After their home dual against Pagosa Springs last Thursday – in which Shawn Higgins, Stevie Fuentes, Matthew Broughton, Josh Ramos and Kerwin Tom all picked up wins – the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers competed in the Butch Melton Invitational Tournament in Ignacio on Saturday.
There, Higgins (106) and Broughton (132) came out as the top dogs in their respective weight classes, each going 5-0 on the day to take first.
Fuentes (113) and Tom (182) also had strong showings, as each cruised to 4-0 starts before falling in their championship matches to place second.
Josh Ramos’ (145) only loss came to On The Mat’s No. 3 ranked Class 3A 145-pounder Ryan Nava of Bayfield. Other than that, he went 4-0 to finish fifth. And then Swayde Noyes (170) was 3-2 and finished eighth, and Casen Allmon (126) and Ethan Root (138) each went 1-4 on the day.
Dolores, Mancos and Dove Creek also made the trip to Ignacio on Saturday.
Dolores senior Brandon Ward (120) was the Bears’ top finisher, going 4-1 and falling in the championship match to place second. Austin Hackney also went 4-1 and finished third.
And then David Schmittel (145) went 3-2 and placed eighth, Josh Petrow (132) was 3-2 and took 10th and Zander Eichner (113) finished 1-2.
Representing the Mancos Blue Jays, heavyweight Casey Orange went 4-1 to finish second and Breccen Morelli (138) went 4-1 and took third.
And then Kaleb Hargraves (160) wound up in sixth with a 3-2 record, Cameron Fury (170) went 2-3 and Andrew Ruatti (132) finished 1-4.
Dove Creek junior Derek Kibel suffered a concussion in his opening match and was forced to forfeit four matches before picking up a forfeit win to go 1-4 on the day. Kibel is currently in the concussion protocol but head coach Eric Stiasny says that he hopes he’ll be able to return for the regional tournament.