La Plata County had strong performances the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Saturday in Pagosa Springs, as Bayfield, Durango and Ignacio each earned placers in a loaded field.
Hosts Pagosa Springs beat Aztec for the title, as the Pirates scored 244 points, and Aztec had 231.5. Centauri was third with 200m Bloomfield was fourth with 143 and Bayfield rounded out the top five with 122.5 points and a fifth-place finish. Durango took ninth with 93 points and Ignacio was 12th with 53.
Bayfield had nine wrestlers get on the podium, but none were able to bring home titles, and the highest individual finish came from Kobe Prior at 160 pounds with a second-place finish. Avery Mitzlaff finished in eighth at 113 pounds, after he was pinned by Brandon Mascarenas of Pueblo Central in 1 minute, 18 seconds in the seventh-place match. Deegan Barnes also took eighth at 145 after he lost a 5-1 decision to Breecen Moreli of Mancos. Trey McKee finished in sixth at 152 after he had to forfeit his fifth-place match to Erik Mestas of Centauri. Derrian Jarramillo came up short at 120 pounds, and was pinned by Jordan Atencio of Pueblo Central in 1:48 to take fourth.
Four Wolverines were able to win their respective third-place matches on Saturday. At 138s, Dylan Pickering recorded a 9-1 major decision win over Ty Everett of Mancos to improve to 17-5 on the year. Shane Moore took home the bronze at 170, after he beat Dusty Duran of Monte Vista in a 6-2 decision. Paden Williamson pinned Joseph Morreno of Centauri one minute into the second period in the 195-pound weight class. Finally, at 220s, John Foutz lost his semifinal matchup to Caleb Varzeas of Aztec in a narrow 7-5 decision, but rebounded in the third-place match against Dillon Slack of Monticello, Utah, and earned a pin nine seconds into the second period.
In Prior’s final at 160, the sophomore dropped a 6-2 decision to Aztec’s Malcolm Altisi.
The Wolverines will travel to Montezuma-Cortez at 6 p.m. Tuesday for an Intermountain League dual.
The Durango High School wrestling team also had a number of strong finishes in Pagosa, as seven Demons picked up a podium spot, and senior captain Austin Albrecht won at 182.
In the championship match, Albrecht pinned AJ Garcia of Bloomfield with 33 seconds remaining in the second period. It was Albrecht’s second tournament championship of the season.
The Demons had two wrestlers take third in their respective brackets, as freshman Beau Brunson earned bronze at 106 pounds, as did Tyler Woodwoorth at 152. Brunson his bronze-medal match against Dominic Lopez of Monte Vista in a 4-2 decision, while Woodworth pinned Colt Fury of Mancos five seconds into the second period.
Also at 106 pounds, sophomore Jacob Fenberg lost his seventh-place match to Josh Wheeler of Monticello in a 5-0 decision to take eighth. Payson Albrecht took seventh at 138 after he pinned Eliam Sanchez of Taos 1:33 into the second period. Ben Belt finished in sixth after he was pinned by Zach Buhr of Centauri in the first period of the fifth-place match at 160. Caleb Brown lost his 170-pound fifth-place match to Tay Barker of Pagosa Springs after he was pinned early in the second period.
The Demons will travel to Farmington for the Rockwell Rumble on Friday.
Randy Herrera took home silver on Saturday at 285 pounds, and was the highest finisher for the Ignacio High School wrestling team. After earning two byes to advance to the semifinals, he picked up a pin in his semifinal match to advance to the championship match. In his match, he was pinned by Remi Lucero in the first period.
Keaton McCoy pinned David Thomas of Pagosa Springs to take seventh at 126, while Dante Sandman also took seventh at 132 and pinned Jaquin Ianer of Cortez in the first period. Tyler Barnes lost his seventh-place match at 152 to Ethan Root of Cortez in a 7-5 decision.
The Bobcats will travel to Florence for the Mel Smith Invitational on Saturday.
bploen@durangoherald.com
