Franklin, however, lost a tight 1-0 match against Jack Stangier of Pueblo County to end his season.

At 144, Jacob Belt went 0-2, losing his final match by a 5-0 decision.

DHS also lost several wrestlers to injury before the tournament so the Demons only competed in nine of the 14 weight classes for DHS. Chris McGrath, who had been ranked at 150 pounds for most of the season, hurt his knee in a dual recently and was unable to wrestle. James Storm and Cole Pontine were also injured and unable to compete in the regional championship.

At press time, Montrose led the team race with 211.5 points, followed by Pueblo County (189.5), Roosevelt (184.5), Falcon (156), Vista Ridge (124), Pueblo West (116.5), Pueblo Centennial (104), Pueblo South (100), Durango (76), Wheat Ridge (52), Golden (49), Eagle Valley (46), Glenwood Springs (36.5) and Battle Mountain (24).

Update: Belt qualifies for state

Riley Belt won his true-fourth place match at 132 pounds to also qualify for state, and he did it quickly. Belt pinned Coca of Falcon in just 51 seconds to advance to the 4A championships.

Riley Belt of Durango High School battles Max Trujillo of Golden High School in the 132 pound weight class on Friday during the quarter finals of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Wyatt Bartel of Durango High School battles Leobardo Meraz of Glenwood Springs High School in the 138 pound weight class on Friday during the quarter finals of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Wyatt Bartel of Durango High School battles Ashton Massey of Falcon High School in the 138 pound weight class on Friday during the first round of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Dillon Harris of Durango High School battles Erik Chevalier of Golden High School in the 126 pound weight class on Friday during the first round of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Wyatt Bartel of Durango High School battles Ashton Massey of Falcon High School in the 138 pound weight class on Friday during the first round of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Izik Garrett of Durango High School takes down Isaiah Flores of Wheat Ridge High School in the 120 pound weight class on Friday during the quarter finals of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jacob Belt of Durango High School takes down Riley Kopser of Golden High School in the 144 pound weight class on Friday during the first round of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Izik Garrett of Durango High School takes down Isaiah Flores of Wheat Ridge High School in the 120 pound weight class on Friday during the quarter finals of the 4A Region 3 tournament at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)