Across the San Juan Basin League, fewer prep athletes are coming out for wrestling, as evidenced by the unusually small teams at Mancos High School, Dolores High School and Dove Creek High School this season.

But those who are participating are getting better, and after a busy week in which grapplers from all three schools competed, improvement was evident and hopes were high as regional and state tournaments draw closer.

Among the most entertaining local grappling events of the week was a dual between Mancos and Dolores high schools, which took place in Dolores on Jan. 24 in front of a large crowd.

The event opened with several middle school matches before eventually moving into the high school portion of the competition, which included matches in the 126-pound, 132-pound and 195-pound weight classes.

First to take to the mat were Dolores’ Josh Petrow and Mancos’ Ty Everett. After Everett took Petro down early in the first period and scored two more points from the top to take a 4-0 lead, Petrow scored a reversal just before the end of the period to cut the deficit to 4-2. After a scoreless second period, Everett took Petrow down to begin the third period and hung on for a 6-2 decision victory.

In the 132-pound match, Dolores’ Jalen Boyd defeated Mancos’ Lot Martin 6-2 after three solid periods of wrestling that included two takedowns by Boyd and a reversal by Martin.

“I just had to wrestle stronger than I ever have before,” Boyd said. “My goal all season has been to have a winning record, and now I’m looking to place at state. That would be cool to do in my first year back wrestling.”

In the final match of the evening, Mancos’ Nick Dan and Dolores’ Bryan Escarcega squared off at 220 pounds and staged one of the most physical and competitive matches of the evening. After Escarcega took Dan down early in the first period, Dan scored a reversal and pinned his opponent, much to the chagrin of the Mancos crowd.

“I just wanted to get out of there as quick as I could,” Dan said, when asked how he escaped after being taken down early. “I didn’t really want to lose.”

Asked about their performances, Dolores coach Grant Hobbs expressed appreciation for his wrestlers’ effort in spite of the team’s low numbers. Mancos coach Tavis White expressed similar sentiments.

“It has been rough for all of my kids,” Hobbs said. “When you only have three or four kids in the room, it’s real hard to create an atmosphere for these kids to bang and get tougher. I like what we’re doing though, and I think that we’re peaking at the right time.”

“Dolores bumped a few kids up to wrestle us, which was very nice of them,” White said. “We’re definitely pushing things in the right direction. We still have a lot of work to do, but the kids put in a lot of work to get to this point.”

After their dual match on Jan. 24, wrestlers from Mancos and Dolores joined competitors from Dove Creek High School and 20 other high schools in competing at the Screaming Eagle Invitational in Paonia on Jan. 24.

For Dolores, Josh Petrow finished 2-2 overall at 120 pounds, Jalen Boyd finished 2-2 overall at 132 pounds, and Bryan Escarcega placed fifth in the 195-pound division after winning one of his four matches. Dolores finished 18th overall in the team standings.

For Mancos, Trevor Paquin finished 0-2 at 113 pounds, Ty Everett finished 0-2 at 126 pounds, Lot Martin finished 1-2 at 132 pounds, and Colt Fury finished 0-2 at 152 pounds. Mancos placed 23rd overall as a team.

For Dove Creek, Jaydon Bailey finished 0-2 at 106 pounds, Gage Bailey finished fourth at 113-pounds after winning two of his four matches, and Will McKellips finished 1-2 in the 160-pound division. Dove Creek placed 20th as a team. Paonia finished first overall in the 23-team tournament.