BY JIM THOMAS

They now can add winning one of the top prep wrestling tournaments along the Front Range to their team resume. The Panthers, who are coming off a first-place performance at Florence only a week ago, now can claim the title of Mullen Tournament.

Montezuma-Cortez High School’s varsity wrestling team, which also won the Monument Valley Tournament earlier in the season, will turn their immediate attention to Ignacio for a nonconference dual match beginning at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, in Ron Wright Memorial Gym. There are only a few junior varsity matches slated so the varsity wrestlers will take to the mat immediately following. The varsity was originally scheduled to take the mat at about 7 p.m. but it will probably be much earlier.

The Panthers then open Southwest League dual match action, which has an immediate impact on seeding for Regionals, by hosting rival Durango beginning with junior varsity matches at 6 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 Thursday, Jan. 19, also in the Panther’s den. The Panthers then travel to the Rifle Tournament all day on Saturday, Jan. 22.

Cortez easily won the Mullen Tournament with 293.5 points. Kennedy came in second with 261.5, ThunderRidge placed third at 247.5. Mullen finished fourth at 223.5, Fort Morgan 203.5, Alameda 102, Monarch 98.5, Frederick 60, Faith Baptist 45, and Grandview 26.

"The kids are wrestling well right now as a team," MCHS head coach Mike Allison commented. "We knew coming into the tournament there was going to be five good teams."

The 10th ranked Panthers started out the first round winning 10 of 14 bouts. Second round wasn’t a very good round. The team wrestled better in the third round and the fourth round was "kind of interesting.

"The scores were changing as we were going through the finals. Dan O’Neal sealed the meet for us with his win at 171 pounds. Shawn Randolph, 189, put the nail in the coffin by taking a fall for third place," Allison remarked.

Travis Spruell, 125, and Jared Carver, 130, both captured second place. Spruell lost by fall and Carver was decisioned 3-9. No 2 rated Joey Wynes, 152, won 13-4 over an Alameda opponent while top-ranked Cole Allison, 160, won 15-0 over a Mullen grappler. O’Neal won by fall in 1:98 over a ThunderRidge opponent.

Richard Yake, 103, came in fourth place. Tyler Gray, 119, took third. Nic Martinez, 135, also grabbed third. The aforementioned Randolph placed third. Evan Frost, who has moved down in weight class, came in fourth at 215. Judd Yench, wrestling for the first time this season with the varsity, placed third at heavyweight.

"Yench did a good job in taking third. He lost to the defending state champion from Mullen. Yake, my little 103 pounder, is wrestling mighty fine. Spruell is coming along well (second last two tournaments). O’Neal is doing a great job at 171. I’m pleased,"he added.