Podium places were filled with Bayfield and Ignacio wrestlers at the Dawg Fight in Dove Creek.
The meet was won by Farmington High School (161), but Bayfield wrestled to a tough second place with 108 team points. Del Norte was third with 79½ points, and Ignacio claimed fourth with 77 points.
The day was highlighted by a fantastic championship match at 145 pounds between Bayfield’s Ryan Nava and Traedan Allen of Farmington. Nava is the top 145 in Class 3A in Colorado, while Allen is considered the top 145 in New Mexico.
With the match tied, Allen scored an escape point late in the third period to take a 4-3 lead. But, despite an aching back, Nava claimed two points with a takedown with only 3 seconds remaining in the match to secure a 5-4 decision win and improve to 12-0 overall this season.
“What a tough match,” BHS head coach Cole Baughman said. “He’s battling a nerve problem in his back from football season, but he pulled it out. We got that takedown on the edge of the mat, and Ryan kept his toes in bounds.
“He’s pretty clutch and knows how to get that W. Such a tough wrestler.”
Bayfield’s Jake Sandrey also took first place at 138 pounds to improve to 5-0. A first period pin of Farmington’s Jake Linnens secured the win.
Garrett Beebe ended up second at 138 for Bayfield, with his only loss coming to Sandrey. Those two have wrestled each other in consecutive weeks, but both will move down weight classes in the coming weeks.
At 170 pounds, Bayfield’s Macoy Machaeli took first with a 5-0 day. He earned four pins and one major decision.
“We’re trying to push his shape, and he’s working so hard in the room,” Baughman said of Machaeli. “It’s his senior year, and we know he’s gonna be a force at regionals this year.”
Daniel Westbrook took second at 182 pounds for BHS after a 3-1 day. Colby Baker placed fourth at 106 pounds, and John Foutz was fourth at 170. Cody Speece was third at 120 pounds after going 4-1. Chris Kane (152) and Lane Grimwood (160) placed fifth in their respective weights. Nate Howell (145) and Shane Moore (152) also placed eighth.
Sam Westbrook missed the meet at heavyweight while taking the ACT test.
“We wrestled very well as a team,” Baughman said. “I know Speece is right there and will be battling for the top of the podium in the next couple of weeks. He’s such a good team leader. I think we’ll see Baker up there as well.”
Ignacio had the upper weights outstanding wrestler in Lorenzo Peña (9-0) at 160 pounds. He went 5-0 with five pins, including a first period victory against Del Norte’s Tyler Martinez in the title match.
“He faced some decent competition,” IHS head coach Jordan Larsen said. “That Del Norte kid is stealthy, but it was a dominating performance for Lorenzo.”
Ignacio’s Ethan Appenzeller (7-0) was first at 152 pounds with four pins, including a second period win against Francisco Alvarez of Farmington for the championship.
Stocker Robbins (8-2) also took first at 132 pounds with three pins, a major decision and a close 13-12 win against Del Norte’s Brett Benavides in the championship match.
“It was a great weekend for Stocker,” Larsen said. “This weekend really helped him and Ethan gain an understanding of where they’re at, and it’s a big positive to stand n top of the podium.”
Timmy Plehinger took fourth at 152 pounds with a 3-2 day, and Dustin Sanchez placed fifth at 145 pounds after going 3-1.
“We took some lumps, but it was a great turnaround from a week ago,” Larsen said. “I like the close fights early in the season, and it will prepare us for the close battles at the end of the season.”
The Demons finished 11th out of 12 teams at the Delta Panther Invitational on Saturday.
In the tournament won by Cedaredge in a narrow victory ahead of Hotchkiss, the Demons were led by a third-place finish from Kaleb McMunn at 170 pounds. He defeated Basalt’s Alex Alberto in a 7-4 decision to claim third.
Fifth-place finishes came from Paul Smogacz at 106 pounds and Austin Counts at 160 pounds. Tristan Martinez took sixth at 132 to round out the DHS placers.
Boys Basketball
Boys BasketballA slow start couldn’t stop the Durango Demons boys basketball team Saturday at the Marv Sanders Invitational.
