Durango High School sophomore Ryder Martyn has wrestled some of the top wrestlers in some of the best tournaments in Colorado this year, and all that work paid off on Saturday in Pagosa Springs.
Martyn finished first at 138 pounds for the Durango boys wrestling team at the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Saturday. Bayfield High School’s Connor Martindale also won at 126 pounds, and Aven Bourriague won at 113 pounds for Ignacio in Pagosa Springs.
Durango was the top local school at the Rocky Mountain Invitational, finishing fifth out of 19 schools with 134.5 points after eight Demons placed. Bayfield wasn’t far behind in seventh with 118 points, and Ignacio finished 11th with 94.5 points. Rocky Ford won the invitational with 203 points.
“At the beginning of the season, we brought a younger group of kids to a lot of tough tournaments and kind of threw them into the fire,” Durango head coach Jason Silva said. “It’s starting to come full circle. It was definitely reflected in a positive way for a local tournament, like Pagosa.”
As the top seed, Martyn quickly pinned his first two opponents at 138 pounds and dominated Monticello’s Landon Shumway, 18-1, before winning by technical fall. Martyn then pinned Rusty Snyder from Montezuma-Cortez in the final after Martyn took a commanding 14-5 lead in the match.
Silva said the staff and the team’s confidence level were pushed back after their performance at the Conflict at Cleveland in Rio Rancho the previous weekend. There was time after for the whole team to reflect that they weren’t where they should’ve been, and Silva was happy with the positive response of his team.
Cash Silva and Jacob Belt both finished second for the Demons. Silva had a great run to the finals at 132 pounds, including pinning the top seed, Jackson McCabe from Nucla, with a cradle when Silva was down 10-2. This set up an exciting final for Silva against Eric Smith from Pagosa Springs, and Smith got the best of Silva via pin when he was up 13-10.
Silva thought his son, Cash, had the win in the finals via pin, but Chas was called for an illegal hold. Silva was happy with how Cash has improved and grown throughout the season.
Belt, wrestling at 175 pounds, finished second after beating the top seed, Bayfield’s Noah Westbrook, in the semifinals, 7-6. This advanced Belt to face Kirtland Central’s Chance Aspaas in the final, where Aspaas won 16-6.
“Jake is an interesting guy,” Silva said about Belt. “He’s so smart that he tends to overthink things. Once we sit him down and simplify the competition to score points, have fun, stay in good position and just wrestle, he does great … Against the Kirtland kid, it was a toughly contested match until the very end, and that kid started racking up some points, but it he (Belt) didn't really do anything wrong.”
Durango’s Isiah Aguilar had a quality performance and finished third at 126 pounds. He lost in the first round, but ran through the consolation bracket and beat Adam Hicks from Dolores, 13-1, for third place.
Asher Thiessen also wrestled well and finished fourth at 144 pounds for Durango. He lost in the quarterfinals before winning his way to the third-place match in the consolation bracket. It was a familiar foe in Asher McKennie, who wrestled for Durango last year before moving to Pagosa Springs. McKennie won 5-3.
Bayfield had seven wrestlers place, including five who finished fourth or better in their respective weight classes.
“The boys wrestled very well … it seems like they’re coming around and still have to make a few adjustments to win some of those close matches,” Bayfield head coach Adam Mars said.
Martindale pinned his first two opponents at 126 to make the finals. He then dominated top-seeded Arturo Gutierrez from Monticello with a technical fall up 17-0. Mars said Martindale, a junior, has done a great job of rolling from one move right to the other without hesitation. Martindale has also maintained his composure very well, according to Mars, and doesn’t panic when he’s in tough situations.
Bayfield’s Noah Westbrook also wrestled well, finishing third at 175 pounds. After losing to Belt in the semifinals, Westbrook pinned Farmington’s Colin Schake for third place.
“He has gained a lot of strength being a senior, and he's another guy that just maintains his composure really well through a match … We see him kind of get down sometimes early in the matches, but he has very good conditioning,” Mars said about Westbrook. “He continues to wrestle, and in the third period is usually when you see him shine.”
Daemon Christner (150 pounds), Diego Cuddie (106 pounds) and Payson Blouin (138 pounds) all finished fourth for the Wolverines. Mars was happy to see Christner’s progress as a senior.
For Ignacio, Bourriague was the top seed at 113 pounds. He cruised to the final by pinning his opponent in the quarterfinals, and he won by technical fall in the semifinals over Montezuma-Cortez’s Bodie Stiegelmeyer. Bourriague then beat Farmington’s Devin Delegarito in the final, 7-4.
Zane Pontine finished second at 157 pounds for the Bobcats. He pinned his first two opponents before losing to Pagosa Springs’ Colton Lucero in the final.
Brandon Blevins finished fourth at 165 pounds for the Bobcats.
The Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio boys and girls wrestling teams will compete in the La Plata County Tri at Bayfield High School on Thursday, starting at 5 p.m. There will be two mats going at the same time, with a female match on one and a male one on the other, according to Mars.
Silva is taking his top wrestlers, Martyn, Belt and Cash, to Denver for the Top of the Rockies tournament, which Silva considers one of the toughest tournaments in Colorado during the regular season.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
