Sometimes wrestling duals can come down to a matter of which team is larger.
Ignacio High School took advantage of five Dolores forfeits to defeat the Bears 45-18 in Ignacio on Thursday night.
Dolores benefitted from two forfeits themselves, so only four competitive matches took place.
Stocker Robbins opened the dual by pinning Brandon Ward with 44.3 seconds remaining in the first period of the 106-pound match.
“You work the takedown then start working it from the top,” said Robbins, son of Joshua Robbins. “You keep moving, and I finished it with the cradle.”
Robbins also moved up to 113 pounds to wrestle an exhibition match with Tristan Medina.
Medina won the dual’s 113 pound match by forfeit, but Robbins pinned him with 14.1 seconds left in the second period of their exhibition. “That kid had heart,” IHS head coach Cody Haga said of Robbins. “He’s actually the one who came up to me and asked if he could exhibition that kid, and I was all for it. He deserves as many matches as he can get.”
Isaac Peña struggled with Guy Wallace at 145 pounds after rarely getting scored on at the Dove Creek Tournament.
He narrowly avoided a pin early in the second period after starting on the bottom but eventually carved out a 5-1 lead.
Wallace pulled within two points with a takedown and pressed Peña near the end of the match.
Peña pulled a reversal in the last 10 seconds for a 7-3 win.
Miguel Perez never found his footing against Deano Valdez.
He trailed 2-0 after the first period, lost a contact during the second and was pinned with 58.1 seconds left in the second.
“The kid he wrestled was really tough, and we just gotta take our loss and our mistakes back to the room and improve on them,” Haga told Perez after the match. “That’s the only way to grow.”
Dolores’ Richard Martinez won the 120 pound match by forfeit, while Ethan Appenzeller (126 pounds), Charles Rhode (132 pounds), Blaine Mickey (170 pounds), Christian Knoll (182 pounds) and Josh Gallegos (220 pounds) won by forfeit for IHS.
Gallegos didn’t get to wrestle, but he did open the dual by singing the national anthem.
“He’s a very active participant in the Ignacio High School choir,” Haga said. “That was all his idea, and I was all for it because I think that’s pretty cool.”
IHS will continue its season Saturday at the Panther Classic in Farmington.
“That’s going to be a good tournament for us; we’re going to get a lot of matches, a lot of wrestling,” Haga said. “I think these boys are ready for it.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
