Three local high school wrestlers couldn’t have asked for a more successful trip to Montrose for the Western Slope Showdown.
Durango High School girls wrestling team’s Aleia Fenberg, Ignacio High School boys wrestling team’s Lincoln deKay and Ignacio High School girls wrestling team’s Larissa Espinosa all won in their respective weight classes against quality competition on Saturday in Montrose.
Ignacio’s teams had the best tournaments, with the girls finishing seventh out of 28 schools with 93 points and the boys finishing 14th out of 41 schools with 77.5 points.
deKay has had a fantastic start to the season and is undefeated in two high school tournaments this season after finishing second at state last season as a junior.
At 165 pounds, deKay was the top seed at the Western Slope Showdown, beating Levi Gardner from Mancos, 5-0, in deKay’s first match. He then beat Kenneth Jordan from Bennet, 8-0, before beating Ryder Weber from Hayden, 13-0.
deKay was only scored on in the final against Montrose’s Trevane Anstine. However, deKay started the match with a takedown and never looked back, winning 7-3.
Espinosa was victorious at 235 pounds, beating Tyanna George from San Juan, 8-1, and then Olivia Le fors from Strasburg for the tournament win.
On the Bobcat boys’ side, Aven Bourriague finished third at 120 pounds. He outscored his first two opponents a combined 32-1 before winning 5-3 against Monte Vista’s Matthew Rodriguez.
Bourriague lost 17-0 in the semifinals to the eventual winner, Cedaredge’s Cash Martinez. He bounced back in the consolation bracket by beating Kaden McCracken from Holy Family, 9-6, for third.
Zane Pontine also placed fourth at 157 pounds for the Ignacio boys. He made it to the semifinals before losing a 5-4 match to Montrose’s Trey Clarkson. Pontine then lost 6-4 in the third-place match to Aztec’s Cory Douglas.
On the girls’ side, for Ignacio, both Lainee Bradley and Krysten Neil finished second. Bradley won her first two matches at 125 pounds by a combined score of 12-1, before beating Nevaeh Cortez from Olathe, 7-4 in the semifinal. Bradley lost to Durango’s Aleia Fenberg, 9-1, in the final.
Wrestling at 140 pounds, Neil survived a tight 8-6 win over North Fork’s Perla Valdez in the quarterfinals before an easy 9-1 win in the semifinal. Top-seeded Vivienne Gitke from Strasburg took the 3-0 victory in the final.
Ignacio’s Madison Egger made it to the semifinals at 100 pounds before losing 7-0 to Peggy Dean from Sand Creek. Egger then lost an exciting third-place match 16-11 to Olathe’s Khloe Gonzales.
The Durango girls were right behind the Ignacio girls in eighth place with 92 points.
“I feel really good,” Durango girls wrestling head coach Ryan McGrath said. “Our goal this year was to put a good program in place with all that entails with nutrition, diet, training and academics. The girls have really grabbed a hold of it and are really progressing.”
Before beating Bradley in the 125-pound final, Aleia had a close 5-4 victory to start her day against Mullen’s Arianna Antillion. Aleia then beat Avah Olguin, 5-0, in the quarterfinals and Farmington’s Brielle Lucero in the semifinals, 13-7.
McGrath complimented Aleia’s focus, analytical skills and self-reflection during the matches and in-between matches.
Marie Baker finished second at 120 pounds for the Durango girls. She beat her opponents a combined score of 15-0 on her way to the title match, before losing to Alamosa’s Samantha Maestas, 9-0.
Lillian Fenberg finished third at 140 pounds for the Demons. She beat her first two opponents by a combined score of 6-0, before losing to Gitke, 3-0, in the semifinals. Lillian bounced back by winning 3-0 in the third-place match against Monte Vista’s Annika Butero.
“For all three, they’re juniors this year,” McGrath said about Aleia, Baker and Lillian. “We are focusing more on how all of this is connected. It’s not just do moves until you find something that works. How do I control my opponent?”
The Durango boys finished 21st with 49 points.
“I was really impressed with the kids because it’s a two-day tournament, a really tough tournament, and almost everybody made it to Day 2,” Durango boys wrestling head coach Jason Silva said. “They’re in new territory. A lot of these new kids haven’t been in a varsity bracket, much less make it to Day 2. This is the next step ... So, it was a good growth tournament.”
Durango sophomore Ryder Martyn finished fourth at 138 pounds as the only placer for the Durango boys. Martyn had a 9-8 win over Bennett’s Caycen Scholz in the quarterfinals, before losing to top-seeded Uriah Martinez from Alamosa, 15-0, who’s also the top-ranked wrestler in 3A, according to Silva.
Martyn ran into Scholz again in the third-place match and lost, 10-2. Silva said it’s a tough situation to be in to wrestle the same kid twice, with the first loser having more motivation.
The Bayfield High School boys wrestling team also competed, with Connor Martindale finishing third at 126 pounds as the lone placer for the Wolverines. He lost 13-8 in the quarterfinals to North Fork’s Bronson Hall, before rebounding with four consecutive consolation bracket wins, including a 6-3 victory over Alamosa’s Anthony Eugene Meder for third.
“Technique and skill-wise, he’s gotten a lot better on his feet, getting takedowns,” Bayfield head coach Adam Mars said about Martindale. “Then he has also started doing some leg riding, which we've seen him doing quite a bit.”
Bayfield was shorthanded at the Western Slope Showdown, according to Mars, with last year’s state qualifiers, Justin Westbrook and Payson Blouin.
The Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio boys and girls wrestling teams will compete at the Warrior Classic in Grand Junction this weekend, where they will face some more top competition. Mars expects Westbrook and Blouin to be back for the Wolverines.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
