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December
20, 2001
By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor
Montezuma-Cortez High School’s varsity wrestling team wraps up the 2001 portion of the season with a home dual against Class AAA Ignacio tonight, Dec. 20.
Some Panther junior varsity wrestlers will hit the mat at 6 p.m. The varsity dual will beginning immediately following in Ron Wright Memorial Gym.
The Panther varsity traveled to Moab, Utah, this past Thursday, Dec. 13, and wrestled a dual against Grand County. The dual ended in a draw at 42-all.
Cortez dominated the very lightest weights and the middle and upper weights but lost all the heavier bouts.
Owen House won by pin at 103 pounds and Ryan Meany won by pin at 112. The Panthers did not pick up another victory until 125 when Lyle Benally won by pin. Jared Sanders followed with a pin at 130. Travis Spruell won by pin at 140, Andy Spruell at 152, and Connery Benally at 160. But that was it for Cortez.
The next day the Panthers competed at the rugged 25th annual Warrior Classic.
Moffat County High School won the 25th annual Warrior Classic for the third year in a row on Saturday, Dec. 15, at Mesa State College.
The Bulldogs, who only had one wrestler in a Warrior Classic final last year, had five champions this year but didn't need their points, winning a record third-straight title with a record 246.5 points.
Rio Rancho held off Standley Lake and Fruita Monument for second with 148 points. Standley Lake had 133.5 and Fruita Monument had 128.5. Alamosa was fifth with 126. Meeker and Nucla tied for the small-school title with 82 points each.
“Things went well at times and it was rough at times,” first-year MCHS head coach Karl McGee reported. “I think they learned a lot about themselves. We learned a lot as coaches as to where we are.”
No Panthers advanced to the tournament’s medal rounds. Travis Spruell and Lyle Benally both had good tournaments, though, according to McGee. The Panthers’ main hope for medal, Gray, was sick and did not compete.
The tournament's outstanding wrestlers were Mark Hastings (125 pounds) of Moffat County and Jason Sams (171) of Roosevelt.
All five seniors on the nationally-ranked Moffat County team wrestled in the finals along with junior Ty Weber, who is a defending 4A state champion. Hastings, Kyle Kostur (130), Ryan Linsacum (135), Weber (152) and Cody Fredrickson (160) wrapped up titles. The Bulldogs, ranked 35th in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, had four others place.
Fredrickson scored a 7-4 victory over Sabin Mock of Nucla in the championship. Defending Warrior Classic champion Kostur won the 130-pound title by injury default. Kostur breezed through the tournament by pinning all four of his opponents, including Greco-Roman All-American Matt Nissen of Standley Lake in the semifinals. Armando Romero of Fruita-Monument was a titleist. The 103-pound senior won a 9-4 decision over Nick Ramirez of Rio Rancho, N.M. Norwood’s Fred Spor won the heavyweight title with a 4-2 decision over Palisade's Mike Messenger.
Pueblo South's Dino Aragon won his second Warrior Classic title. The 112-pound junior rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win 9-7 over Matt Salazar of Alamosa, who is the second-ranked wrestler in 4A. Aragon won the Warrior as a freshman at 103 pounds but was upset last year and did not place. Dusty Vaughn of Montrose, who won the 145-pound Warrior Classic title last year, lost a 6-3 decision in the 152-pound to Weber.
Trent Randall of Meeker, who won the 103-pound Warrior Classic title last year, took third at the same weight this year. He was upset in the quarterfinals by Dustin Gallegos of Montrose. Defending state champion Brandon Meis of Alamosa took third at 135 pounds.
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