Mancos wrestlers could be ready to take Rockwell title

Mancos wrestlers could be ready to take Rockwell title

February 2, 2002

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

The Blue Jays should be ready to make a run at taking the title of the annual Terry Rockwell Memorial Wrestling Tournament today, Feb. 2, at Dolores High School Gym.

The matches will get under way at 9 a.m. with preliminary rounds and with semifinals and finals slated for late afternoon.

Some of the best small schools around will have wrestling teams will be in Dolores for this tournament, the last regular-season tourney — at least this season — for the area’s small schools. The Class 2A San Juan Duals will be held Feb. 9 in Norwood, followed by Regionals Feb. 16 at Palisade High School and State Tournament Feb. 21-23 in the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Joining the Bears will be fellow San Juan Basin League-mates Mancos, Dolores County, Norwood, and Nucla. The New Mexico teams coming include Shiprock, Bloomfield, Tohatchi, Navajo Prep, and Newcomb. Whitehorse, Utah, also will bring a team over. Nucla, which has been strong lately, should be a favorite to win the team title as well.

Many of the area teams have not competed since the upset-filled Ignacio Tournament on Jan. 19. However, the Blue Jays are coming off a tough dual at home this past Tuesday, Jan. 29, against Class 3A Bayfield. Although the Jays lost on the scorebord 40-33, MHS head coach Travis Bryant said he team came back strong and won most of the head-to-head matches.

"I was really pleased by the way the kids bounced back. They are making a good comeback. The match itself could have gone either way," he said.

Vince Bazile, at 103, was not feeling well but still made weight while his Bayfield opponent did not. Scott Yost, 112, is coming along well and stepped in to pin Quinn Overy of Bayfield in 1 minute, 49 seconds.

Mancos’ Brandon Baumgardner, stepping for sick Cody Montoya, pinned Chris Simmons in 50 seconds at 119. Jay’s Chase Davis won a 10-3 decision over Michael Kramer at 125.

At 130, Matt McQuire wrestled well by made a mistake right at end of the match and was pinned in 5:20. State runnerup Scott Koppenhafer, who was upset a week ago at 140, came back defeated a good Tim Carruthers 4-0. Kelly Mitchell dominated his match and won 10-6 over Bayfield’s Lon Morris.

Mancos’ Jakob Tallent, 152, lost 2-11 to Clint Wilson. David Malenski of Mancos was pinned in 2:49 by Clint Wilson in the 160-pound bout. Victor Rosales, 171, was pinned in 3:02 by Bayfield’s Jay Miller.

MHS lost 18 points to Bayfield when it forfeited at 189, 215, and heavyweight.

Some of the standout wrestlers slated to appear today include Dolores’ top-ranked and defending heavyweight champ Derek Thompson, Norwood heavyweight Fred Spor, 215-pounder Tyler Hicks of Dolores, 171-pounder Casey Garvin of Dolores, Dolores County 103-pound and state champ Kyle Riddell, 125 state runner-up Casey Spitzer plus 119-pounder Matt Beanland, 130-pounder Randy Curtis and 189 Bru Meyer.

There was a schedule change for the Dolores boys and girls basketball team because of the wrestling tournament. The Class 2A San Juan Basin League game against Nucla was played Friday night, Feb. 1, in Nucla instead of Dolores. The game set Feb. 22 will now be played in Dolores.

Montezuma-Cortez High School wrestlers competed in a Southwest League dual at league powerhouse Montrose Friday night, Feb. 1, and will wrestle this morning at Grand Junction High. The Panthers will return home to host Central of Grand Junction for a dual Feb. 8 and then host Fruita-Monument at noon Feb. 9.