Durango took third place at the annual Farmington tournament after Saturday’s 73-61 comeback win against Kirtland Central.
Kyle Kirkpatrick led all scorers with 28 points. Kobe Szura had 14 points and was a key player down the stretch with nine points coming in the final quarter. Steven Wyman also added 12 points in the win.
“We played a complete game, finally,” DHS head coach Alan Batiste said. “It was good for the boys to get that confidence. Moving the ball was the difference. We shared the ball, and that’s how the scorebook should look with three guys in double figures.”
The Demons (5-1) managed to score only five points in the first quarter after giving up an early 9-0 run and trailed by seven at halftime, before an offensive barrage turned the game around. Durango racked up 50 second-half points and pulled away down the stretch.
Durango will look to keep the hot streak going at 7 p.m. Tuesday, as Kirtland Central will get another crack at the Demons in their own gym.
“Turn around and play them again,” Batiste said. “If we would’ve taken care of business (Friday night), we would’ve played Farmington (Saturday) and then Kirtland Tuesday. It never fails that we come here and end up playing a team twice.”
A day after a big win against Jefferson Academy, the Bayfield Wolverines got back to work against Gunnison.
“It was very positive in the sense it was a team I thought we should beat and we didn’t play down to their level of competition,” BHS head coach Jeff Lehnus said. “We got in a lot of early foul trouble, so the bench played a lot and really did a great job.”
Ryan Phelps scored 18 points to lead the Wolverines (2-2) past the Cowboys.
It was an all-around scoring attack, as Hayden Farmer had 12 points and Turner Kennedy and Brian Mashak each scored 10. Mashak also had seven steals and a good amount of assists and rebounds, Lehnus said.
“He really emerged as a leader last year,” Lehnus said of Mashak. “We lost him for half the league season, and it showed. But he tried to lead from the bench even then. He, Keyon Prior and Phelps are our captains, and they are reflecting the leadership you like to see from captains.”
BHS met its goal of holding its opponent under 50 points. BHS had 22 steals as a team.
The Wolverines will hit the road Friday to face San Juan of Blanding, Utah. The home opener comes Saturday against Monticello, Utah.
“Another tough weekend,” Lehnus said.
Girls Basketball
Girls Basketball
Girls BasketballThe Durango High School girls weren’t able to repeat the magic from the last couple seasons at this year’s Pueblo County Lady Hornet Holiday Tournament.
The Demons came into the weekend as back-to-back defending tournament champions, but took fifth place this time around after splitting two games Saturday.
Durango opened the day with a 44-19 loss to Air Academy, but responded to win the second game of the afternoon 50-46 against the tournament host. Katrina Chandler poured in 28 points to lead the Demons to victory.
“Air Academy has a good team and their length bothered us,” Durango head coach Tim Fitzpatrick said in a voicemail to The Durango Herald. “Katrina (Chandler) pretty much carried us in the second game.”
Durango will host Farmington at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Bayfield’s girls basketball team staged a late comeback Saturday against Colorado Academy, but luck wasn’t on the Wolverines’ side late.
BHS trailed for most of the game and found itself facing a six-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
The Wolverines fought all the way back and took the lead on a Jordan Lanning layup with just over 2 minutes remaining. However, a final minute bank shot 3-pointer gave the lead back to the Lady Mustangs, and Bayfield couldn’t convert in its last possession and lost a tough one 50-49.
Chloe Weybright led Bayfield (1-3) with 15 points. Courtney Bayles finished with 13 points, while Jordan Lanning and Savannah Kaufmann added six.
Bayfield will try to bounce back in a 7 p.m. Tuesday tipoff at San Juan High School in Blanding, Utah.
In the championship game of the Montezuma-Cortez tournament, Soroco used physical play to take down the Ignacio Bobcats.
“They are a good team, very fast and physical,” IHS head coach Shane Seibel said. “It enabled us to get a lot out of the game in terms of learning.”
Avionne Gomez led the Bobcats (2-1) with 13 points, and Makayla Howell added 11.
Seibel said his team had moments of impressive play and is eager to get back in the gym and get to work.
IHS will play its home opener Tuesday against Dolores.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
