Wrestling was back in full swing with nearly every team from the Four Corners region traveling to Pagosa Springs for the Rocky Mountain Wrestling meet.
Centauri came away with the team victory with 181.5 points to finish ahead of Aztec, which scored 168.5 points one night after beating Bayfield 53-20 in a dual-meet in Bayfield.
The Bayfield Wolverines were the top team from La Plata County on Saturday. The Wolverines finished seventh with 122 points. Durango took 10th with 83 points, and Ignacio was 11th with 67.
BHS had two individual champions, as heavyweight Sam Westbrook earned four wins via fall to score 30 team points. The 285-pound senior from Bayfield beat Monticello’s Parker Knudsen only 1:30 into the first period. The semifinal was tougher, as he needed three periods to pin JyDen Dodge of Kirtland Central.
Macoy Michaeli also took first at 170 pounds. The BHS senior earned a pin win only 55 seconds into the first period against Centauri’s Weston Huffaker in the first-place match. He earned a narrow 3-2 decision in the semifinals against Colton Castro of Pagosa Springs.
Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller was the other first-place finisher from La Plata County. He went 4-0 at 145 pounds to improve to 17-0 overall this year. He defeated Centauri’s Brandon Buhr in a 4-3 decision in the championship match. It was his second win against a Centauri wrestler on the day.
BHS also had a pair of second-place finishes with Garrett Beebe at 126 pounds and Jake Sandrey at 132 pounds. Beebe lost a 9-1 major decision in the championship match to Cody Candelaria of Aztec. He defeated Durango’s Tristan Martinez in a 3-2 minor decision in the semifinal. Sandrey fell to Levi Whitley of Bloomfield in the second period of his championship match. He defeated Tyler Vigil of Monte Vista via a 4-1 minor decision in the semifinal.
At 182 pounds, Daniel Westbrook was fifth for BHS after winning the fifth-place match in a 6-3 decision over Justin Cecil of Monticello.
Colby Baker placed sixth for BHS at 106 pounds after falling in an 8-2 decision to Paul Smogacz of Durango in the fifth-place match. He defeated Seth Martinez of Bloomfield in the consolation semifinals with a first-period pin.
Cody Speece rounded out the BHS placers Saturday with a seventh-place finish. In the seventh-place match, he defeated Cobie Black of Del Norte in a 14-7 decision.
Devon Pound led Durango with a second-place finish at 113 pounds. He fell in the championship match via tech fall to Aztec’s Josiah Griego. He won his semifinal with a third-period pin against Christoper Valencia of Taos.
After falling to Bayfield’s Beebe, Martinez went on to finish fourth for DHS. He lost the third-place match in a thrilling sudden-victory period against Moises Juarez of Monte Vista.
Smogacz finished fifth for DHS with the win against Baker. He won three consecutive matches after falling in the quarterfinal in a narrow 6-4 decision to C.D. Simkins of Aztec.
Cameron Jacobs was also fifth for Durango at 132 pounds, as he beat Aztec’s Bode Wooley in an 8-1 decision in the fifth-place match. After losing a 7-2 decision to Sandrey of Bayfield to open the tournament, he won four matches in a row in impressive fashion.
Joseph Gillen added another fifth-place finish for DHS at 220 pounds, as he won in sudden victory against Del Norte’s Camryn Baumgardner in the fifth-place match.
Austin Counts finished eighth for DHS at 152 pounds. He finished 2-3 overall on Saturday.
Behind Appenzeller for Ignacio was a second-place finish for Lorenzo Peña at 160 pounds. After three pin wins, he was pinned at the buzzer of the second period by Bloomfield standout Avery Scott.
Seventh-place matches were full of Bobcats. Hunter Robbins (113) and Dustin Sanchez (138) won theirs, as Robbins pinned Pagosa Springs’ Nathan Smith in the third period, and Sanchez earned an 8-5 decision against Aztec’s Logan Klepac.
Randy Herrera (285) and Cesar Pedregon (170) lost their seventh-place matches via fall. Both wrestlers went 2-3 overall.
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballReigan Weaver was a nightmare for the Durango Demons on Saturday.
In the championship game of the Lady Tiger Rumble in Aztec, the Aztec Tigers’ post player blocked five Durango shots and changed the way the Demons tried to score in the paint. Meanwhile, tournament MVP Myra McCaskill scored 12 points to lead the Tigers to a 37-20 victory.
DHS (8-5) struggled to score in the first half, going through two stretches of more than 6 minutes without a basket in each the first and second quarters.
Katrina Chandler led the Demons with eight points and was named to the all-tournament team along with Hilda Garcia.
The Demons trailed the Tigers (10-5) 7-5 after one quarter and 18-9 at halftime.
DHS will get two weeks off to prepare for the start of Southwestern League play, which will open Jan. 21 at Grand Junction Central.
The first game of the new year was kind to the Wolverines.
With Class 2A Telluride visiting, the Class 3A Bayfield girls basketball team came away with its second win of the season, 54-30, to improve to 2-5 overall.
BHS led only 19-18 at halftime but poured it on offensively in the second half to earn the lopsided win.
Taylor Morris, a senior forward, led BHS with 13 points, while senior Kyle Baker and junior Savannah Kaufman each had 10 points. Courtney Bayles also had nine points in the win for BHS.
BHS will host Ignacio Tuesday night.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
