Bayfield wrestling head coach Adam Mars, when announcing the victorious squad Saturday evening, to competitors and spectators still remaining inside what had been a stuffed BHS Gymnasium, made light of the fact that Durango had at last turned in a roster at 11 p.m. the night before.
After declaring Durango the boys wrestling winners, there was a big error in scoring, leading to Gunnison High School taking the title with 127 points. Farmington rose to second with 105, followed by Olathe in third with 89.5, Bayfield in fourth with 83 and Durango slipping down to seventh with 75 points.
Nevertheless, two first-place medals did make it back to DHS and won’t ever be leaving as they belonged to individual champs Ryder Martyn and Jacob Belt.
Including a narrow 9-7 win over Gunnison’s Cody Casebolt in the 138-pound bracket’s semifinals, Martyn posted a 5-0 tourney record capped by an 18-0 technical-fall rout of FHS’ Cash Garrett. Belt, meanwhile, ended up 3-1 at 175 but overcame being pinned early in the Classic by FHS’ Tristan Burns to later pin Pagosa Springs’ Ryker Hanson in 1:49 and ultimately defeat Kirtland Central’s Todd Robinson by 17-5 major decision.
DHS’ Isiah Aguilar took second at 126 pounds.
Living up to expectations elevated for them this winter, Ignacio seniors Aven Bourriague (120), Zane Pontine (157) and Lincoln deKay (165) each earned a Classic title as the Bobcats piled up 80 points and placed sixth.
Bourriague went 5-for-5 on the day with three pins and didn’t allow a point to be scored against him until Monticello, Utah’s Diego Cortez did so in Bourriague’s fourth bout. Bourriague, however, proceeded to defeat Cortez by a 16-1 technical fall and advanced to beat Center’s Michael Archuleta 6-1 for first place.
Pontine got underway building up a 12-3 lead on Pagosa Springs’ Trevor Faber, then pinning the Pirate 1:58 into the opening two-minute period to book his 100th varsity victory. He then pinned CHS’ Jonas Valadez in 1:01 for No. 101, notched an 18-2 tech over Montezuma-Cortez’s Orion Martineau, and defeated Durango’s Mikael Hofman 18-1. Pit against BHS’ Coan Naranjo in the weight’s finale, Pontine completed his mission by building up a 7-0 lead and then pinning Naranjo 1:03 into the second period.
deKay then stepped onto the center mat and completed a 4-0 run through his division by pinning BHS’ Jack Waters 19 ticks into the second period. None of deKay’s opponents managed to score against him; Farmington, New Mexico’s Aiden Lee fell behind 3-0 before being pinned 1:11 into the first period, PSHS’ Devin Gonzalez went down 7-0 before deKay made the stick just 48 seconds in, and Center’s Derriq Thompson lost via 15-0 tech in an elapsed 2:55.
Though denied an individual champ on the boys’ side of things at the tournament, fourth-place Bayfield still boasted three runners-up in Naranjo (4-1, two techs and two pins at 157), Daemon Christner (3-2, three pins at 150) and Connor Martindale (4-1, two techs, a major and a 17-second pin at 132).
Martindale’s day ended with a 16-10 loss to Gunnison’s Julian Patrick; Christner couldn’t build upon a 3-0 lead against Olathe’s Noah Gray and was pinned 34 ticks into the second period, while Waters (3-2, one tech and one pin) ended up third at 165. Wolverine Max Johnston was the JV champ at 132 pounds.
LEADING LADIES: In girls action at the Classic, BHS’ top finishers were Ashlynn Bravo and Violet Christner, who placed third at 140, and 105 pounds respectively as the Wolverines tallied 32 points and ranked ninth overall.
Ignacio’s Larissa Espinosa went 2-0 at 235 pounds and placed first, helping the Lady ’Cats collect a fourth-place 138 points. Olathe racked up a winning 187, besting Montezuma-Cortez’s 163 and Pagosa Springs’ 149.
Espinosa didn’t have to do too much; after building up a 3-0 lead on KCHS’ Shayla Esplain, she secured a pin at 1:57 of the first period, and then won the first-place bout by forfeit over Center’s Janayah Martinez.
IHS teammates Madison Egger (100), Amira Montoya (120), Lainee Bradley (125), Kodi Mae Rima (130) and Krysten Neil (140) all earned runner-up status and combined for a 16-5 tourney record.
