Wrestlers from La Plata County headed all over the state Friday and Saturday to compete in regional championships, where they tried to qualify for the upcoming state tournament with top-four finishes.

A dozen wrestlers from the county managed to qualify for the state tournament, led by four Bayfield Wolverines. At least one wrestler from all six of the county’s team managed to punch their ticket, as four girls also qualified this year.

Competing at the 3A Region 2 championship in Glenwood Springs, the Bayfield Wolverines finished seventh out of 14 teams with 113.5 points. Alamosa had nine state qualifiers and two regional champs to win the tournament with 204 points, followed by Moffat County (199), Gunnison (161.5), Pagosa Springs (145), La Junta (142), Delta (120) and the Wolverines.

Three Wolverines reached the championship bout and finished in second to qualify.

At 138 pounds, Zayden Cundiff pinned his first opponent, then won his quarterfinal by 13-5 major decision. Cundiff wrestled Sage Rockcastle of Alamosa in the semis and scored a 6-2 decision to reach the finals. Cundiff lost to Miles Harris of Gunnison by fall in the finals, but had already qualified.

At 165, Deegan Barnes pinned opponents from Basalt, Grand Valley and Rifle to reach the finals. He lost 11-2 to Michael Voloshin of Moffat County in the championship to place second.

Jordan Cundiff also reached the 285-pound finals with pins over Coal Ridge and Basalt wrestlers. His championship bout against Eric Peteque of La Junta was close, but Cundiff finished just short, 3-1.

Keaton Pickering, meanwhile, placed third at 120 ponds to also qualify for state. Pickering won his first two matches 21-6 and 16-1. In the semis, he lost a close match, 3-2, against the eventual champion, Dempsey Gibbs of Alamosa.

Pickering, however, came back strong and pinned Kyle Caffin of Delta in his next match, then finished third by scoring an 18-1 technical fall against Talon Kibler of Gunnison.

Also wrestling for the Bayfield boys, Hunter Mars went 0-2 at 106, losing his second match 9-7 in sudden victory. Payton Montgomery went 1-2 at 113, Logan Valencia went 2-2 at 126, Cael Blount went 0-2 at 132, Jason Michaeli went 2-2 at 144, Donovan Candelaria went 2-2 at 150 and Caelan Ramos went 1-2 at 157.

At the 2A Region 2 championships in Hayden, two Ignacio Bobcats qualified for state and two others placed fifth to just miss the cut.

Aven Bourriague had the team’s best finish, placing third at 106. Bourriague beat Jackson Dinsmore of Norwood, 8-2, in the third-place match.

Lincoln deKay also qualified for state with a fourth-place finish at 138. He won his first match by a 10-1 major decision, but was pinned in the semis. DeKay, however, came back and beat Aiden George of Soroco, 11-4, to reach the third-place bout. DeKay lost 8-2 to take fourth, but George placed fifth, so he didn’t have to wrestle a true-fourth match.

Keaton McCoy wrestled in a true-fourth match at 144. McCoy won a 7-4 decision and pinned two opponents. He then wrestled Jacob Martin of Mancos for fourth, but was pinned in the second period.

Zane Pontine also placed fifth at 132, pinning Aiden Karashinski of Platte Canyon in his final match. His opponent who beat him 6-3 in the consolation semis, Owen Miller of Hayden, however, placed fourth so Pontine didn’t earn a wrestleback.

Also wrestling for Ignacio, Asher Gallegos finished sixth at 150, Joshua Kerrigan went 0-2 at 113, Dillon Brann went 0-2 at 120 and John Nossaman went 1-2 at 157.

In the team race, Ignacio finished 10th out of 16 teams with 60 points. North Fork won the region with 253 points and had 12 state qualifiers. Meeker finished second with 249.5, and Mancos placed third with 186.5 and eight state qualifiers. Mancos earned titles from Isaiah Martinez at 120, Levi Martin at 132, Brandon Vannest at 138 and Cole Dainty-Guifoyle at 175, while Jacob Martin (fourth, 144), Ayden Matthews (second, 165) and Colten Vannest (fourth, 190) also qualified.

Two Durango Demon boys will also head to state.

Riley Belt lost his third-place match 3-0 at 132 pounds, then had to square off with Joaquin Gabriel Coca of Falcon with a spot at state on the line. Belt, however, didn’t waste any time and pinned Coca in 51 seconds to score fourth place.

Ryan Dugan also qualified with a third-place finish at 113 pounds. Dugan pinned three opponents while only losing once, 6-5 in the semis. The wrestler he pinned in the third-place match, Cade Liniger of Roosevelt, will be his first-round opponent at the 4A championships Thursday.

Three other Demons placed fifth, but lost to the fourth-place finisher earlier in the tournament so they didn’t get a chance to wrestleback. Wyatt Bartel (138), Braxton Waddell (175) and Miguel Stubbs (190) all finished fifth for the Demons. Izik Garrett (120) Dillon Harris (126) and Brett Franklin (285) all won one match but didn’t place. Jacob Belt went 0-2 at 144.

La Plata County will be represented well in the girls’ state wrestling championships. Wrestlers from Durango, Ignacio and Bayfield all competed at the Region 4 championships at Battle Mountain, and two Bobcats, one Wolverine and one Demon qualified for state.

Faye Hackett of Ignacio will return to state. Hackett pinned her opponent from Battle Mountain and Kori Jenkins of Bayfield to reach the finals, but finished second after a pin by Mollie Dare of Grand Junction Central in the finals.

Teammate Larissa Espinosa will also head to state after finishing third at 190. Espinosa went 3-1 at the tournament, pinning Abby Stearns of Loveland in her third-place match in only 47 seconds.

Marlene Martinez-Perez also wrestled for Ignacio at 135, but went 0-2, losing her final match 16-13.

Gracie Patton of Bayfield qualified for state after placing second at 190. Patton pinned her first opponent then won a 9-7 decision against Teresa Galvan of Olathe in the semis. Patton was pinned in the finals by Laylah Casto of Grand Junction Central to place second.

Kori Jenkins finished sixth at 130 for BHS, getting a pin and a major decision. Bailey Blouin also won two matches for BHS at 120, but didn’t place.

Hana Maletich, meanwhile, will represent DHS at the state championships. Maletich placed fourth at 110, getting a pair of pins along the way.

Amiah Hanson just missed the cut at 125. Hanson beat Sophia Wachtman of Loveland 5-1 in the fifth-place match. Hanson then wrestled a true-fourth match against Rylie McCabe of Nucla, but lost a 1-0 decision to finish fifth.

Samantha Collins scored an 8-0 major decision to finish sixth at 170 while Teresa Benac (120) and Quincy Ellis (130) both finished 0-2.

The state championships will take place Thursday through Saturday at Ball Arena in Denver.