Ignacio wrestling head coach Jordan Larsen's voice left him sometime early during the Bobcats' 2017 Butch Melton Invitational.
That either meant a long day of wrestling, or a great day of wrestling. Larsen was admittedly overjoyed to have ever-vocal Cody Haga as his top assistant coach,
Sure, hosting Pine River Valley neighbor Bayfield for a 33-27 dual loss the night before may have had something to do with his diminished volume. When all was said and done Saturday, Jan. 28, Larsen hoarsely growled how proud he was of his team's home event.
The meet was expanded this year to 17 schools and 18 total teams. 5A Aztec, N.M., brought its varsity and a designated 'B' squad. The Melton meet had IHS Gymnasium roaring for nearly 12 hours straight. The Bobcats, billed #10 in last Friday's revised On The Mat Class 2A poll, were a big part of the reason.
Leading the way, #1-ranked senior Lorenzo Peña earned a repeat Outstanding Wrestler Award at the annual meet, as he received the Upper Weights' nod due to a 4-0 run to the 160-pound division title. The last wrestler who tried to resist Peña was 1A Monticello, Utah's Paul DeAnda, but Peña managed to control the action from on top in the match and prevailed 4-2.
Senior Stocker Robbins finished second at 132, but not for lack of trying, as his clash with 3A Montezuma-Cortez's Matthew Broughton went into overtime tied 8-8 after six regulation minutes.
Robbins ultimately lost a 10-8 outcome as Broughton managed to drive through him at the mat's edge and briefly render him horizontal. Robbins was amazingly back in action after blacking out and wracking his neck up in Paonia at the previous weekend's Screaming Eagle Invite.
Bobcat senior Ethan Appenzeller had most of the fans in the house watching him as he stepped in against BHS' Ryan Nava in the 145-pound finale. Working with a well-wrapped right hand/thumb, 2A's second-ranked wrestler still nearly managed what would have been a key takedown at the end of the second period. But 3A's No. 3 Nava locked in a clinching three-point near-fall with only 15.1 seconds left in the third to win 6-2 and more or less revisit of the Friday's dual's deciding match. Nava won the Friday match by a pin.
Led by its leading trio, Ignacio piled up 66.5 points - good for seventh place overall. 2A Cedaredge captured first with 164.5, and Aztec - including 126-pounder Cody Candelaria, the Lower Weights' Outstanding Wrestler - came in second with 131. Bayfield (129), 3A Pagosa Springs (98) and Montezuma-Cortez (87) rounded out the standings' top five.
Also active at the Melton for the 'Cats was senior Dalton Mickey, competing at 160. Mickey rebounded from an early loss to reel off three straight wins and take fifth place. Senior Timmy Plehinger-Williams wasn't as fortunate at 152; a damaged left rotator cuff from an initial loss to Aztec's Austin Littlefield hampered him. He finished 1-3 after injury-defaulting to 4A Durango's Austin Albrecht.
Foreign-exchange team member Pablo Garcia Garcia had the unlucky honor of facing Nava right off the bat and finished 0-4. Dustin Sanchez managed eighth-place points at 138 after going 2-3, and 113-pounder Hunter Robbins also earned points for the cause with his 1-2 mark.
Finally, Cesar Pedregon also scored for the squad, as he followed a first-round bye at 170 with a 1-3 mark. He was elated as he pinned 2A Mancos' Cameron Fury for all to see on the middle of three mats.
The final push for Pepsi Center and the CHSAA Class 2A state championships is now all that remains on IHS' 2016-17 schedule, and it began Feb. 2 in Nucla with the San Juan Basin League Duals.
The 2A-Region I championships are set for Feb. 10-11 at Hayden High School, where four individuals per weight will earn the right to represent their teams on Feb. 16-18 in Denver.
