IHS 0-2 in tourney’s duals, 0-3 for night
Pandemics can apparently make for some strange mat-fellows.
And at the rotating La Plata County bragging-rights triangular known as the 2021 Riverside Rumble, Ignacio High’s wrestlers found themselves hosting not only 4A Durango and 3A Bayfield as automatic opponents, but also 3A Montezuma-Cortez (co-op’ing this winter with 2A San Juan Basin Leaguers Dolores) inside IHS’ auxiliary gymnasium Thursday, Feb. 18.
With both numbers and experience not exactly favoring them, the Bobcats still managed to log a handful of individual victories; team scores, however, showed the ’Cats falling 66-6 to Durango – the spectacle’s defending champs – and later 42-16 to BHS. In between those duals, Ignacio faced M-CHS/DHS and went down 42-6.
One of two ladies comprising IHS’ first-ever girls’ ‘team,’ Faye Hackett’s second-period pin of a Dolores competitor at 120 pounds would – if counted, on top of Cayle McCoy’s forfeit win at 106 – shrink said spread to 42-12. Hackett would also pin teammate Lexy Young in an exhibition included during Ignacio-v-Bayfield.
Junior heavyweight Jeremy Roderick booked Ignacio’s lone win versus DHS – a pin 0:32 into the second against Brett Franklin – but would then lose by pin (0:43 into the second) to Dolores’ Joe Summers. Pinned 35 ticks into the second at 220 by Durango’s Miguel Stubbs, but without a Panther/Bear foe in the second dual, Bobcat Kyle Rima would then notch a win (apparently in Roderick’s place) against Bayfield – pinning heavyweight Jordan Sands 1:06 into the first period.
The Bobcats also tasted triumph versus the Wolverines at 113 pounds, where Devante Montoya built up a large lead on Avery Mitzlaff and then polished him off via pin 51 ticks into the second period, following a three-point near-fall. Three takedowns of Morgan Hastings propelled Keaton McCoy to a 13-1 major decision at 138 pounds – leaving the sophomore 1-2 at the event, with earlier losses to Durango’s Payson Albrecht (at 145) and M-CHS’ Austin Featherman (at 138) both coming via third-period pins.
Challenging Demon Ben Belt, Panther Wes Atcitty and Wolverine Deegan Barnes, Bobcat Wrestling newcomer John Riepel went 0-3 across the board at 152, while fellow varsity rookie Kaleb Welker went 0-3 in two first-period defeats at 170 and one at 182. Each pinned twice, Cayle McCoy and Devante Montoya both finished the evening 1-2 overall.
Aided by 24 forfeit points in the upper weights following 160-pounder Tyler Woodworth’s rally-starting 4-0 decision over Kobe Prior, and 120-pounder Kealan Clifton’s pin of Jonathan Chapman in the tournament’s final bout, Durango managed to erase a 27-0 deficit, deadlock the dual at 39-39, and ultimately repeat – by way of fewer forfeits conceded – as Rumble rulers.
The Demons completed a 3-0 ‘southwest sweep’ of sorts by also downing Montezuma-Cortez/Dolores 42-33.
GOOD PREPARATION
Made about as ready for the Rumble as could be, the Bobcats had previously seen action Saturday, Feb. 13, at a tri held at M-CHS. Defeated 27-24 later in the day by fellow SJBL’ers Dove Creek, IHS grappled first with the meet-hosting Panthers/Bears bunch – which started things off doubling up DCHS, 36-18 – to a 30-30 draw, in which Roderick pinned Summers and Keaton McCoy stuck Atcitty.
The night before, Ignacio had traveled east to Del Norte for a ‘triangular’ contested more in round-robin fashion. What with low personnel numbers this winter resulting in DNHS joining forces with Monte Vista, and Center with Blanca-based Sierra Grande (who’d already previously merged with San Luis Centennial), the entire meet consisted of 13 bouts.
With Roderick’s booming takedown slam of Center’s Chase Padilla – probably the night’s most energizing maneuver – leading to a second pin of as many C-SG heavies, and Keaton McCoy pinning MVHS’ Khegan Gunter at 145, the ’Cats claimed three of the nine bouts in which they participated.