The Durango girls wrestling team has faced a lot of setbacks recently, with a virus affecting many members of the team over the last few weeks. Sophomore Marie Baker provided some positive momentum for the program with her winning performance at the Ladies Canon Classic in Canon City on Friday.
Baker finished first at 115 pounds and improved to 22-10 overall this season. Baker won 19-4 in the opening round before she pinned her opponent in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Baker faced a familiar opponent in Durango junior Hana Maletich; Baker pinned her. Baker finished the tournament with a 17-2 win over Sequoia Renshaw from Discovery Canyon in the final.
“Marie Baker had a phenomenal tournament,” Durango girls wrestling coach Kyle Hanson said. “She wrestled so well and she's one of those underclassmen that is really exciting about our program because she came in and she continues to learn. She has good days and bad days; she's continuing to understand mentally what it looks like to give herself some grace. That's showing up in her having better and better results.”
Hanson said Baker has been really good about being coachable and wanting to add more moves to her toolbox. She’s very patient, her hand-fighting is a lot better than it used to be and she’s setting up shots, according to Hanson. Baker is becoming a better offensive wrestler and Hanson thinks she has an awesome cradle.
Baker led the girls to a 14th-place finish out of 27 schools at Canon City It was the first time the girls competed in the Canon City tournament and Hanson was happy with the competition level with some Front Range schools there.
Hanson doesn’t worry about the team results because the Demons only have girls in four or five of the 14 weight classes and some other schools are pulling teams together from a much larger student pool than Durango. Therefore, Hanson worries about how the girls are doing individually.
Behind Baker was Maletich in fourth at 115 pounds. She pinned her first two opponents before she was pinned by Baker in the semifinal. Then, Maletich pinned her opponent in the consolation bracket to get her in the third-place match. She lost to Gizelle Meraz from Alamosa 16-0.
Sophomore Lillian Fenberg finished fifth at 130 pounds. She pinned her opponent in the first round and then was pinned in the second round by Bree Tyler from Las Animas. Fenberg pinned her opponent in the consolation bracket and then was pinned by Ella Splitter from Lamar in the third round of the consolation bracket. Fenberg bounced back against Tyler and pinned her in the fifth-place match.
“Lillian is a hair's breadth from having a ton of success,” Hanson said. “I think she was beating both girls she lost to. Unfortunately, she was excited and went for cradles without having the cradle fully developed. In both cases … she pulled the girls onto her and the girls flipped arms through. Unfortunately, she ended up on the bottom with her arms trapped both times.”
Fellow sophomore Aleia Fenberg finished sixth at 120 pounds. She pinned her first opponent before Isabella Mares from Pueblo Central pinned her in the second round. Fenberg pinned her opponent in the second round of the consolation bracket before she couldn’t wrestle her last two matches and finished sixth by default.
The Demons wrestled in the Chatfield Lady War Horse Invitational in Littleton on Saturday but no Demons placed.
Durango will have some time off to get fully healthy before the regional championships on Feb. 7.
Durango boys wrestling finishes 13th at Duff Seaney Invitational led by Belt, Martyn
The Durango boys wrestling team also traveled to Canon City for the Duff Seaney Invitational and finished 13th out of 29 schools.
Freshman Ryder Martyn and junior Jacob Belt led the Demons with fourth-place finishes.
Martyn pinned his first two opponents at 132 pounds and won in the quarterfinal before he was pinned in the semifinal by Treyven Stevens from North Fork High School. Martyn bounced back to win in the consolation bracket but fell in the third-place match via a pin from Brock Fry from Gunnison.
Belt wrestled at 165 pounds and pinned his first opponent before he lost in the quarterfinal 10-2 against Tristan Gilbert from Mountain View. Belt then won his next two matches in the consolation bracket before losing to Gilbert again in the third-place match 18-11.
Senior Wyatt Bartel finished fourth at 150 pounds. He pinned his first two opponents before David Sanchez from Pueblo Central pinned Bartel in the semifinal. Bartel then lost 7-3 in the consolation bracket before winning the fifth-place match.
Two of Durango’s top wrestlers, seniors Ryan Dugan and Cole Pontine, were not at full strength and had to forfeit their last matches due to illness; neither placed.
“It was really exciting to see some new faces place this weekend … so the newer kids to the lineup are getting acclimated to varsity-level wrestling,” Durango boys wrestling head coach Jason Silva said. “They're already getting better, competing, winning matches and placing in tournaments.”
The boys’ team is heading to a dual at Grand Junction Central on Saturday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
