The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate wrestling team just finished up its busiest week of the year, wrestling in a dual and two tournaments, as they prepare for the upcoming regional and state tournaments.
The Lady Pirates started with a dual against Montezuma-Cortez on Thursday, Jan. 29, which they won 36-18.
Bella Jackson pinned her opponent in one minute and 58 seconds while wrestling at 105 pounds to start off the dual. Madi Stretton pinned her opponent after 1:13 seconds at 110 pounds. Neveah Castaneda pinned her opponent after 5:01 at 115 pounds. At 120 pounds, Sarah Thomas was pinned after 2:42. Corrina Galabota was pinned after 1:45 while wrestling at 125 pounds. Kyley Matyniak won by forfeit at 130 pounds. Audrina Smith pinned her opponent after 1:26 at 135 pounds. The Lady Pirates gave up a forfeit at 155 pounds, but Laykyn Baxstrom gained it back by winning via forfeit at 190 pounds.
“Our freshman girls are starting to elevate their performances,” said coach Dan Janowsky. “I would say Kelsey Matyniak, Neveah Castaneda and Sarah Thomas are all clearly getting better. They’re all attacking and scoring points, and that’s a great thing to help out those juniors and that one sophomore that have been consistently scoring points for us.”
The Lady Pirates then traveled to Cañon City on Friday, Jan. 30, to compete in their first of two tournaments on the weekend, the Ladies Canon Classic.
The girls placed 22nd out of 42 teams and had three placers at the tournament.
Jackson did not place, but scored eight points for the Lady Pirates at the tournament.
She won her first two matches, pinning her first opponent after 1:26 and her second opponent after 2:40, but was pinned in the quarterfinal after 3:07. Jackson was injured in her next match, bringing the tournament to an end for her.
Stretton placed fifth for the Lady Pirates and scored 16.5 points.
Stretton received a first-round bye, then won her first two matches, the first by a 17-1 technical fall and the second by fall after 3:54. In the semifinal she was pinned after 47 seconds, and then she lost by a 16-0 technical fall in the fourth round of the consolation bracket. Stretton bounced back and won the fifth-place match with a 4-0 decision.
Castaneda did not place and scored three points for the Lady Pirates.
She lost her first round match by fall after 1:18, bounced back and pinned her next opponent after 3:58 and then was pinned after 1:59.
Castaneda is now 8-10 overall on the season.
Kelsey Matyniak did not place and did not score any team points while wrestling at 120 pounds.
After receiving a first-round bye, she was pinned twice, the first after 1:17 and the second after 1:16.
Galabota did not place, but scored six points for the Lady Pirates.
She lost her first match by pin after 3:04. Then she pinned her next two opponents, the first after 2:37 and the second after 2:54. Her tournament came to a close after being pinned after 1:35 in her next match.
Kyley Matyniak placed sixth and scored 13 points for the Lady Pirates.
She won her first three matches, pinning her first opponent after 1:16, her second opponent after 3:43 and winning by a 4-1 decision in the third match. She was then defeated three straight matches, getting pinned after 3:14 in her fourth match, 3:21 in her fifth match and 4:33 in her sixth match to take sixth place.
Smith did not place and did not score team points.
She lost her first match by fall after 1:43, received a bye in the next round and was pinned after 3:57 in her final match of the tournament.
Baxstrom was the highest Lady Pirate placer at the tournament. She placed second and scored 24 points.
Baxstrom pinned her first three opponents to reach the first-place match. She pinned the first after 1:30, the second after 3:00 and the third after 3:00. She took home second after losing her first match of the season by a 5-2 decision.
“Friday’s tournament in Cañon City is exactly what we needed to kind of get a look at what our competition was going to be like beyond the regional tournament,” said Janowsky. “A lot of 4A teams there and a lot of 5A teams there, and so the competition was just what we needed.”
After returning home late Friday night, the Lady Pirates were back on the road early the morning of Saturday, Jan. 31, to compete in the Rio Grande Women’s Showdown in Del Norte.
The Lady Pirates placed second at the tournament out of six teams, and had one individual champion and seven total placers.
Stretton placed second and scored 19 points. Stretton pinned her first opponent after 5:56, won by a 20-2 technical fall in round two, won by a 19-2 technical fall in round three and pinned her fourth opponent after 3:29. She was pinned in her final match after 2:33, taking home second.
At 110 pounds, Carli Duncan placed sixth, but didn’t score.
Duncan lost five matches, the first by fall after 1:48, the second by a 20-5 technical fall, the third by fall after 1:30, the fourth by fall after 47 seconds and the fifth by fall after 30 seconds.
Thomas placed second and scored 12 points while wrestling at 115 pounds. Thomas pinned her first three opponents, the first after 4:27, the second after 4:47 and the third after 5:31. She lost her final match after being pinned in 1:05.
MacKayla Beach also wrestled at 115 pounds and placed fifth, but did not score. Beach lost four matches, the first by fall after 37 seconds, the second by fall after 4:27, the third by fall after 1:05 and the fourth by fall after 49 seconds.
Castaneda placed third and scored seven points while wrestling at 120 pounds.
She lost her first match by pin after 2:43, but came back and won her next two. She pinned her second opponent after 5:03 and her third opponent after 40 seconds. Castaneda lost her final match by a 15-0 technical fall.
Kelsey Matyniak placed fourth in the 120-pound bracket, but did not score.
She pinned her first opponent after 5:12, but lost her next three matches, the second by fall after 5:03, the third by fall after 16 seconds and the final match by fall after 28 seconds.
Kyley Matyniak placed second, scoring 19.5 points for the Lady Pirates.
She won her first four matches, pinning her first opponent after 3:53, her second opponent after 2:45, winning by a 15-0 technical fall in her third match and pinning her fourth opponent after 1:35. She lost her final match by a 15-12 decision and took second place.
Galabota also wrestled at 130 pounds and placed third, but did not score. She lost her first match, getting pinned after 3:53, then picked up three wins in her next four matches. She pinned her second opponent after 1:20, her third opponent after 2:14, was pinned after 1:37 by her fourth opponent and pinned her final opponent after 2:51 to take third.
Smith wrestled at 140 pounds and placed third, scoring 15 points for the Lady Pirates.
She was pinned after 1:26 in her first match, but then won three of her next four. She pinned her second opponent after 1:13, her third opponent after 1:22, was pinned after 47 seconds by her fourth opponent and pinned her final opponent after 40 seconds.
Baxstrom was the Lady Pirates’ only champion at the tournament. She scored 16 points, but she didn’t have to wrestle a single opponent. She received two straight byes because she was the only wrestler in her weight class.
Janowsky emphasized after the tournament in Del Norte that the Lady Pirates were working through fatigue after such a busy week, but he was happy to get a lot of the younger girls good matches at the tournament.
The girls will head to Alamosa for a dual on Thursday, Feb. 5, for their final action of the regular season. Afterward, they will begin preparation mode for the regional and state tournaments later this month.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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