Durango High School girls wrestling didn’t have many wrestlers competing at the Conflict at Cleveland last weekend in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, but Marie Baker made sure the Demons had a wrestler place.
The girls wrestling program had some wrestlers out with some minor injuries and away for vacation, so Baker and Lucy Larson were the only Durango girls wrestlers at the Conflict at Cleveland. Baker finished eighth at 120 pounds in a massive 54-wrestler bracket.
Baker was seeded 21st in the 120-pound bracket and won 3-0 in the first round before winning her second match, 5-3, against Morenci High School’s Peytin Corbell. Baker took her first loss to Brighton’s Kiahna Spellman, 3-0. She bounced back in the consolation bracket with two wins before losing to Grants’ Raeyna Valdez, 1-0, and then being pinned by Sydney Babi from Eaglecrest in the seventh-place match.
“Marie did great,” Durango girls wrestling head coach Ryan McGrath said. “As a junior, one of the things we're working with at Marie is the final points of that wrestling practice … and coming up with a strategy to wrestle against them … She had some of the best matches I've seen this year in that tournament.”
McGrath is excited for Baker to use Spellman as a target for the rest of the season as someone she could strive to beat at state. McGrath likes to compare wrestling to chess, and he said Spellman has a very sophisticated game at this point in the season.
Next up for the Durango High School girls wrestling program is the Pagosa Springs tournament on Friday and Saturday. McGrath said it’ll be a smaller tournament with more local teams, and he expects to have all his wrestlers back, but he doesn’t want his wrestlers to compete through any injuries.
On the boys side for Durango High School wrestling, sophomore Ryder Martyn finished seventh at 138 pounds in the Conflict at Cleveland last weekend. Martyn won his first three matches before losing to Alamosa’s Uriah Martinez, 13-5. Martyn then bounced back to eventually win the seventh-place match.
Hockey drops two road games to start 2026
The Durango High School hockey team’s struggles have continued in 2026, with the Demons dropping two road games at Steamboat Springs on Friday and Saturday.
Durango dropped to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the 4A Mountain League after its 3-1 loss at Steamboat Springs on Friday and its 8-1 loss to Steamboat Springs on Saturday.
Junior K.J. Reynolds scored both goals last weekend in Steamboat Springs.
The Demons have struggled to be competitive besides their 3-2 win at Liberty on Dec. 13. In Durango’s eight losses, it has been outscored 42-7. Next is a road game at Aspen on Friday at 6 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
