Ignacio Wrestlers Place Third at Nucla-Hosted SJBL Championships

Ignacio High School’s boys wrestling squad finished third at the San Juan Basin League championships hosted by Nucla High School, collecting 44.5 team points in a meet that will shape regional seedings and state-bid hopes. Norwood topped the standings with 56.5 points and Dolores was second with 46.5; DCHS tallied 20.5, Mancos 10.5 and the hosting Mustangs scored 5.

The Bobcats’ day featured a mix of decisive moments and tight contests. Foreign-exchange wrestler Moise Grognard, bumped up to 190 pounds for the tournament, became Ignacio’s fifth SJBL champion by picking up a forfeit over Norwood’s Clayton Brack. Aven Bourriague at 113 produced a standout outing at the league meet, posting an 18-5 major decision over Norwood’s J.D. Johnson in a key bout that preceded Ignacio’s 144-pound action.

At 144 pounds Ignacio senior Dillon Brann faced Dolores’ Nathan Hill, a rival Brann had never beaten. Brann trailed 6-1 through the first two-minute period in that match, an example of the close, high-stakes matchups that decided team points across the card. At 138, Mason Hill lost an 11-7 decision to Dove Creek’s Cael Beanland with first place on the line, a result that shifted momentum in the middleweights.

The championship meet narrative credited a late surge by the winning squad, described in the report as the Mavericks, who clinched the team title with Kannon Sherman’s third-period pin of DCHS’ Daniel Jacket at 215 and Uriah Cook’s unopposed win at 285. The standings and these late-match outcomes underscore how a single pin or unopposed bout can swing league championships in tight fields.

Ignacio’s girls provided an emphatic performance in the limited girls bracket. Only four girls bouts were held, and Ignacio won three. Lainee Bradley recorded two pins, stopping Nucla’s Cooper Andrews 1:05 into the first period and later pinning Nucla’s Kynnlie McCabe 0:47 into the third period after the boys action concluded. Kodi Mae Rima pinned Cooper Andrews in 0:59, while Kynnlie McCabe’s earlier 30-second pin of Ignacio’s Jada Davis accounted for the lone Nucla victory on the girls side.

These SJBL results follow a larger, recent competitive stretch for Ignacio. At a prior 22-team Classic, Cedaredge won with 234 points while Ignacio totaled 90, trailing only Norwood among SJBL squads at that event. The schedule now turns to regionals: Ignacio’s Bobcats will travel north to Hotchkiss for the North Fork-hosted Class 4A-Region III championships on the Friday-Saturday regional weekend, while the Cedaredge-hosted 2A-Region I championships are set for Feb. 13-14 as the next stop for teams chasing state berths.

For Dolores County fans, Ignacio’s third-place league finish and the girls’ strong showing mean momentum heading into regionals. Individual pins and forfeits that decided weight classes at Nucla will shape seeding and matchups next weekend, and local wrestlers will be fighting for the state berths that come with a strong regional performance.