AZTEC – Montezuma-Cortez, Dolores and Mancos competed in a 32-team dual tournament at the Clash at the Coliseum on Saturday at McGee Park Coliseum. The Montezuma-Cortez girls also wrestled in a 16-person bracket, with several earning top finishes ahead of regional tournaments.
Alamosa pulled away from Aztec in the final bouts to win the boys tournament with 603 points. Aztec was second with 600, followed by West Las Vegas (479), Montrose (468) and Farmington (424).
Farmington won the girls title with 205.5 points. Bloomfield was second with 180, Piedra Vista third (145), Kirtland Central fourth (122.5) and Durango fifth (105).
Dolores heads into Saturday’s Butch Melton Invite at Ignacio with momentum after strong results at the Rocky Mountain Invite, where multiple wrestlers placed in the top eight.
The Bears finished 13th, and head coach Ben Ross praised the team’s growth, highlighted by senior Nathan Hill earning his 100th career win.
“(Nathan) got his 100th win, so that was pretty awesome,” Ross said. “That’s a good feat to get as a high schooler. Not all wrestlers get to do that.”
Dolores closed its final duals with wins over Bernalillo (N.M.) 60-12, Durango 35-30 and Kirtland Central 45-30.
River Wickstrom (157) led the Bears with a 10-0 record. Kenji Edwards (132) and Mason Hill (138) each finished 9-1.
Ross said his young roster has shown steady development.
“River has had some standout matches, and we have some freshmen who are doing great,” Ross said. “JJ is doing great and has shown a lot of improvement and as well as Adam. Kenji is also doing great. The whole team has been impressive.”
Dolores posted dominant duals against Bernalillo, Del Norte and Kirtland Central, dropping one match or fewer in each.
The Montezuma-Cortez girls team had three top-six finishes at Aztec, placing 12th out of 24 teams.
CeJae Snyder (115) reached the championship match against Piedra Vista’s Isabella Timmerman. Timmerman won 9-1 with two takedowns and strong defense; Snyder scored on an escape.
Madisyn Schuster (125) finished fourth, and Annalisa Abeyta (110) placed sixth.
“We’re still looking really good, and we’ve got some really tough girls,” M-CHS head coach Ryan Daves said. “We have some girls we didn’t have last year that decided to come back out.”
Daves said he was excited to see Abeyta return after a three-year hiatus.
“Annalisa is just picking it right back up, and she’s doing really well,” Daves said. “We’re definitely having a good turnout for the girls.”
The M-CHS boys finished 23rd out of 32 teams, falling to Monument Valley (Ariz.) 57-12 before rebounding with a 36-29 win over Ganado.
Nicholas Martinez (106) and Teagun Samora (120) went undefeated on Day 1 before falling to Alamosa, last year’s Class 3A runner-up.
“Some of the younger kids get a lot of matches in this weekend, so it’s nice getting these kinds of tournaments for them,” Daves said. “They’re able to get the mat time they’ve been needing.”
The Bluejays, with a roster of four, earned one win at Aztec.
They beat Newcomb 29-12 behind Kameron Rosales, who scored a 16-1 technical fall over Kyle Bryant.
Mancos started in Pool A against tough teams like Aztec and Los Alamos. Tegan Mestas went 7-3 at 132 pounds.
