Bayfield High School flexed Four Corners dominance over fellow La Plata County teams on Saturday at the Dove Creek Dawg Fight as the Wolverines won the team title with 162.5 points and had winners in four weight classes. BHS won by 20 points, as Ignacio finished in second overall with 132.5 points while Durango High School was third with 106.0.
Bayfield head coach Todd McMenimen thought his team showed a lot of heart on the mat all day.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with our effort and the amount of fight we showed today,” McMenimen said. “We really battled tough all day long against great competition. We’ve gone over new techniques in limited practices and they were able to execute them very well today. It was a strong day across the board from our lowerweights to our upperweights and I think this is a huge step for us.”
The Wolverines four winners included freshman Simon Schneider at 113 pounds, after he pinned Isaac Welker of Ignacio in 40 seconds, while Shane Moore (170) also won with a 15-2 major decision in his final match of the day. Dylan Pickering won his weight class (132) by pinning his opponent, DHS’s Jacob Rowe, in just 12 seconds.
However, the best performance of the day came from the two heavyweights, Daniel Westbrook defeated John Foutz 7-3 to win the 220 weight class.
“Daniel was outstanding at 220 and same with John and I could really go on and on about those two,” McMenimen said. “I honestly believe we’ve got two of the best 220s in the state right now, our upperweights are going to be so tough, it’ll be incredible. Based on the way those two push each other and whomever goes down to 195, there’s no reason why both of those guys can’t be at the top of the podium at the Pepsi Center at the end of the season.”
If the Wolverines didn’t win a weight class, they ended up on the podium, as seven wrestlers placed for BHS.
“This gives us huge momentum going forward,” McMenimen said. “We’re going to take this week, rest a bit, really work on our technique and then gear up for the Piedra Vista tournament. Today was a really great day of wrestling.”
While Bayfield won the title, Durango’s wrestlers also fared well, as they took third as a team. Head coach Leo Garand brought eight wrestlers and all eight placed.
“(I’m) extremely proud of the way we wrestled and thought we were aggressive and sound in our technique,” Garand said. “Fundamentally, they were right on and it was a huge contributor to our success.”
The Demons had three winners on the mat on Saturday and had four second-place finishers, while Samantha Vazquez took fifth at 152 pounds, and pinned Bayfield’s Carter Baier.
Durango’s winners were freshmen Jacob Fenberg (106), Tyler Woodworth (152) and junior Austin Albrecht (182), who won all four of his matches by pins.
“I thought Austin had a fantastic tournament and just went out there and pinned everyone today,” Garand said. “He had a complete performance in every one of his battles today. It was great to see from a kid as hard-working as him and for me anyway, he was our MVP on the day.”
The Ignacio Bobcats took second on Saturday at Dove Creek and had another banner day. IHS was on top of the podium six times, had one runner-up and had three third-place finishers on Saturday.
Ignacio got wins from Hunter Robbins (126), Skieler Grooms (138), Tyler Barnes (145), Dustin Sanchez (160), Cesar Pedregon (195) and Randy Herrera (285).
“(It was an) outstanding effort and energy from the Bobcat grapplers, representing their community, families, school, and themselves with class and integrity,” said IHS coach Jordan Larsen. “I am extremely proud of this group of boys from new to experienced, as is the coaching staff as a whole.”
Ignacio will head to Del Norte for a tri dual against the Tigers and Dolores at 5 p.m. Thursday at Del Norte.
bploen@durangoherald.com
