Weekend warriors battle at various Mancos Days sporting events

Weekend warriors battle at various Mancos Days sporting events

August 2, 2001

MARK DEBAY applies the final pressure on Kevin Schlemmer in the championship match of the Young Adults division at the arm wrestling event at 2001 Mancos Days last Saturday at Boyle Park. Although the competition turned into an event for the younger set because no adults signed up, 25 people signed up to compete. Mancos Days was filled with many different sporting events for the weekend warrior.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

For the weekend warrior, Mancos Days 2001 was certainly the place to be last weekend, July 29-29, at Boyle Park.

Several sporting events took place throughout the three days of fun in the sun.

One of the more unusual events not normally contested in these parts was arm wrestling. Charles Hamby, a La Plata Deputy, came over from Durango and offered to officiate the event. Hamby is a 10-time Texas champion, 1987 national and world champion in arm wrestling. He has held titles in several of the national arm wrestling associations such as National Arm Wrestling Federation and American Arm Wrestling Association.

He carefully divided the competition by age and weight but by the scheduled time of 2:30 p.m. Saturday, no one had even signed up. The event slowly started deteriorating and was almost canceled completely. It was delayed another half-hour. Hamby could not stay any longer and left.

Slowly, with the table set up, children started to get curious. They started signing up. Soon, 25 children had signed up. No adults signed up.

The first event featured young females. Tiffany Small easily pinned her way into the finals. Andrea Keith worked her way up from the other side of the bracket. Keith really was in for a good match in that semifinal against Sarah Hennrich. Both girls gritted their teeth and flexed their muscles. Finally, Small got the upper hand and put Keith’s hand down.

In the championship, Small quickly put Keith’s hand down. Keith put a fight but she was tired from the previous match.

Mark DeBay, a standout several years ago at Mancos High School, won the next round of competition featuring mainly teen-agers. DeBay took on Kevin Schlemmer in the championship. They were locked in stalemate for a couple minutes. Neither competitor could gain much of an advantage. But finally, DeBay started applying more pressure and put Schlemmer’s hand down.

"I arm wrestled a few years ago, but I didn’t do very well," he said. "That’s about it. But I liked it then and decided to give it a try now that I’m stronger. It was fun."

Some young boys took to the stand, squaring off in several preliminary bouts. Andy Christensen defeated several competitors quite easily. Scott Schamp also defeated several comers. Christensen and Schamp worked their way into the finals. Schamp, who was quite rested, prevailed over Christensen, who had just worked the semifinal match before.

One of the more interesting venues was the traveling rock climbing wall, new at Mancos Days this year. Those wanting to climb had to fork over $5 for two tries.

The first five to reach the top on the expert side (three sides: beginner with lots of foot and hand holds, intermediate with not quite as many and more in difficult spots, and expert with few hand or foot holds on a tougher side of the wall) were: Justin Horrocks, 14, of Mancos; Jerry Kramer, 11, Mancos; Logan Stiles, 15, Mancos; Kris Miller, 34, Mancos; and Becca Whitehead, 15, Cortez. They were declared "Master Climbers."

Action got under way Friday morning with 3-on-3 volleyball and was completed about 3:30 that afternoon on a grass court. The mainly Cortez team of Annie Mortensen, Kristi Dahl, Sarah Sutter-Glover, Julie Dahl-Engel successfully defended their title from a year. They defeated the mainly Mancos residents of Charissee Reider, Randi Reider, Erin Greaser, and Jessice Whittle in the championship game. It was a match worthy of championship. The Mancos team pulled ahead in the first game of the finals to win 17-15. But the Cortez team came back, thanks to good service and steady passing to win 15-7. The third game of the best-of-three was a good one with Mortensen, Dahl, Glover, and Engel winning 15-12. The winning team was sponsored by Mancos Plumbing. The tournament was held thanks to the efforts of Mancos High School head coach Mona Shepherd and members of the MHS volleyball team.

The Four-Mile Run got under way early Saturday morning at the corner of Main Street and Grand Avenue. The overall winner and fastest male finisher this year was Ken Flint of Durango with a time of 22 minutes, 14 seconds. Candi Duran was the top female runner who was clocked in 29:59.

Other male and female age group winners were: Cody Spraker in 8-Under; Patrick Patterson and Caitlin Cassidy in 9-12; Jordan Davis and Megan Cassidy in 13-19; Sampson Sage and Duran in 20-29; Flint and Jaime Neeley in 30-39; Roy Perales and Karen Randolph in 40-49; Art Rohr and Julie Ott in 50-59; and Steve Stovall and Linda Crossett in 60-plus.

Sponsors included Cellular Cuts, Blooming Nails, Cox’ Conoco, White Chick Pottery, Aramark, and General Hair Store.

Softball was the name of the game at Boyle Park Field from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.

The winner of the Men’s eight-team bracket was Custom Woodworking. It defeated Western Excelsior for the second year in a row to defend their title. Mancos Plumbing took the women’s six-team bracket with B-Bats coming in second. Hit-And-Run defeated B-Bats a year ago for the women’s title.

Two rodeos are slated for Mancos Days.

The Mesa Verde Stampede Family Rodeo Series at Wild Wild Rest Arena was being held as part of Mancos Days.

The second rodeo, which was new this year, was the Mancos Days Horse Races at Tumbling T’s. The second rodeo, which was new this year, was the Mancos Days Horse Races at Tumbling T’s.

Shacee Robbins captured first place in the Kids’ race while Bradley Dennison took second. Katie Paxton ran away with the Powder Puff event while Robbins came in second. Jerry Devers won the Cow Pony while Richie Robbins grabbed second. In the Fat Boy Race, Jess Paxton took first and Chip Wagner second. Rick Baird and Mike Sanchez finished one, two, respectively, in the Pack Race. Kohle Yeomans and Chauncey Ewing took first place while Allen Randolph and Baird tied for second. The Open Race placers were Tim McCarthy and Richie Robbins, respectively. Lisa Nuell won the Mule Race while Krystal Lucas took second. Yeomans won the Indian Pony and Steve Gillespie grabbed second. Randolph won the Chicken Pull. Devers and Lucas were the top two placers in the cross-country event. More races are planned sometime before Labor Day Weekend.

The younger set was not be left out. Kiddies games were held all day Friday. More than 200 youngsters of all ages enjoyed morning games of grease pole climbing to watermelon eating contests. Sponsored included Tumbling T’s, Reptile Reserve, Wild Wild Rest, Echo Basin, Aramark, Western Excelsior, First National Bank of Cortez, Rimrock Outfitters, Fiesta Theater, Movie Machine, Cox’s Conoco, and Mancos Valley Bank.

The Mancos Recreation Committee said they wanted to thank all the Mancos Days 2001 sponsors and all the volunteers who helped make this year’s event such a success.