Dove Creek’s Case Baughman and Dolores’ Brandon Ward each finished with perfect 5-0 records and took home gold medals in their respective weight classes at the Butch Melton Invitational in Ignacio last Saturday.
Baughman, at 132 pounds, got a bye to start before winning two matches by fall, one by a major decision (15-3) and then ran away with a 13-6 decision win over Igancio’s Tyler Beebe in the first place match.
At 113 pounds, Ward – the Dolores junior – won by tech fall (17-2), two pins and a major decision (15-3) before claiming first place with a tech fall (17-1) win over Cedaredge’s Alex McCracken.
One of Ward’s wins by fall came against Dove Creek’s Rhett Quackenbush. The fall to Ward was Qauckenbush’s only loss, and he finished 4-1 on the day for a second place finish. Logan Myers, the only other Dove Creek competitor, finished with a 1-4 record and in 14th place.
Other Dolores grapplers included Skieler Grooms (132), Aiden Hopcia (145), David Schmittel (170) and Josh Petrow (120).
Grooms dropped just one match on the day, finishing 4-1 and in fifth place, and Hopcia and Schmittel each finished with 3-2 records, with Hopcia placing fourth and Schmittel fifth. Petrow compiled a 2-3 record for a sixth place finish for the Bears.
The Mancos Blue Jays also traveled to Ignacio to hit the mats, and senior Andrew Morgan was their top finisher.
At 152 pounds, Morgan amassed a 4-1 record and won in a 7-5 decision over Ignacio’s Timothy Plehinger to claim second place.
Cameron Fury (160) was 3-2 on the day and placed fifth, and Casey Orange (285) and Kaleb Hargraves (145) each finished 2-3, with Orange placing fourth and Hargraves sixth.
Austin Howerton (182) went 1-2 for a third place finish, Everett Strazza-Whalen (195) was 0-4 and finished fifth, and Jake Skinner (138) was 0-4 and did not place.
Dove Creek, Dolores and Mancos met for the San Juan Basin League Duals on Thursday, Feb. 4 in Ignacio – but results were not available at the time of printing.