The Dolores Bears hosted a friendly dual against the Bayfield Wolverines on Tuesday evening, allowing both teams to shake off the holiday rust before heading to tournaments this weekend.
“We didn’t practice last week, we practiced yesterday and wrestled today,” Dolores head coach Dane Gallaher said. “So pretty much right in the fire.”
Starting with the 106-pound class, Dolores freshman Cameron Chavez – who weighed in at 86 pounds – was the first to take action.
“He’s going to be such a stud when he puts on some weight,” Gallaher said. “Cameron is a great, fundamental wrestler, and if he gets anybody that’s close to his size, he wins.”
Bayfield’s Colby Baker weighed in at just 98 pounds, so Chavez gave up only 10 pounds, as opposed to the possible 20.
Baker jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a takedown, but Chavez quickly reversed positions and nearly pinned Baker to grab a 5-2 advantage. With under a minute left, Chavez got on top and Baker had nowhere to go, with Chavez winning by pin to give the Bears an early 6-0 lead.
Next, Dolores junior Brandon Ward added to the Dolores lead and improved his season record to 18-5 with a major decision win over Cody Speece.
The two were locked up for most of the first period, with Ward scoring the only two points from a takedown. Then, after gaining two more takedown points and three nearfall points in the second period, Ward entered the final frame leading 7-0.
The Dolores junior controlled Speece for the rest of the match, and while he could never finish it off with a pin, he wound up with a 10-0 major decision win to extend the Bears’ team lead to 10-0.
Dolores freshman Josh Petrow and sophomore Austin Hackney each wrestled up a class to avoid any open categories, and consecutive Bayfield pins gave the Wolverines a 12-10 advantage.
In the 126-pound class, Bayfield sophomore Garrett Beebe quickly took down Petrow, and although Petrow put up a fight, Beebee secured the pin in just 46 seconds.
Hackney had better luck in the 132-pound class, but he too fell by pin the first period.
After being taken down, Hackney escaped and got two takedown points and three nearfall points to lead 6-2.
But just as quickly, Bayfield sophomore Jake Sandrey flipped Hackney for two points of his own, and then pinned Hackney with 22 seconds remaining in the first period.
Bayfield senior Taylor Winch made it three consecutive pins for the Wolverines with a win over Skieler Grooms in the 145-pound class.
The two grapplers locked arms for most of the first period and ended in a stalemate, starting the second tied at zero.
Winch gained two reversal points in the second and nearly pinned Grooms to tack on three nearfall points for a 5-0 lead. But Grooms responded, spinning off of his back and onto Winch for two reversal points to enter the final frame down 5-2.
There, after starting down and standing up attempting to break free, Grooms was thrown to the mat. With Winch on top, Grooms was unable to get off his back and Winch won by pin with 1:20 left to give Bayfield an 18-10 lead.
Dolores junior Aiden Hopcia scored the final points for the Bears with an 8-5 decision over Bayfield sophomore Lane Grimwood in the 152-pound division.
The two began the match hand-fighting and dancing around before Hopcia pulled Grimwood to the mat for two takedown points. As Grimwood attempted to escape, Hopcia was called for locking hands, giving Grimwood a point and ending the first, 2-1.
Grimwood escaped to begin the second period and evened the score at two, and the two wrestlers returned to their feet, locking arms and daring each other to shoot.
Hopcia answered with a two-leg takedown that resembled a football tackle to take a 4-2 lead, but again, Grimwood escaped.
Two early third-period points gave Hopcia a 6-4 advantage, but another escape point by Grimwood made it 6-5 with a minute remaining, before two final takedown points gave Hocia an 8-5 win as time expired.
“He has come so far,” Gallaher said of Hopcia. “As a freshman he was just surviving on the mat, trying not to get pinned. And now, he’s out there taking people down and initiating it. He’s just incredibly naturally strong.”
In the final match and with an 18-15 team lead, Bayfield senior Cash Snooks secured the Wolverines’ victory by pinning Dolores sophomore David Schmittel in the second period of the 170-pound class.
Snooks controlled Schmittel early on, racking up nearfall points in the first and starting the second period with a 14-2 advantage.
There, with his legs wrapped around Schmittel, Snooks flipped his opponent and finished with a pin, giving Bayfield a 24-13 victory over the host Bears.
While the Bears fell as a team in the dual, Gallaher was happy that after a long holiday break, his team was able to get more mat time to prepare for its upcoming tournament in Montrose this weekend.
He also noted that he expects sophomore Logan Fuller to return from a broken finger to wrestle, and that there’s a chance Hopcia will drop a class and compete at the 145-pound class.