{"id":15441,"date":"2025-12-02T22:46:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T05:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-wrestling-surges-as-panthers-kick-off-new-season\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:48:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:48:06","slug":"montezuma-cortez-wrestling-surges-as-panthers-kick-off-new-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/montezuma-cortez-wrestling-surges-as-panthers-kick-off-new-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Montezuma-Cortez wrestling surges as Panthers kick off new season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Panthers
Panthers freshman Paislee Mestas tries to get the other shoulder of Farmington's Brielle Lucero on the mat at the McGee Park Coliseum on Saturday.(Kaitlyn Lowley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CORTEZ \u2013 Running out of space can be a good problem to have for Montezuma-Cortez wrestling coaches Ryan Daves and James Snyder.<\/p>\n

The Panthers boys and girls wrestling teams have had to split their practices in the M-CHS wrestling room during early season workouts as nearly three dozen athletes \u2013 many of them new to the sport \u2013 take their turns on the mat in preparation for the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Daves credits the surge to last winter\u2019s inaugural girls season, when three Panthers qualified for state. He now finds himself with 15 girls ready to give the sport a try, growth that has also boosted the boys program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of freshmen and kids who\u2019ve never wrestled before, so we\u2019re getting them caught up on the sport,\u201d said Daves. \u201cAnd we\u2019re excited to have them all out there because there\u2019s strength in numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the girls side, sophomores CeJae Snyder and Paislee Mestas bring the experience of wrestling on the Ball Arena floor during the program\u2019s debut at the state championships, while numerous newcomers add to the excitement around one of the state\u2019s fastest-growing sports.<\/p>\n

\"Rusty
Rusty Snyder returns as one of the senior leaders for the Panthers boys wrestling program this winter. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The boys return state qualifiers seniors Bodie Stiegelmeyer and Rusty Snyder, who lead in the weight room. Junior Keaton Curleyhair also brings state experience. Injuries slowed sophomore Teagun Samora last year, but Daves expects a strong comeback on a roster deep in middle and lighter weights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been pushing each other \u2013 it\u2019s great to see,\u201d Daves said of his leading returners. \u201cAnd we partner up our experienced kids with the new wrestlers, and that helps us coaches make sure the kids are learning how to do things the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparing newcomers also means teaching the mental aspects of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re dedicating a day each week for mental training, and we work on building confidence and staying positive,\u201d Daves added.<\/p>\n

M-CHS hopes to continue closing the gap on league powers such as Alamosa and Pagosa Springs, which are consistently on the state podium. \u201cOur peewee and middle school programs keep growing, and that\u2019s feeding into the high school,\u201d Daves said. With numbers swelling, he wants to make sure kids continue to enjoy the sport, even through difficult stretches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll share the blood, sweat, and tears on the mat, but we\u2019re always looking to keep it fun, too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Panthers start the season Saturday, Dec. 6, at Bayfield. They\u2019ll face major tournament tests in Montrose on Dec. 13, the Warrior Classic at Grand Junction Central on Dec. 19-20, and Albuquerque\u2019s Conflict at Cleveland on Jan. 2-3.<\/p>\n

In January, M-CHS will compete in a series of duals, including a home dual Jan. 29 and a larger home event Jan. 31. Regionals are scheduled for Feb. 13-14, with the girls 3A meet at North Fork and the boys in Delta. Top-four finishes will earn athletes a trip to the state championships Feb. 19-21 in Denver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

program fuels record turnout; Panthers eye state bids after strong start and packed schedule<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15441"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19660,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15441\/revisions\/19660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15441"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}