{"id":42126,"date":"2022-02-18T03:21:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T10:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/three-local-wrestlers-keep-title-hopes-alive\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:05:30","slug":"three-local-wrestlers-keep-title-hopes-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/three-local-wrestlers-keep-title-hopes-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Three local wrestlers keep title hopes alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Ignacio
Ignacio junior Keaton McCoy wrestles Pueblo Dolores Huerta Prep's Omar Soto on Thursday at the 2022 CHSAA state wrestling championships. McCoy won 145-pound match inside Denver's Ball Arena by a 22-11 major decision. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Three local wrestlers scored wins to keep their title hopes alive Thursday as the state wrestling championships began at the Ball Arena in Denver with first-round action.<\/p>\n

Keaton McCoy of Ignacio, Kobe Prior of Bayfield and Facob Fenberg of Durango all won their first-round matches.<\/p>\n

The other 11 La Plata County wrestlers, however, will have to battle through the consolation bracket after losing in the first round.<\/p>\n

McCoy (23-8) squared off with Omar Soto (18-16) of Dolores Huerta Prep in Pueblo and controlled the match from start to finish to score a 22-11 major decision for the Bobcats. McCoy will next face Zach Tittle (35-4) of Highland Ault in the 2A 145-pound quarterfinals Friday.<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield
Bayfield senior Kobe Prior works for a pin against Elizabeth senior Ryan Connelley Thursday in Denver's Ball Arena. Prior made the stick official in an elapsed 5:17 as he began work in the Class 3A, 170-pound division. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Prior (27-8) started the tournament against Elizabeth\u2019s Ryan Connelley (14-4). The 3A 170-pound match went into the third period, but Prior pinned him at the 5:17 mark to advance. Prior will face Eaton\u2019s Ryan Dirksen (41-0) in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

Fenberg (26-10) took on Liberty\u2019s Ayden Woodhead (23-20) to start the Class 4A 113-pound tournament. The match was tight, but Fenberg held on to score an 8-5 victory. He\u2019ll face L.J. Herburger (31-6) of Pueblo East in Friday\u2019s quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

\"Ignacio
Ignacio senior Jeremy Roderick attempts to roll Rocky Ford junior Kevin Tillman onto his back during Class 2A, heavyweight division action Thursday at the 2022 CHSAA State Championships in Denver. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Tyler Barnes and Jeremy Roderick both came up short in their first-round matches for Ignacio. Barnes lost 15-0 against Payton Wade of Wray at 170. Barnes (23-10) will next wrestle Rocky Ford\u2019s Jadon Huerta (27-10) in the consolations. Roderick (18-8) took on Rocky Ford\u2019s Kevin Tillman, but was pinned at the 3:04 mark of their heavyweight bout. Roderick will next wrestle Jacob Anderson of Cedaredge (9-15).<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield
Bayfield sophomore Jordan Cundiff battles Brush sophomore T.J. Rivera during Class 3A, heavyweight division action Thursday at the 2022 CHSAA State Championships in Denver. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bayfield wrestlers Keaton Pickering, James Mars and Jordan Cundiff also lost in the first round. At 113, Pickering (23-11) lost a 12-1 major decision to Daniel Soto of Jefferson (21-4). He\u2019ll next wrestle La Junta\u2019s Xavier Velador (12-14).<\/p>\n

Mars, the only La Plata wrestler to win a regional title, lost a close match in the opening round. Mars (25-6) lost an 8-6 decision to Carson Hawkins of Bennett (31-11) at 132 pounds. He\u2019ll face Engelwood\u2019s Isaiah Segoviano (28-7) next.<\/p>\n

Cundiff (12-18) took on T.J. Rivera of Brush in the first round, but was pinned at the 1:08 mark. He\u2019ll take on Fort Lupton\u2019s Dylan Jaramillo (7-5) next.<\/p>\n

Durango 106-pounder Ryan Dugan (34-8) squared off with Windsor\u2019s James Pantoja (20-3) in the first round, but was pinned in 1:23. Dugan will wrestle Emilio of Widefield (9-10) next.<\/p>\n

Riley Belt (27-20) started the 138-pound bracket against the top seed, Cheyenne Mountain\u2019s Nicholas Grizales (44-4). Belt battled, but was pinned at the 3:09 mark. He\u2019ll wrestle Thomas Velasquez of Pueblo County (15-9) next.<\/p>\n

At 160, Tyler Woodworth (35-8) and Devin Hickey of Grand Junction Central needed an extra period to decide their match. Hickey caught Woodworth and pinned him in the first sudden victory period. Woodworth will next wrestle Kieran Carter of Silver Creek (18-15).<\/p>\n

At 170, Ben Belt (44-8) began the tournament against Thompson Valley\u2019s Joe Smack (36-14). Smack, however, prevailed 11-6. Belt will face Aiden Blazek (14-12) of Discovery Canyon.<\/p>\n

The girls state wrestling tournament also is being staged Ball Arena for the first time, concurrently with the boys championships. Two county wrestlers advanced to the big show, but came up short in their first matches. Brooke Fenberg of Durango (18-14) lost her opening bout at 105 pounds, 13-2, against Mia Hargrove (34-2) of Discovery Canyon. Fenberg will wrestle Arvada\u2019s Dalilah Aguayo (16-11) to begin Friday.<\/p>\n

At 127, Faye Hackett of Ignacio (19-9) took on Fatima Duran of Yuma (20-8) in the first round, but was pinned in 2:08. Hackett will wrestle Melanie Perez of Legacy (19-17) next.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the quarterfinals, semifinals and first two rounds of consolations will take place. The tournament will then conclude Saturday, with the finals after a 5:30 p.m. parade of champions.<\/p>\n

Cayle McCoy of Ignacio will also compete as a wild card wrestler at 106 pounds on Saturday, battling a Dove Creek friend and foe in a modified match right before the championships. McCoy is Ignacio\u2019s first wild card wrestler to compete at state and can participate in the parade of champions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ignacio, Bayfield and Durango each have one wrestler advance in championship round<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42126","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=42126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85232,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42126\/revisions\/85232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42126"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}