Girls wrestling teams from Durango, Ignacio and Bayfield all competed at Farmington High School on Saturday. Four La Plata County grapplers returned from the tournament with gold medals.
Brooke Fenberg, Amiah Hanson and Shaylynn Connell all placed first for Durango while Faye Hackett reached the top of the podium for Ignacio.
“They do a really good job making sure they feel safe taking risks, and they all did a great job leaving it all on the mat and not holding anything back,” said DHS head coach Kyle Hanson.
Fenberg pinned all five of her opponents at 120 pounds to finish first.
Amiah Hanson also pinned everyone she faced at 138 to take the crown with a 3-0 outing.
Connell, who is one of five freshmen on DHS’ roster, went 4-0 to claim the 235-pound title. Connell pinned three girls and won her fourth match by an injury default.
Hackett also went 4-0 at 132 pounds to place first for Ignacio. Hackett pinned all four girls she faced.
Hana Maletich, the lone Demon to place at the Pueblo Central Invite on Friday, finished 3-1 at 110 pounds with three pins. On Saturday, she wrestled at 114 pounds since the weight classes are different in New Mexico. Maletich pinned four more opponents and finished second after a narrow 2-0 loss to Katrina Henry of Farmington. Sadie Hanson placed fifth at 114 after pinning a girl from Aztec. Teresa Benac and Quincy Ellis also wrestled at 120 for DHS. Benac finished fifth and Ellis sixth.
“They did an amazing job muscling through the travel and still showed up in a way that left us feeling that we can compete with anybody,” coach Hanson said.
Madison Egger went 1-1 at 100 pounds for Ignacio to place second at FHS.
Audrey Roderick picked up a 17-8 major decision at 126 to finish fifth. Kacey Brown went 2-2 at 132 to place third. Marlene Martinez-Perez won one match by disqualification at 138 and finished sixth.
Grace Patton represented Bayfield and finished third at 185 pounds. Patton pinned three of her opponents and was pinned once to earn bronze.
Durango, Ignacio and Bayfield will return to New Mexico on Saturday to compete in Bloomfield’s tournament.
