From all indications it was going to be a good prep wrestling match on Tuesday night, Jan. 30, in the Mancos Performance Center.

Class 3A Bayfield came in to take on Class 2A no. 2 ranked Mancos. Bayfield, which has been rapidly improving under new head coach Herb Stinson, upset the Blue Jays 45-36. Yes, Bayfield is coached by THAT Herb Stinson who guided Aztec, N.M. to 11 straight Class 3A State Titles (national wrestling record) and to a ninth place ranking by USA Today for the decade of the 90s.

Bayfield was helped by two crucial victories – Dan Edwards’ pin of Anthony Mestas in 2 minutes, 35 seconds in the 112-pound match, and Clint Wilson’s 12-6 decision over Mike Montoya in the 140 match. Both of those Mancos wrestlers were ranked in 2A.

However, it must be noted that Mancos gave up 24 points because of missing several weights (forfeits) and still having an injured heavyweight. Although they may have lost on the scoreboard, the Blue Jays still wrestled very well and the score was not indicative of how they did.

For instance, Vince Bazile pinned Kyle Schneider in 2:37 at 103. Daniel Wilson, 119, pinned Matt Marchase in 2:52. Jeremiah Muniz pinned Bayfield’s Tim Carruthers in 4:21. Scott Koppenhafer, 135, pinned BHS’s Matt Neil in 2:52. Mancos’ Kelly Mitchell, 145, pinned Dustin Wright in 2:37. Philip Wilson, 160, pinned Kevin Black in 3:07.

Mancos’ Jakob Tallent was pinned by Ethan Morrison in 3:38 and MHS’ Jeff Roland, 189, was pinned by Dan Black in 1:10.

The Blue Jays did well in some exhibition matches. At 140, Montoya won two exhibitions both by pins. Scott Yost pinned BHS’ Dan Mallet in 34 seconds. Roland pinned Cameron Queen in 5:06.

"We wrestled well against Bayfield. It was a tough match," MHS head coach Travis Bryant commented. "Time is getting short now. We have the Terry Rockwell Memorial Tournament this weekend (all day on Saturday, Feb. 3, in Dolores) and it’s time for us to get our ducks all in a row. But I think we will do well there. And I think we will do well at Regionals and State and open some eyes."

Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity wrestlers competed in two duals on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26-27.

It came down to the final match of the day against the Panthers on Saturday, Jan. 27. Fruita-Monument heavyweight Walter Pitts got a 9-6 decision and lifted the Wildcats to a Southwestern League 39-30 dual win. The Wildcats decided to forfeit the 215-pound bout, and F-M held a 36-30 advantage entering the final match. Pitts took the up-position to start the third. Elias Lehi got a reversal, but Pitts returned the favor eight seconds later and scored on a late escape for the win.

Fruita also picked up a pair of overtime wins that proved crucial.

The Wildcats' Ryan Harvey trailed 12-6 midway through the third in the 103 bout. But with 28 seconds left, Harvey got a takedown and put Cortez's Richard Yake on his back to tie the match at the end of regulation. Seven seconds into overtime, Harvey scored on another takedown for a 14-12 decision.

At 145 pounds, Fruita's Bryan Bernal fell behind 5-0 to Nic Martinez. Bernal erased his deficit and tied the match in the final 12 seconds. Then in overtime, Bernal got a takedown with just 25 seconds gone to take the 8-6 win.

The Wildcats won five of the six matches, getting wins from Brandon Brickhaus (125) with a pin over Kade Fox in 55 seconds, Brook Stockert (130) won by forfeit, Tim Richardson (135) pinned Dallas Reed in 43 seconds, Bernal and Eli Clarke (152) who pinned Connery Benally in 2:19.

Cortez started its comeback when Dan O'Neal won by pin in 3:36 and Cole Allison won the 171-pound bout with a 10-5 decision over Wacey Clarke. It was a rematch of their quarterfinal bout in the Warrior Classic, which Allison, the top-ranked 171-pounder in Class 4A, also won. Fruita’s Curt Harrington gave the Wildcats a boost with a pin at 189.

