Area wrestlers place high in weekend tournaments

Area wrestlers place high in weekend tournaments

December 18, 2001

By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor

Several of the Class 2A prep wrestling teams did well in area meets over the weekend.

At Bloomfield, N.M., the Tigers from Aztec High School held on to their early-round lead to win the Bloomfield Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday.

Aztec won the event with 216 points, easily outdistancing Monticello, Utah, which finished with 136. Pagosa Springs was next at 125, followed by Kirtland (N.M.)-Central 123, San Juan County High (Blanding, Utah) 96, Bloomfield 94, Dolores County 60, Shiprock 59, and Ignacio. Dolores placed ninth.

Aztec had six wrestlers winning first-place matches, followed up by one second and three thirds. Monticello won one title.

Dolores County had three varsity wrestlers place. Kyle Riddell took second at 119 pounds, losing 4-8 decision to Andy Butler of Monticello. Casey Spitzer, 125, captured second after losing to Andy Lacy of Blanding 1-3. Trinity Cressler (130) grabbed fourth with a 3-2 record.

Randy Curtis (135), Kyle Krafka (171), and Bru Meyer (189) all did not place. Meyer wrestled in his first tournament ever. He won by pin in his first match, losing a close 2-3 decision in his second, and lost by pin in his third match of the day.

"I was fairly pleased with our performance in this tournament," DCHS head coach Shane Baughman commented.

There were 23 junior varsity squads competing as well. Farmington's JV won the event with 175 1/2 points, followed by Aztec's JV with 153. Pagosa Springs JV was third with 137 1/2.

For DCHS, Jake Williams captured first place at 103 in the JV division. Drew Buffington took third at 130 and Brennan Banks fourth in that division.

"We are coming along," Baughman said on the close of the first-half of the season. "We will practice all this week and then let them go for the holidays. Hopefully, they will work out on their own."

Dolores head coach Bill Kralicek was pleased with his overall team’s performance.

"We really wrestled well as a team for this tournament. We wrestled much better," he commented.

The Bears had two placers. Shawn Everett (145) came in fourth place while Derek Thompson won the heavyweight title. Kralicek reported that Thompson is still undefeated at 10-0. He said that Casey Garvin and Colter Dunagan both wrestled well and finished at 2-2 but did not place.

Mancos High School competed at the Duster Duals Showdown in Gunnison over the weekend.

"Outstanding," MHS head coach Travis Bryant said about the way his team wrestled at the tourney.

"We were the only 2A school there and we finished second. We wrestled real well against 3A, 4A, and 5A schools. We saw some outstanding competition."

The Blue Jays took on Lake County and won 36-34. Bryant reported his grapplers came out a bit flat. "We had a pep talk following that match and they stepped it up," he added.

The Jays then defeated Grand County (Moab, Utah) 42-36. They beat host Gunnison 42-36. MHS lost to La Junta in the finals 12-63.

"Everybody wrestle well. Several finished with three wins and only one loss. Nobody went undefeated, though," he said.

Ian Mullikin (103) finished 2-2. Scott Yost (112) went 1-3. Anthony Mestas (119) had a good day going 3-1. Chase Davis (125) ended at 2-2 while Joe Plunkett (130) went 0-4. Cody Montoya (135) went 3-1 as did Scott Koppenhafer at 140. Nathan Orona went 2-2 at 145 and Kelly Mitchell finished 3-1 at 152. Victor Rosales (160) came in at 2-2, Chad Mitchell (171) 3-1, and Jeff Roland (189) 2-2.

"I thought Chad Mitchell had a great tournament. He sealed the win against Gunnison with a pin. He was the leader for us. His spirit was high," Bryant added.

The Blue Jays will tangle with MCHS JVs in a dual beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, in the Old Gym.