If one has to lose a wrestling bout, one may as well do so against a competitor whose level one aspires to reach. That was the case Saturday, Jan. 6, for Ignacio’s Aven Bourriague.
Dealt just his second defeat this winter at Pagosa Springs’ 2024 Rocky Mountain Invitational, the sophomore 106-pounder lost only to Bloomfield, N.M., junior Gunner Samora – last season’s New Mexico Activities Association Class 4A State Champion at 107 – in the semifinals, but lasted the full six minutes before dropping a 13-5 major decision.
Otherwise, Bourriague (18-2 overall) was title-caliber; three of his four wins at the meet came via pin, and he concluded the event beating Center freshman Michael Archuleta – ranked No. 2 at the weight in On The Mat’s updated Class 2A rankings going in – by a 6-2 margin in the third-place clash.
And with senior Kyle Rima finishing second at heavyweight, and sophomore Lincoln deKay doing likewise at 150 pounds, head coach Jordan Larsen’s gents amassed 99 points and placed ninth overall. Bringing the RMI championship back to La Jara, 3A Centauri piled up a winning 203 points in defeating 3A PSHS (174) and third-place Center (162). Bloomfield finished one point behind Archuleta and the Vikings, and 2A Rocky Ford (154) placed fifth.
Also finishing ahead of IHS, 4A Durango and 1A Monticello, Utah, tied for seventh with 114 points each.
Rima (12-3) went 2-1 on the day, losing 2-1 in the finals to Pagosa Springs junior Antonio Quesada. Rima’s semifinal win, however, over RFHS sophomore Omar Ocana was impressive; Rima pinned the Meloneer 1:22 into the third and last two-minute period, and Ocana then fought back to save third place with back-to-back pins – improving his season record to 21-4 already.
deKay (17-1) went 3-1 with a pin, a major decision, and a conventional decision, but then lost – for the first time in the 2023-24 season – in the finals to 2A Monte Vista junior Kevin Cisneros, 5 to 1.
Ignacio sophomore Zane Pontine (15-5) placed fourth at 144 pounds, going 3-2 on the day. His only losses came against Center junior Aaron Valadez (by a 7-3 decision) in the semis, then to Viking junior Andre Meraz (by an 11-2 major) in the third-place bout – after Pontine had stayed alive in the consolation round with a third-period pin of Bloomfield junior Eli Snell-Martinez.
165-pounder Kendrick Nossaman (12-9) went 3-2 and placed seventh by pinning PSHS senior Derek Carter 49 ticks into the second period. It was the junior’s third stick of the tourney, alternating with a 7-0 loss to MVHS junior Jacob Pacheco and a first-period pin loss to 2A Nucla junior David Quigley.
Sophomore Joshua Kerrigan also went 3-2 and saved seventh place, his own see-saw tournament at 120 pounds also fortunately ending on the up – in the form of a 7-4 win over Dolores’ Kenji Edwards. At 126, freshman Judah Ashley went 0-2 while sophomore Dillon Brann did likewise at 132 and freshman Brandon Blevins at 157.
Up next, IHS will travel to Kirtland, N.M., on Saturday, January 13, for Kirtland Central’s 2024 Bronco Invite/Duals.
GREAT WAY TO GET UNDERWAY
Competing in Dolores Friday evening, Jan. 5, the Bobcat boys resumed post-holiday action at a quadrangular hosted by the 2A San Juan Basin League rival Bears and went 2-1 at the dual style gathering.
Ignacio lost 24-20 to Monticello but then defeated 3A Montezuma-Cortez 19-15 and DHS 24-6, according to information supplied by Ben Bradley of The Cortez Journal.
Rima and Pontine each notched pins against MHS, and Bourriague did so against M-CHS. He then recorded another against Dolores, as did Kerrigan, Pontine and Blevins. Sophomore Nathan Hill’s pin at 132 earned the Bears their only points.