"It was a good dual," MCHS head coach Mike Allison said. "We could have won this dual but we made some costly mistakes. Yake was kicking butt early and then he got taken down to tie the score up and then we end up losing 12-14 in overtime. Martinez dominates until about nine seconds left. He takes him down and puts us on our back. We got into overtime and we lose. Those two matches really hurt us. I’m not saying it cost us the dual because we lost by falls. But they let up at the last minute. They can’t be doing that at this point in the season."

Central of Grand Junction was doing all the right things early in their wrestling dual against Montezuma-Cortez on Friday. Winning five of their first six matches, the Warriors had a 26-6 lead over the Panthers and seemed on cruise control.

But after losing four of the next five matches, Cortez looked in good shape but the Warriors finished strong to capture a 43-30 victory in front of a home crowd.

Cortez got a quick victory at 103 when Yake pinned Jake Sears in 40 seconds. Dominic Martinez and Terrell Binkley both picked up victories for Central, followed pins from Ricky Perea and Josh Martinez along with a forfeit win by Scotty Cramer.

Binkley, ranked No. 1 and defending State champ in the Class 5A 119-pound class, missed a dual meet Jan. 18 due to illness. He came back to take an 11-3 decision Friday night over MCHS’s Tyler Gray.

In the closest match of the evening, Martinez scored two points in the final five seconds to earn a 7-6 decision over Central's Daniel Campuzano. Campuzano had taken a 7-5 lead thanks to a reversal with 10 seconds left, but Martinez scored a reversal as time ran out.

Cortez picked up a pair of victories from O'Neal (2-1 over Brent Baker) and Allison (pin in 36 seconds over Mike Martin) but Devon Gonzales (189) and Aaron Talley (275) closed out the evening with pins in the first period to secure the match for Central.

LeCompte ended up going on the trip for fun. He stepped on the mat twice and raised his hand to take forfeit wins.

"We had a good dual against Central," coach Allison commented. "They had nine seniors in their lineup and our young guys held their own. I thought we wrestled well. It was a good solid dual all the way through the ranks."

The Panthers were scheduled to dual at Delta on Saturday afternoon but it was canceled at the last minute.

The Blue Jays competed at the Ignacio Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 27, and placed fourth as a team. Farmington won the tourney with 191 points, Bloomfield, N.M., came in second with 168, Farmington’s Piedra Vista placed third at 112, and Mancos with 94.

"We finished ahead of Pagosa Springs, Bayfield, Ignacio, and Aztec (N.M.) JVs. So we did a very good job but we just could not quite beat the big guys (teams)," Bryant commented.

Several MHS wrestlers placed. In the non-varsity sub-100 match, Yost finished fourth. In the varsity 103 contest, Bazile came in fourth. Muniz, 130, was in a very tough bracket, according to Bryant, and finished fourth. Muniz lost one of those matches to a Piedra Vista grappler in overtime.

The 135-pound championship match was a good one, according to Bryant. After a scoreless first period, Koppenhafer scored the first points off Jarad Lyons of Bayfield with a reversal from the referee’s position with 1:49 left in the second. Lyons lost no time in tying it back up with a reversal of his own 40 seconds later, but Koppenhafer shot ahead again on a second reversal. With neither wrestler making a move in the third, it looked as if it was all over for Lyons. But then the sophomore arched and rolled Koppenhafer onto his back as time ran out with Koppenhafer winning 4-2.

Montoya, 140, took fourth for Mancos. Mitchell, 145, came in third. Wilson, 161, also had a good match winning 7-2 in the finals against a Farmington wrestler.

"After Wilson lost last week in the league duals, I think it must have lit a fire under him. It keyed him up and he has been really wrestling well," Bryant remarked.