The Durango boys and girls wrestling teams continue to prepare for the regional and state championships with tough competition. Last weekend, the Demons went to the Doc Wright Invitational, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the Southwest, in Winslow, Arizona.
Durango girls finished 21st out of 34 schools with 45.5 team points. Campo Verde High School from Gilbert, Arizona, finished first with 166.5 points. The Durango boys finished 29th out of 44 schools with a team score of 70 points. Sahuarita High School from Sahuarita, Arizona, won the boys’ tournament with a team score of 239 points.
“We saw a lot of great competition,” Durango boys wrestling coach Jason Silva said. “It was the 60th annual, so it's a big, long-standing tournament that they've been running over there and they run well. From a performance standpoint, the kids as a whole wrestled the best they’ve wrestled all season long.”
Senior Durango boys wrestler Ryan Dugan was the top Demon and finished third at 126 pounds. Dugan faced an unusual amount of adversity by losing in the quarterfinals. He pinned his first two opponents before he lost to American Leadership Academy Gilbert’s (Gilbert, Arizona) JJ Pahl 4-0.
But Dugan bounced back from his early loss with a pin over Dionicio DePaolo from Casteel High School in Queen Creek, Arizona, in the consolation bracket. He then won 3-2 in the next consolation round before winning via tiebreaker over Sebastian Serrano from Sahuarita High School in the consolation semis. Dugan won the third-place match against Alexander Bermudez from Sahuarita High School 6-4.
Dugan was the only Durango boys wrestler to place but other Demons like Cole Pontine, Wyatt Bartel and Jacob Belt won multiple matches and just missed out on placing.
At 157 pounds, Pontine pinned his first opponent before he lost to Trey Clarkson from Campo Verde High School in the second round 17-14. Pontine won his next three matches in the consolation round before Mike Johnson from Casteel High School pinned him.
Bartel was pinned in the first round by Pima High School’s (Pima, Arizona) Kutter Beals at 150 pounds. He then pinned his next five opponents in the consolation bracket before he lost Dallan Rawlings from Show Low, Arizona’s Show Low High School 14-7.
Belt had an exciting start to his tournament by beating a state champion in the first round; he pinned Chancy Worsley from Mogollon, New Mexico, at 165 pounds after Belt was down 10-0 in the match. Belt pinned his next two opponents before he lost to Carter Fawcett from Pinnacle High School in Phoenix 14-6 in the quarterfinals. Belt then lost in the consolation bracket.
Silva said he only brought six wrestlers because of the increased competition; the Doc Wright Invitational is the largest wrestling tournament in Arizona with teams from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and California.
Aleia Fenberg’s sixth-place finish at 120 pounds led the Durango girls at the Doc Wright Invitational. She won her first two matches before she lost in the quarterfinals 2-1 against Jordyn Isla from Yuma Catholic in Yuma, Arizona. Fenberg then pinned her next two opponents in the consolation bracket. She was pinned in the consolation semifinals and then lost again to Isla in the fifth-place match.
Fenberg was the only Demon girl wrestler to place but Marie Baker won a few matches at 114 pounds. She pinned her first opponent before she was pinned in the second round by Rebecca Ponce from Desert Ridge High School in Mesa, Arizona. Baker won her next three matches in the consolation bracket before she lost 6-0 to Londyn Cooper from Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas.
Quincy Ellis also had a nice performance at 138 pounds for Durango. She was pinned in the first round but responded by winning two matches in the consolation bracket. She lost by technical fall in the consolation fourth round to Juliana De Marco from Poston Butte High School in San Tan Valley, Arizona.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
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