DENVER
Close calls run in Durango High School senior wrestler Hunter Hall’s family.
His father, Randy Hall, works as a stuntman in the film industry.
Hunter Hall dove out of his version of a burning building in the first round of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A State Championships against Matthew Apodaca at Pueblo West.
Their 126-pound preliminary match was tied 1-1 after six minutes with both points coming from escapes.
Neither wrestler scored in the sudden-victory period, and they both were given a chance to operate from both resuming positions.
Both Apodaca and Hall escaped, which set up an escape-and-win or hold-and-win last period. Hall won the flip and chose a down starting position. Instead of escaping, he pulled a reversal and secured a 4-2 victory.
“That was only one overtime farther than I’d ever been,” said Hall, son of Laura and Randy Hall. “I was trying to push as hard as I could. Just wrestled hard, that’s all I could do.”
The reversal put Hall into the quarterfinals against Pueblo County’s Chris Sandoval.
“Winning this match in particular helps a lot because it’ll give me less matches to go through to get to a placing match,” Hall said.
Fellow senior Matthew Lavengood needed no such theatrics. He locked in a pin 49 seconds into the second period against Roosevelt’s Blake Slaymaker after leading 4-0 after the first period.
Lavengood will face Abraam Arreguin-Almanz from Mitchell in the quarterfinals.
“Matthew came out, handled business like he knows how to. He’s our veteran statesman here, and he just came out here and wrestled,” DHS head coach John Gurule said.
Patrick Cunnion, the No. 2 seed at 182 pounds, was upset by Thompson Valley’s Patton Graff with a pin 1 minute, 14 seconds into his first match. He’ll start his climb to third Saturday against Jay McCowen from Cheyenne Mountain.
“Your true character shows after a match like that,” Gurule said. “I told him dictate the rest of the tournament starting (Friday).”
All three of Durango’s seniors have wrestled on the Pepsi Center floor before. They tried to impart their knowledge to first-timers Cameron Jacobs (106 pounds) and Jacob Martinez (113 pounds).
Jacobs fell 51 seconds into his preliminary match against Zeke Allirez from Greeley Central. He will wrestle Lewis-Palmer’s Tanner Hunt in the consolatoin first round.
Martinez managed to score in his opener but lost 8-2 to Pueblo East’s Victor Gutierrez. His consolation opponent will be Derek Golden of Roosevelt.
The next rounds will begin at 12:45 p.m. Friday.
“We came here to wrestle, and we’re gonna do that one match at a time starting (Friday),” Gurule said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
DHS: How they fared
Cameron Jacobs, So., 106 pounds (18-23): Pinned by Zeke Alirez, Greeley Central (:51). Next: Tanner Hunt, Lewis-Palmer (21-18)
Tristan Martinez, So., 113 pounds (19-20): Lost 8-2 to Victor Gutierrez, Pueblo East. Next: Derek Golden, Roosevelt (15-20)
Matthew Lavengood, Sr., 120 pounds (29-3): Pinned Blake Slaymaker, Roosevelt (2:49). Next: Abraam Arreguin-Almanz, Mitchell (28-13)
Hunter Hall, Sr., 126 pounds (28-15): Beat Matthew Apodaca, Pueblo West, 4-2. Next: Chris Sandoval, Pueblo County (11-0)
Patrick Cunnion, Sr., 182 pounds (29-3): Pinned by Patton Graff, Thompson Valley (1:14). Next: James McCowen, Cheyenne Mountain (28-14)
