The Montezuma-Cortez wrestling program will be represented at the state championships Ball Arena this weekend after competing in their regional tournaments Friday and Saturday.
The boys team competed in the Class 3A Region 3 tournament at Grand Valley High School in Parachute and the girls took part in the 4A Girls Region 2 tournament at Gunnison High School.
M-CHS experienced changes this season, with a record turnout at tryouts and many underclassmen joining the wrestling team. A girls team was also introduced, adding to the excitement of the year.
Representing the girls in their first year at state are freshman Paislee Mestas (120 pounds), senior Aubrey Rutherford (145), and freshman CeJae Snyder, who took first place in the 115-pound division at regionals in Gunnison.
Mestas lost her first matchup in the quarterfinals by pin fall before winning the Round 3 consolation match against Cassandra Linhardt of Mullen by a pin at 1:22. She advanced into the fourth-place match, where she earned her spot at state by pinning Bayfield’s Audrina Velasquez in the 120-pound bracket.
Rutherford went on an nearly perfect streak, reaching the championship match against Roselynne Bernal-Rodriguez from Basalt High School. She had to concede due to an injury, but will make her first appearance at state.
CeJae Snyder, who comes with a lot of experience prior to her high school year, defeated Nevaeh Cortez of Olathe to compete in the 115-pound championship round against West Grand’s Sage Wheatly where she won by pin fall at the 3:05 mark.
From the boys side, the Panthers are led by juniors Bodie Stiegelmeyer (113) and Rusty Snyder (138), sophomore Keaton Curleyhair (120) and senior Ashton Orr (144).
Stiegelmeyer had a 2-0 streak in the tournament before losing in the semifinals to Damyon Funk of Gunnison but posted a couple more victories to be the third-place match against Delta’s Cha Pla where he lost by a 15-0 technical fall, but he earned the right to return to state.
Rusty Snyder followed a similar path, losing to Zach Benson of Gunnison in the semifinals. However, he then won two consecutive matches, including a 11-2 major decision victory over Aiden Knecht of Centauri in the third-place match, securing his spot at state in the 138-pound bracket.
The semifinal round continued to challenge the Panthers as Curleyhair lost by a 12-6 decision to Bayfield’s Connor Martindale before winning a consolation match to face Grand Valley’s Carmine Neil and won by a 9-8 decision to place third overall in the 120-pound division.
As a senior, this is Orr's first year wrestling, but he leveraged his jiu-jitsu background to advance to state. He lost in the semifinals to Colton Lucero of Pagosa Springs but battled his way into the third-place match in the 144-pound bracket. Orr fell short in the match, losing 10-4 to Niklas Skadberg of Centauri.
State action will start on Thursday, Feb. 13 and go throughout the weekend at the Ball Arena in Denver.
