Bears have a lot of heavier wrestlers this season

Bears have a lot of heavier wrestlers this season

Nov. 23, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

It should be an interesting 2000-01 season for the Dolores High School varsity wrestling program.

"Last year we were happy to finish second in our league and do well at State. We have some back with varsity wrestling experience and some others who have never wrestled at all," second-year head coach Bill Kralicek said. "We have a few more kids out this year but overall they have less experience. Right now we can’t fill every weight. While we may not be a good dual team (lack of filling out all the weights), but I’m hoping we will have a good tournament team."

The Bears will have two State qualifiers with one of those a placer, returning from last year’s Class 2A Wrestling Tournament in Denver. Derek Thompson, a junior, placed sixth at 215 pounds last year at State. He will likely wrestle at the heavyweight position (around 235) this season. He said he would like to see Thompson tip the scales at 250 by the end of the season.

"There is no doubt he is the star of the team. We are expecting good things from Derek. He’s a team leader and he will show the newcomers what he knows. He will be a tremendous help to me," Kralicek added.

Sophomore Shawn Everett qualified but did not place at 135 pounds last year at State. He will likely be at 140 or 145, depending on how things shake down.

And he received some more good news with the return of Kenny Velasquez to the lineup. Velasquez was a State placer as a freshman at 119. He should grapple at 145 or 140.

Tyler Hicks, a junior, is a transfer from Montezuma-Cortez High School. He should be at 215.

Soph Colter Dungan will probably wrestle at 189. Ray Breland is a freshman who will be at 150.

Junior Casey Garvin is an all-around athlete. He will likely be at 171.

"We should be pretty solid at the upper weights. We could get some State qualifiers in these weights," he remarked.

Freshman Mike Dennison will be at 135 or so. Freshman Chris Ramirez will be a heavyweight.

"Last year we had people scattered throughout with some at the lighter weights, middle weights, and heavier weights. But this year we seem to have a lot at the heavier weights. We have several at or near 150. We should have some scattered on down depending on how things shake out," Kralicek added.

Interestingly the first female has decided to go out for the sport. Tina Ramirez, a freshman, will wrestle at 119 or 125.

"This is the first time I’ve had a girl in my wrestling room," he noted. "This will be a learning experience for me as a head coach. We need to work through some of the gender barriers that are there. But we like her attitude and she is very eager to learn. She’s a tough young lady and if she works hard, she’ll do fine."

The Bears will open the 2000 portion of the schedule on Dec. 2 by competing at the Wolverine Tournament in Bayfield. They have a dual at Monticello, Utah, on Dec. 6. They will compete in the rugged Kayenta (Ariz.) Tournament Dec. 8-9. The head to Bloomfield, N.M., for a tournament there on Dec. 15-16 to close that part of the season.

The Bears head to the Pagosa Springs Tournament Jan. 6 and compete in a double dual with Shiprock and Durango at Cortez Middle School at Jan. 11. They travel to the Paonia Tournament on Jan. 13 and compete at the Grand County (Moab, Utah) Invitational on Jan. 20. The San Juan Basin League Duals are slated for Nucla on Jan. 25. They finally return home to host the annual Rockwell Memorial on Feb. 3.

Regionals are slated Feb. 9-10 at neutral site Palisade High School. The Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament will be part of the annual Wrestling Championships in Denver’s Pepsi Center Feb. 15-17.

Right now Kralicek sees Mancos as being a league title contender because it has the most wrestlers back. Nucla should have a strong team. Dolores County will produce some quality wrestlers and should have another good team. The team title race will actually come down to which team has the most wrestlers healthy and in the most weights, he said. Statewide, he said it’s hard to judge which teams will emerge. He did say the SJBL teams have done well at State lately.

"Overall, I think we should get some State placers. But it will depend on how quickly they improve and learn from their mistakes," he said.