Dolores hosts annual Rockwell Memorial

Dolores hosts annual Rockwell Memorial

January 31, 2002

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Some of the best small schools around will have wrestling teams in Dolores on Saturday, Feb. 2, as the annual Terry Rockwelll Memorial is on tap in DHS Gym.

"It should be a good tournament," DHS head coach Bill Kralicek commented. "We will have most of the teams from our league plus some from New Mexico. I think Cortez is bringing over its junior varsity and I know Durango will have its junior varsity."

Joining the Bears will be fellow San Juan Basin League-mates Dolores County, Norwood, Nucla, and Mancos. The New Mexico teams coming include Shiprock, Bloomfield, Tohatchi, Navajo Prep, and Newcomb. Whitehorse, Utah, also will bring a team over.

The tournament will get under way at 9 a.m. with finals slated for late afternoon.

Upsets ruled the day at the Ignacio Tournament this past Saturday, Jan. 19, as several favored Mancos High School wrestlers lost. There were, of course, some steady performances as well.

Dolores had a good day despite the upsets. Tyler Hicks, 215, decisioned Brandon Alexander of Nucla 4-0 in the finals. Heavyweight senior Derek Thompson pinned Fred Spor of Norwood in 4 minutes, 52 seconds, in the finals. Thompson now has won 48 matches in a row dating back to his last loss when he was a sophomore.

Casey Garvin, 171, came in third place after he defeated Dusty Schoop of Aztec, 14-8. Shawn Everett, 145, placed fourth after losing to a hard-fought 2-4 decision to Zane Wilson of Norwood. Colter Dunagan, 189, went 2-2 but did not place. Brian Swigart, 125, finished 1-2 and also did not place.

Of big note, Mancos’ 140-pounder senior Scott Koppenhafer was decisioned by a Farmington High School opponent (Kyle Watson) 4-6 in the finals.

Vince Bazile took third place at 103. Cody Montoya, 135, came in second, losing 2-9 to a Pagosa Springs wrestlers in the finals. Victor Rosales placed fourth for the Blue Jays at 160.

Ignacio High School earned three championships at its own wrestling invitational to place third. Earlier it was thought that Ignacio had finished in a tie for second place with Pagosa Springs at 120 points but a recount showed Pagosa finished with 121. Farmington won the day-long event among 10 teams with 193.5 points. Ignacio and Pagosa Springs were announced as tying for second place with 120. Bayfield was next with 103 points, followed by Bloomfield (81), Norwood (80), Mancos (67), Dolores (64.5), Dolores County (53) and Aztec JVs (12).

"It was just one of those tournaments," MHS head coach Travis Bryant reported. "All day long there were a lot of upsets. We didn’t wrestle well as a team but some individuals did well."

Bryant said the Rockwell always is a very good tournament.

"This is the time for the kids to really step it up. This is the last regular-season tournament of the season this year. We have the (San Juan Basin) League Duals next and then Regionals and State," he added.

Bayfield’s Ethan Morrison, at 160 pounds, earned Bayfield’s lone championship with a stunning pin at the finish against Bloomfield’s Matthew Boswell, a two-time state champ from New Mexico. Ignacio’s Rockey Cudiff, 119, scored an upset over Farmington’s Andrew Nash in overtime. Another upset came when Ignacio’s Jarad Lyons scored a decision over Farmington’s Josh Lackey, a state runner-up a year ago.

Of note, Dolores County’s senior Kyle Riddell (103) and senior Casey Spitzer (125) both were upset. Both of them finished a disappointing third. Riddell is a defending state champ and Spitzer is a 2A State Tournament runner-up.

Matt Beanland, at 119, also came in third for DCHS. Dove Creek head coach Shane Baughman said Beanland wrestled the best. "He really did a good job. He was in a tough weight class," he added.

Kyle Krafka went 0-2 at 171, but first-year senior wrestlers Bru Meyer and James Smith went 1-2 each which had Baughman pleased.

"As a team we really didn’t wrestle well at all. We had a lot of sickness and kids out for other reasons. Hopefully we will wrestle better this week at the Rockwell. We have a lot sickness going around the school and we will just see how it plays out," he remarked.