Craig Daily Press

John Vandelinder

John Vandelinder's columns appear Tuesdays and Fridays in the Craig Daily Press. E-mail him at jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com

Craig — What happened?

I go on a week’s vacation and everybody loses?

I guess I can never leave Craig.

Let’s take a look.

Wrestling

Moffat County’s wrestlers top the beat this week.

A fourth-place finish in Las Vegas added a little optimism to a so-far-disappointing season.

Coach Roman Gutierrez wanted the Bulldogs to finish in the top-5, and they did.

Nathan Tomlin continued his wining ways finishing the highest of all Moffat County representatives.

No first-place finishes, but the improvement in a week was the boost of confidence this team needs.

Word must of spread that the Bulldogs were returning to form; Steamboat could only find three boys who could wrestle in yesterday’s scheduled event and had to cancel.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all the teams did that?

Swimming

Moffat County held tough after competing in the Jeffco Invite last Friday and Saturday.

Against some of the stiffest competition in the state — a combination of 4A and 5A schools — the Bulldogs had a great showing.

Kelsey Conci continued to heat up the water, regardless of the competition.

The senior won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 backstroke in a combined 84.71 seconds.

She has yet to be defeated in the 50 free.

Coach Marin Campbell has been putting the team through its most vigorous workouts of the season, and it seems to be paying off.

Campbell said each and every Bulldog swam her fastest time of the season in her chosen event.

Girls basketball

A rarity occurred this past weekend — Moffat County lost a league game.

A 16-point defeat at the hands of Glenwood Springs dropped the Bulldogs from first place in the Western Slope.

Moffat County (9-3 overall, 2-1 WSL) is now in third place, behind Glenwood and Palisade.

The Bulldogs can move back into second today with a road victory against Palisade.

The loss of injured senior pre-season, all-conference selection Markie Workman looms large, but she said today at practice that she was a six out of ten on the pain meter and she expects to play.

Without their dominating post presence and her 16.4 points per game, the Bulldogs are averaging 43 points per game. With Workman, the team was averaging 61.

Do the math, and it adds up to a weaker team when she’s gone.

Who’s going to fill her shoes?

Senior Angie Charchalis (17.2 points per game) can’t do it alone.

Hockey

The Bulldog Hockey Club has toppled down from the beat after seven consecutive weeks at the top.

Moffat County (13-1-2 overall, 7-1-1 Rocky Mountain Youth Hockey League) took a hit this past weekend, managing just one point against a visiting Gunnison squad that came into Craig winless in four league games.

Moffat County slipped to third place in the league at 15 points, trailing league leader Durango (19) and current second-place holder Steamboat Springs (16).

The statistic that sticks out in my mind is Moffat County’s 187 penalty minutes.

Durango and Steamboat combined haven’t accumulated that many.

The five goals Moffat County scored in the doubleheader against Gunnison were well below the team’s average of nearly seven per game.

The one-two punch of captain Scott Smith and assistant captain Colt Criswell are in the top-10 in the league in scoring. Smith sits in fourth with nine league goals and 13 points. Criswell is 10th with seven goal and 11 points.

Outside of league play the duo has combined for another 14 goals and seven assists.

The Bulldogs travel to Grand Junction on Sunday, where the team will need to once again find its winning ways, and quick. Steamboat visits Wednesday, followed by a match-up with first-place Durango next Saturday.

It’s now crunch time for playoff seeding with just seven games remaining until the postseason begins.

Boys basketball

Three more losses drop the Bulldogs to 1-10 overall and 0-3 in league play, good for last place in the Western Slope.

Its lone victory against Peak To Peak High School seems like an eternity ago.

Moffat County can score, but the defense has been the team’s weakness so far this season.

The Bulldogs’ opponents averaged 64.5 ppg the past four Moffat County losses, an improvement on the 73 ppg the previous seven. But, it’s still 10 more points per game than they score.

A heart-breaking loss to Rifle and another close defeat at the hands of Fruita the past two games might indicate the team is about to come around.

Just when things started to look up, the Bulldogs lost two of its top-6 players Wednesday. Colton Conrad quit because of personal issues and more importantly, junior Mike Peters injured his ankle and will be lost for the season.

Look for Dylon Camilletti to step in and man the point.

Undefeated Palisade is on the horizon, so don’t expect any quick fixes. Look forward to Saturday: Moffat County will visit a winless Delta team in a battle to see who sits alone at the bottom of the Western Slope.

John Vandelinder can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 211, or jvandelinder@craigdailypress.com