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DHS one way, IHS the other

Demons win on scoreboard, but Bobcats take more matches

There are a few ways to look at Durango High School’s wrestling dual win over Ignacio High School on Thursday in Durango.

On the scoreboard, the Demons won 42-31. But they gained four forfeits and only won two of the eight matches wrestled.

It also was alumni night and senior night for DHS.

However you look at it, Thursday was a great night of wrestling.

“Going into this, I knew Ignacio matched up with some of our kids quite well,” DHS head coach John Gurule said. “They have a few returning state qualifiers, and I thought we both came out and wrestled well. It was a good dual.”

The 182-pound matchup between Durango’s Patrick Cunnion and Ignacio’s Blaine Mickey exemplified the level of competition.

Both placed at state last season. Mickey was sixth in Class 2A at 170 pounds and Cunnion took fourth in 4A at 182 pounds.

On Thursday, Cunnion secured a pin with 20 seconds left in the second period.

“It was more of a scrambling situation at that point to where it wasn’t a certain move I was looking for,” said Cunnion, son of Kelly and Peter Cunnion. “I was trying to get better hip position, and I saw an opening and stuck my arm under his head and was able to stick the pin. It was a heat-of-the-moment type of deal.”

Cole Gustavson delivered Durango’s other match victory of the evening, also via a fall. He took down Dalton Mickey with 14 seconds left in the second period at 145 pounds.

“If one move didn’t work, I’d move to the next one. I just did something until it worked,” said Gustavson, son of Catherine and Dan Gustavson. “I had a lot of good shots, and then I got him with the ball and chain.”

Outside of the score, Ignacio ruled the rest of the dual.

Tyler Beebe opened the match with an 11-6 win over Durango’s Hunter Hall at 132 pounds. He erased an early 4-1 deficit to lead 5-4 at the end of the first period and took over in the second.

Ethan Appenzeller put the Bobcats up 9-0 by pinning Durango’s Diego Martinez with 1 minute, 7 seconds left in the second period at 138 pounds.

Ignacio’s Iaasic Peña overcame a deduction for an illegal hold in the second period to beat Kaleb McMunn 11-3 at 152 pounds.

“Freshman came out and wrestled a state qualifier. Battled him the whole time,” Gurule said of McMunn. “ He’s come a long ways this year. We expect a lot out of him in the future.”

Ignacio’s Miguel Perez made quick work of Fernando Garcia at 160 pounds, pinning him 1:04 into the match.

“I’m trying to teach my boys, if they put somebody on their back, to go for the pin. The less energy you have to exert in the one match is going to save you that much energy for the next match,” IHS head coach Cody Haga said. “If you can put somebody away and pin them, that says a lot about somebody because it’s pushing their technique and their talent to their brink.”

Alex Lopez of Ignacio pinned Durango’s David Etz 43 seconds into the second period of their 220-pound match.

It took Ignacio’s Stocker Robbins, a returning state finalist, longer to take down Durango’s Tristan Martinez. He led 4-2 after one period and 7-2 after two but locked in the fall with 45 seconds remaining in the third period.

Durango earned 24 points from forfeits at 106, 120, 126 and 285 pounds.

Both teams left the 170-pound class open.

“Even the matches that we lost, our boys had great fight. They scrapped from whistle to whistle all the way from the first period through the third period,” Haga said. “I think that’s really important that the boys are coming out alive from the get-go. That’s what we’re looking for, because the real deal is just around the corner.”

Haga was referring to the regional and state tournaments, but the Bobcats still face a challenging weekend on the mat. They’ll compete in the Paonia Duals on Friday and the Screaming Eagle tournament in Paonia on Saturday.

“It’s an amazing tournament. They invite awesome teams that bring great wrestlers,” Haga said. “It really tests our talent and where we’re at in conditioning.”

DHS, on the other hand, just wrapped up a challenging schedule between Thursday’s dual and the Arvada West Invitational last weekend. The Demons are taking Friday and Saturday to rest, recover and train before competing in the Butch Melton Invitational next weekend in Ignacio.

“I’m very excited to give my body a break. During the week it’s emotionally stressful preparing for a competition,” Cunnion said. “Emotionally, I’m excited to get a break, but I’ll be training this weekend trying to get in shape and just work my moves. We’re getting close to state, so you can never take a break.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com



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