The final score didn’t matter to Cody Haga as much as the return to competition.
The Bobcats returned from their holiday break with a 39-24 dual meet loss to Center on Friday in Ignacio.
It was the first dual IHS had wrestled at home this season where every wrestler it entered got a match.
“It’s a good dual to have right after Christmas to see how our training has been paying off the past couple weeks,” said Haga, the Bobcats’ rookie head coach. “I couldn’t have asked for a better dual.”
Stocker Robbins pinned Alberto Rodriguez with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the third period after largely controlling the first two periods of the 106-pound match. He scored a pin in his last match entering the break, as well.
“You just got to keep moving and keep your hips up,” said Robbins, son of Joshua Robbins. “As long as you stay on it, you’ll come out fine.”
Christian Knoll scored the other pin for IHS during the match, taking down Billy Jiron with 23.8 seconds left in the first period of the 182-pound match.
Center’s Heriberto Gonzalez pinned Tyler Jourden at 113 pounds in the first period.
The Bobcats took the next two weight classes by major decision, with Dalton Mickey beating Marcus Torrez 14-6 and Ethan Appenzeller defeating Deangelo Martinez 15-2 at 126 pounds.
That gave IHS a 14-6 lead in the dual before the Vikings scored three consecutive pins as part of a four-bout winning streak.
Gustavo Nungaray pinned Colton Logan at 132 pounds just before the final buzzer sounded, Jose Angel Chavez took down Woody Peña with 55 seconds left in the second period of the 138-pound match, and Jeremiah Moreno pinned Davey Cooper 35 seconds into the 145-pound match.
Salomon Chavez defeated Miguel Perez 10-7 at 152 pounds before Blaine Mickey broke the Vikings’ winning streak. He beat George Weatherford 14-6 at 170 pounds.
Luis Mariscal pinned Josh Gallegos in the 220-pound bout 38 seconds into the second period.
“I would like to see improvement in our movement from the bottom,” said Knoll, son of Blake and Rita Knoll. “We just were really stagnant sometimes.”
IHS, wrestling without an injured Isaac Peña, forfeitted the 160-pound match, and both teams left the 195-pound and 285-pound classes open.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
