Durango’s boys wrestling dual with Grand Junction High School came down to the final match Thursday at DHS.
The Tigers picked up a pin at 205 pounds to cut Durango’s lead to 36-33 and put the pressure on DHS heavyweight Brett Franklin.
Franklin came through. He scored a first-period takedown to take a 2-0 lead. Jack Banks escaped to start the second and cut the lead in half. Franklin, however, took down Banks to his back and pinned him at the 2:52 mark to lock up the dual for the Demons, 42-33.
In the night’s second dual, however, DHS fell 61-12 to On the Mat’s No. 7 ranked team in Class 5A, Grand Junction Central.
After forfeiting at 106 to start its dual with Grand Junction, Ryan Dugan tied it at 6-6 with a second-period pin at 113.
Elijah Ponce put DHS ahead of the Tigers 12-6 with a quick pin at 120, but GJHS tied it at 12-12 with a pin at 126.
At 132, Riley Belt nearly scored two takedowns in the first period against Tanner Roahrig, but the wrestlers went out of bounds both times. Belt started on top in the second and kept Roahrig down to go into the third period scoreless. Roahrig threw in a leg and was able to ride Belt for the first part of the third. After a restart, however, Belt hit a hard switch off the whistle to reverse Roahrig and rode him out for a 2-0 win.
Wyatt Bartel also won a tight match for DHS at 138. Bartel got taken down first, but escaped and used a body lock to take down Colton Romero. Romero escaped late, and the wrestlers entered the second tied 3-3.
Bartel kept Romero from escaping in the second to keep the match tied. He then escaped and scored a takedown to go up 6-3 in the third. Romero scored a late reversal and momentarily put Bartel on his back, but was unable to score the nearfall and Bartel won to give DHS an 18-12 lead.
Jacob Belt was cradled in the first period at 144 against Connor Kinser and unable to dig out of the 5-0 hole, eventually losing 7-0.
The Tigers then took a 21-18 lead with a pin at 150.
Gus Halls earned the lead back for DHS at 157. Halls struck first with a power double. During the second, Alex Waburton got to his feet, but Halls threw him on his back with a headlock to secure the pin and put DHS ahead 24-21.
Jaylen Jeffries took a 7-2 lead at 165 after putting Dominic Jones on his back. In the second, Jeffries was able to fight off of his back once but not a second time, and Jones’ pin put the Tigers back in front, 27-24.
Braxton Waddell and Dalton Dimick traded points early at 175. Trailing 3-2, Waddell was able to reverse Dimick, found a half and got the pin late in the first for DHS and the lead back, 30-27.
Dale Harris extended Durango’s lead to 36-27. Harris got a takedown in the first. In the second, he used a Turk to put his opponent on his back and then kept making adjustments to get the pin.
Warren Uptain came up short at 215 for DHS, but Franklin was able to get the pin for the win.
Durango’s dual against Central started at 113 pounds, and Dugan gave DHS an early 3-0 lead with a 12-6 decision. Dugan scored first with a takedown, but got reversed with two seconds left in the first. In the second, Dugan earned three more takedowns against JohnPaul Espinoza, including one with three seconds left. Dugan’s defense helped him record two more takedowns in the third to secure the decision.
After Ponce won by forfeit at 120, Central won 10 weights in a row. Bartel had the closest match and was tied 0-0 entering the third against Jordyn Willie. A pair of locked hands penalties, however, gave Willie the 2-0 advantage. Bartel kept working on top and found a half, but was unable to get any back points and lost 2-0.
Franklin snapped the streak with a 10-5 win at 285. He used two takedowns to lead 4-1 entering the third and followed with three more takedowns to win the match.
