\u201cHe ended up getting the takedown, controlled that lead and took it from there,\u201d Belmire said of Featherman. \u201cOur region is tough, but he\u2019s got a chance to make it to state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final Panthers win came at 132 pounds from Caden Cote, as he would pin Preston Sellers with three seconds to go before the first period buzzer.<\/p>\n
Everything would change in a hurry once the Demons got into the middle weights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were a little bit rusty, and Durango came out real aggressive,\u201d Belmire said. \u201cEveryone is getting down toward regional time. It\u2019s time to shift the gear. Durango had the gear shifted tonight, and we didn\u2019t match that level of aggressiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payson Albrecht wrestled for DHS at 138 pounds, and he would pin Jaquin Laner 1:05 into the second period. Jacob Rowe of Durango would pick up a forfeit win at 145 pounds before Durango\u2019s Woodworth stepped on the mat at 152 pounds to face Ethan Root.<\/p>\n
Woodworth, ranked 11th in Class 4A\u2019s 152 pounds in the most recent On the Mat rankings produce by Tim Yount, had struggled with Root in the past, but not Wednesday night. Woodworth would earn a pin victory 1:06 into the second period to give the Demons all the momentum and a 33-18 lead.<\/p>\n \u201c(Root) had beat me twice last year and pinned me with the same move I pinned him with tonight,\u201d Woodworth said. \u201cIt was a big win for me in a two-year rivalry. I won\u2019t see him anymore since he\u2019s a senior, which makes me a little sad because it\u2019s fun to have a rival, but the match felt awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben Belt of Durango followed Woodworth with a pin for the Demons. Belt scored three easy takedowns of Montezuma-Cortez\u2019s Casen Allmon before he pinned the Panther with 58 seconds left to wrestle in the third period.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been working on my shot for a long time, and I feel like it\u2019s probably one of my best skills in a wrestling match,\u201d Belt said. \u201cI had wrestled (Allmon) before, and he\u2019s really good. I was glad to go out there and wrestle well again against him.\u201d<\/p>\n DHS would secure three consecutive forfeit victories with James Storm (170), Austin Albrecht (182) and Alex Finneseth (195) all unopposed.<\/p>\n The final match would come at 220 pounds, where Durango\u2019s Miguel Stubbs showed plenty of aggression and worked past Devan Frost for a pin 1:26 into the second period.<\/p>\n After the match, the Demons got together for a celebratory photo on their home mat to pose with the traveling trophy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good feeling,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cI know the entire team, this was one of our rival teams, so it was a big thing for everyone here, and everyone was excited to come out and get that win against Cortez.\u201d<\/p>\n Montezuma-Cortez has one dual-meet left to wrestle before regionals, and that will come Thursday night against Pagosa Springs.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people say, \u2018Hey, those teams are tough,\u2019 but I also have tough kids,\u201d Belmire said. \u201cWe just gotta keep battling and stay in good positions and not give up silly takedowns. It\u2019s a chess game when you\u2019re going against good, solid kids this time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Demons will head to Montrose for the Southwestern League duals this weekend before regionals the following week.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are all gonna be big duals, but we\u2019re ready for them,\u201d Belt said. \u201cLast year, we had a much smaller team with some good guys. This year, we have more people out, and that\u2019s really helping the team out in these duals.\u201d<\/p>\n