Lady ’Cats top-ten at two prestigious events
Two Western Slope stops in as many weeks wrapped up the Ignacio girls’ 2025.
And will more than bode well for the ’26 half of their schedule – set to resume the weekend of Jan. 9-10.
Competing Dec. 12-13 in Montrose at the aptly-named Western Slop Challenge, the Lady Bobcats tallied 93 points and placed a solid seventh. Olathe won the meet with 152.5 points, and Farmington, N.M., settled for second with 133.5. Alamosa (112) came in third, with Meeker (105.5) and Aztec (101.5), N.M., filling out the 29-team standings’ top five.
For IHS, senior Larissa Espinosa continued grinding towards another CHSAA State Championships appearance and captured first place at 235 pounds by first pinning Blanding, Utah, San Juan’s Tyanna George in an elapsed 2:12 (after building up an 8-1 lead on the scoreboard), and then Strasburg senior Olivia LeFors in 1:08 (after going up 3-0). Coincidentally, Espinosa and LeFors had both qualified for last season’s Championships at 190 (LeFors went 0-2; Espinosa went 4-2 and placed fifth).
Losing only to Durango’s Aleia Fenberg (by 9-1 major decision) in the championship bout at 125 pounds, Lainee Bradley went 3-1 for the tournament and pinned two foes (Meeker’s Jenna Pelloni and Montezuma-Cortez’s Madisyn Schuster) in under two minutes each.
140-pounder Krysten Neil placed also placed second after being pinned with 36 ticks left in the first period by Strasburg’s Vivienne Gitke. But in finishing 3-1 herself, Neil notched three pins – one coming in the semifinals at the expense of Steamboat Springs’ Charley Konold, who found herself trailing 6-0 after one period and 9-1 before Neil made the stick 58 seconds into the second.
Madison Egger went 2-2 at 100 and finished fourth after losing 16-11 to OHS’ Khloe Gonzales, an unfortunate result after Egger had pulled out a come-from-behind victory over Colorado Springs Sand Creek’s Elice Torres-Cortez – who was leading 12-10 before Egger pinned her not quite 30 ticks into the third period – to remain vying for a top-three medal.
Pinned by Grand Junction Central’s Mary Warren early in the second period after losing a 9-4 advantage gained during the first, 120-pounder Amira Montoya then won her first two consolation-round bouts before Broomfield Holy Family’s Dalynn O’Blia eliminated her via second-period pin.
Kodi Mae Rima went 2-2 at 130, winning her opening bout against Hotchkiss North Fork’s Cheyenne DeHerrera by pin and her first consolation-rounder against Central’s Katherine Adams by forfeit, but did not place. Neither did Ireland Cates (0-2 at 140) nor Eliska Prokopova (2-2, two pins at 145).
At the next weekend’s Warrior Classic in Grand Junction, Ignacio racked up 109 points and placed an outstanding fifth overall out of 32 scoring teams. Meet-hosting Grand Junction Central amassed a winning 266.5 and easily outclassed Garland, Utah, Bear River (193.5) – the Beehive State’s reigning Class 4A team champ – and Cañon City (136). Aforementioned Farmington (122.5) came in fourth and Pagosa Springs (107) sixth.
Espinosa once again starred, going 2-1 and placing second after losing by second-period pin to Bloomfield, New Mexico’s Caylee Miller. Which couldn’t have been viewed as a letdown; now a sophomore, Miller went 39-1 overall last winter as a freshman and won the NMAA State Championships’ title at 235 by pinning her four opponents.
Bradley returned with another runner-up result, going 3-1 but again losing to Fenberg (via pin, in 5:52 elapsed) in the weight’s finale. Egger, however, improved upon her work in Montrose and ended up second at 100 in Grand Junction. After receiving a first-round bye, she pinned her first three opponents – each in less than 90 seconds – but then lost to Fort Lupton’s Yaida Rodriguez by 19-3 technical fall.
Prokopova pinned her first two foes at 145, but then lost via pin in the semifinals to Central’s Clara Denton-Baleztena. With third place still at stake, Florence’s Alyee Johnson then pinned Prokopova 31 ticks into the second period. Neil went a strong 4-1 at 140, and copped fifth place by winning her last three consolation-phase bouts after initially losing via pin to Durango’s Lillian Fenberg in the quarterfinals.
Montoya (0-2 at 120), Jada Davis (0-2 at 120) and Rima (0-2 at 130) did not place.
Looking ahead, IHS will resume competition on Friday, Jan. 9, at PSHS’ Rocky Mountain Invitational, square off against both Bayfield and Durango for La Plata County supremacy on Thursday, Jan. 15, at BHS, and then travel to the Aztec-hosted 1/16-17 Clash at the Coliseum, held east of neighboring Farmington, N.M. at McGee Park.