The scoreboard may have not showed it on Friday night, but it was a successful first Durango High School girls wrestling home dual against North Fork.
North Fork won 48-27 on Friday, but almost all of their points came from forfeits in weight classes Durango didn’t have wrestlers in. The Demons won five of the six matches they competed in, continuing the momentum of a fifth-place finish out of 24 schools at the Clash of the Coliseum in Farmington on Jan. 17.
On Friday night in Durango, sophomore Sydney McAllister got things started with an 8-3 win at 105 pounds for Durango over Audrina Sanchez. Junior Marie Baker returned to the mat after missing some time with some injuries, and Baker pinned North Fork’s Avery Flores at 120 pounds.
“She didn't miss a beat,” Durango girls wrestling head coach Ryan McGrath said. “The conditioning looked good, and her technique was on point. It was good.”
Fellow junior Aleia Fenburg pinned North Fork’s Sunshine Deherrera at 130 pounds. Junior Lillian Fenburg pinned North Fork’s Danika Queen in less than 30 seconds at 140 pounds. Freshman Timber Zink finished off the matches for Durango with a pin in less than a minute over North Fork’s Khloe Holden at 155 pounds.
The wrestling wasn’t finished with Zink’s match. There were five exhibition matches, all of which Durango won.
Friday night was a great opportunity for the Demons to wrestle at home in front of their friends and family. It was also a great opportunity for wrestlers, at the middle school level and athletes who haven’t wrestled before, to see a high school dual in Durango.
It was a successful trip down to New Mexico against some quality competition last weekend, with all six Demons placing at the Clash at the Coliseum.
“It was a really great tournament for our girls to work on the structure of their competition,” McGrath said. “What we talked about was for state, the top four (at regionals) qualify. So at Clash, everybody's goal was to make top four … you have to be decisive, be intentional, be aware of what's going on, work through those matches, and know where you are. They all did a great job.”
Farmington won with 205.5 points, with Durango finishing fifth with 105 points. Durango was the top Colorado school. Ignacio was 11th and Bayfield finished 19th.
The Fenburg twins led the way for Durango, with Lillian finishing first at 140 pounds and Aleia finishing second at 130 pounds. Lillian pinned all four of her opponents, including Aztec’s Kayci Phillips, in the final, while Lillian had a 16-4 lead. Aleia dominated her first two matches at 130 pounds. In the final against Aztec’s Cheyenne Yellow, Aleia was up 6-3 when she was pinned.
McAllister finished fourth at 105 pounds. She won her opening match, but was pinned by Piedra Vista’s Brooklyn Jacquez in the quarterfinal. McAllister bounced back to win three consolation-bracket matches to get to the third-place match, where she lost to Jacquez again, 9-7.
“I was really excited,” McAllister said. “That’s the highest I’ve ever placed at a tournament. It’s my second year wrestling, and until this year, I’d never won a bout. I had some really good matches there; I had some matches where it was so close.”
McAllister said the key for her has been building on the basics the team has been working on in practice. She knows she’s part of a strong team that is comfortable around each other. McAllister wants to continue to push herself the rest of the season and be proud of herself every time she leaves the mat.
Zink finished fifth at 155 pounds. She pinned her first opponent, but lost to top-seeded Ioanna Ueanimatang from Farmington in the quarterfinals. Zink then went 1-1 in the consolation bracket, putting her in the fifth-place match. Zink won 4-2 against Piedra Vista’s Octaviana John.
Both freshman Haidyn Albrecht and junior Keelyn Reynolds finished sixth. Reynolds, wrestling at 120 pounds, won her first two matches but suffered an injury and lost her last three matches. Albrecht, wrestling at 135, was pinned by Ignacio’s Krysten Neil in the first round. Albrecht bounced back to win her first three consolation bracket matches before losing her last two.
“I did fairly well,” Albrecht said. “I've definitely seen some improvement with not only my technique and conditioning, but also just my mental game. I was more in my head about if I was going to be able to do this than I was confident. I ended up placing for the first time, which I'm very proud of.”
The Demons were scheduled to go to Olathe on Saturday, but with the weather, they pivoted and are going to compete in the Butch Melton Classic at Ignacio High School on Saturday. After that, the Demons will head to Canon City on Friday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
