By Mike Weaver

Solid wrestling and numerous forfeiture points were just the ticket for the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity wrestling team Thursday, Dec. 9, in Ron Wright Memorial Gymnasium.

A final score of 64-6 might indicate that the Panthers were a dominating force on the mat in a dual meet with Bayfield, and they were. Cortez enjoyed a 30-point lead at the start thanks to five forfeitures. But it probably could have done just as well without the easy points. Of the eight remaining matches, the Panthers took six, five by pins and while the sixth came on a major decision.

Panther coach Mike Allison was pleased with a squad of grapplers which is already showing a degree of maturity in the early going.

"I think the books kind of show that we really wrestled tough," Allison said. "I grant you that we only had eight matches, and lost two of those, but they were close ones. Our kids are solid, they’re solid."

Jared Sanders’ 103 pound match against Bayfield’s Dan Edwards was a case in point. Sanders had his way throughout six minutes on the mat beginning with a 5-0 lead after one period. He stacked more points on in the second after scoring on a near fall, an escape and a reversal. In the final two minutes, he held off his opponent to preserve a 11-0 lead and a major decision.

The trend was continued in the 112 pound match which pitted Cortez’ Tyler Gray against Brian Scholz of Bayfield. After giving up a couple of points on a takedown, Gray took over and scored on a reversal and takedown, and led 4-2 after two minutes. He took advantage of the upper position to begin the second period and tallied two near falls while Scholz was only able to score on a couple of escapes. Gray finished with a flourish with a pin at the 5:33 mark.

Panther Jared Carver was not to be outdone in his 130 pound bout with Leonard Lucero of Bayfield. A takedown and a near fall gave Carver a 5-0 lead after a period, and he notched a pin less than a minute into the second period.

Nick Martinez of Cortez had a tougher time, though, dropping a 9-3 decision to Wolverine Zac Van Abbema in the 135 bracket. In the first period, both wrestlers went at each other with aggression, and Van Abbema took a 2-0 lead with a takedown. The margin remained after four minutes after they traded takedowns and escapes. Martinez trailed 5-3. At the beginning of the final period, Martinez gave up a takedown, but put a point up with an escape. Van Abbema took the match away with a reversal.

Three first-period pins decided matches in favor of the Panthers in the 140, 152 and 160 pound classes.

A.J. Hermann took just one minute to get Milo Hampstedt’s shoulders on the mat in 140 pound action. Joey Wynes, a 152 pounder, was half a minute slower in his tête-à-tête with Bayfield’s John Williams. And in the 160 pound match up which pitted Panther Cole Allison against Ethan Morrison, Allison racked up a pin in 1:39.

Josh Knapp of Cortez came up short in his high-scoring 171 match up against Bayfield’s Kevin Black. After a trade off of takedowns and escapes in the first period, the score was knotted at 3. Knapp scored a takedown to begin the second period, but fell behind after Black scored a technical point and an escape and went on to notch two takedowns and a near fall. In the final two minutes, Knapp came on strong, out scoring Black 6-4, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his deficit. The final buzzer sounded on a 16-11 loss for Knapp.