Weekend Roundup: Basketball, wrestling seasons underway

Dolores' Taylor Erautt (4) shoots over Bayfield's Natalie Osendorf (15) during the teams' 2025-2026 opener Tuesday evening inside BHS Gymnasium. Erautt scored a game-high 17 points as the Bears pulled out a 54-49 overtime victory. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)
Dove Creek girls take second in Mosca, Mancos boys snap skid

MOSCA – The basketball and wrestling seasons officially began for all area teams this weekend, with plenty of strong showings to highlight the winter lid-lifters.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Dove Creek 57, La Veta 25

Dove Creek 40, Dolores 16

Nucla 35, Dove Creek 23

The Bulldogs extended their 16-game win streak over DHS before falling to the Mustangs in a matchup of league-title contenders.

Nucla (3-0) held off a second-half charge from head coach Julie Kibel’s group to claim the tournament title. Dove Creek (2-1) heads to Rangely Dec. 12-13.

Dolores 48, Sangre de Cristo 19

Center 59, Dolores 20

A tournament-opening win over the host Thunderbirds gave the Bears a 2-0 start – a feat unseen in the program for years.

Tough losses to Dove Creek and Center evened the record for head coach Mike Nielson’s group (2-2) before joining Dove Creek in Rangely next weekend.

M-CHS 35, Mancos 22

Sargent 57, Mancos 14

Sargent 51, M-CHS 34

The Bluejays (0-2) and Panthers (1-1) opened with a round-robin at Sargent. M-CHS split to start M.E. Haley’s tenure. The Panthers are off until the Rumble in the Jungle in Aztec Dec. 18-20.

Mancos visits Ignacio Tuesday, then Cedaredge Dec. 12-13.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Mancos 60, Lake City 42

Sargent 52, Mancos 38

The Bluejays (1-1) snapped a 23-game losing streak with a season-opening win over Lake City at Sargent. First-year head coach Rudy Archuleta’s Jays nearly made it two straight, but the host Farmers pulled away in the second half to hand them a loss.

Mancos plays at Ignacio Tuesday and joins the girls in Cedaredge next weekend.

Dove Creek 50, La Veta 25

Sangre de Cristo 61, Dove Creek 25

Center 49, Dove Creek 24

The Bulldogs (1-2) opened with a win over the Redhawks before falling to Sangre de Cristo and Center.

Head coach Teresa Martin’s ‘Dogs play three in Rangely next weekend.

Sangre de Cristo 69, Dolores 35

Dolores 41, Centennial 32

The Bears (3-1) toppled La Veta and Centennial after dropping their tournament opener to continue a strong start under second-year coach Nick Traweek.

Dolores travels to Hayden, DeBeque and West Grand next weekend to close 2025 play.

WRESTLING

M-CHS girls take second, boys finish 11th in Bayfield

Panthers CeJae Snyder (115), Paislee Mestas (120) and Kai Ashmore (170) took home top honors to lead a runner-up finish. Annalisa Abeyta added a runner-up placement (110) and Baylee Molzahn took third at 100 pounds, while Madisyn Schuster (125) and Taylor Johnson (140) each placed fourth.

The Panthers girls tallied 163 points to finish behind meet champion Olathe (187) for a strong start.

In the boys competition, Bodie Stiegelmeyer led the way with a runner-up finish at 113 pounds, followed by Rusty Snyder (144) and Orion Martineau (157) in third.

M-CHS finished with 47 points and tied Monticello. Gunnison won with 127 points.