BY JIM THOMAS

The regular season for prep wrestling is beginning to wind down. There is only two more weeks in the season before Regionals and State.

The Panthers are on the road this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29, for Southwest League dual matches. They visit Montrose beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday. They take on Grand Junction High at 9 a.m. Saturday.

"These league matches are very important," MCHS head coach Mike Allison remarked. "Montrose, after seeing them at Rifle, has another good team. Grand Junction also will be tough as well. We then come back home for three matches next week. Now is the time to spit and polish and start doing a lot of individualized coaching."

Allison did say there will be some wrestle-offs for two weight spots at 135 and 140. Nic Martinez, 135, is out for at least a few more weeks with an illness. Hopefully, he will be able to return for Regionals, Allison added.

The Blue Jays host the San Juan League Duals beginning at 5 p.m. today, Jan. 27, in the Mancos Performance Center. Two top Class 2A teams — no. 2 ranked Nucla and no. 4 rated Dolores County — are the favorites. Dolores also will be at the meet. The tournament will go along ways toward seeding for Regionals because of the head-to-head criteria. The Jays compete all day at the Ignacio Tournament this Saturday. The Bears and the Bulldogs are idle this Friday and Saturday.

"I think the duals will be real interesting," DCHS head coach Shane Baughman said. "With the exception of Nucla, which will have 12 weights filled, the rest of us will take about the same number of kids. We will probably have eight weights filled."

Dolores head coach Bill Kralicek said the league title will likely go to the team which wrestles the best and has the most weights filled. "Mancos and Nucla have the most wrestlers. We will take eight. That means we would have to win all our matches by pins because in a dual that is an awful lot of points to give up. But we expect to do well and if we win most of our matches, then I will say we did well."

The Blue Jays were idle last weekend, Jan. 21-22. The Bulldogs and the Bears compete at Grand County Invitational in Moab, Utah.

Dolores County wrestlers did well despite being a little short-handed because of illness and injuries, according to Baughman. "But the wrestlers we took up there did a real good job."

Kyle Riddell continues to be impressive at 103 pounds. He won the title by beating a Monticello, Utah, opponent in overtime. Nick Montgomery, 112, wrestled well and won his weight. Jade Huskey, 135, won by beating a tough grappler from Carbon, Utah. Casey Spitzer, 119, came in third place. Randy Curtis, 125, finished 1-2. Curtis was leading an opponent 15-0 but got pinned.

Dolores had some placers as well. Shawn Everett, 125, took fourth place. Derek Thompson, 215, also came in fourth. Justin Peters, 152, captured first place. Peters, a two-time State champion, was chosen outstanding wrestler for the upper weights at the tournament.

"Right now I wish we would make less mistakes than we are making," Kralicek commented. "Some days we come out and have good days and other days we don’t do so good. We are not reacting to certain situations the way I think we should."

Montezuma-Cortez High School captured sixth place at the rugged Rifle Tournament this past weekend, Jan. 21-22. Moffat County took first with 183.5 points. Grand Junction Central came in second at 144.5, followed by Pueblo Centennial 142.5, Montrose 110, Rifle 105, Cortez 99.5, Fort Lupton 80, Delta 71, Steamboat Springs 16, and Summit 2.

The Panthers picked up a first, two seconds, and two thirds. Cole Allison won his weight at 160; Tyler Gray took second at 119; Joey Wynes second at 152; Jared Carver third 130; and Dan O’Neal third at 171. Allison, who had no problem with any of his opponents, was chosen the outstanding wrestler for the upper weights for the tourney.

"For the most part, I thought we wrestled well," Allison reported. "A couple of kids had some problems and hurt us team-wise. Travis Spruell, 125, should have placed. Shawn Randolph, 189, also should have been in. Evan Frost, 215, also just missed. Judd Yench, heavyweight, could have placed easily but didn’t. I thought we wrestled well in spots at the same time I thought our selection of technique was very poor. Overall, it was still a pretty good effort."