The first day of competition is usually a long one for Moffat County High School wrestling, but more often than not it’s also a successful one.

This year was no exception.

Bulldog grapplers went the long haul Saturday as varsity athletes competed at the Colorado Mesa University Maverick Duals in Grand Junction and junior varsity took on the Olathe JV Tournament.

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The varsity lineup was 3-2 in total team results, starting the day with a 63-12 win over Coal Ridge and finishing the stretch just behind Bayfield at 38-36. Victories of 45-34 over Durango and 53-18 vs. Montezuma Cortez plus a 42-30 loss to Central took place in between.

With no wrestlers filling the 195-, 220-pound, and heavyweight slots, the Dogs’ group defeats were largely due to opponents’ larger rosters — 6-5 in contested matches with Central and 4-5 against Bayfield.

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“As a team, we did really well getting pins and scoring bonus points but also gave up too many bonus points, which stopped us from possibly going 5-0 on the day,” head coach Tyler Seislove said.

With nearly every varsity competitor earning at least one victory by fall during the duals, several finished their first meet of the year unscathed, including freshmen Kaden Hixson (106) and Brody Wiser (113), sophomore Ryan Duzik (132) and senior Daniel Caddy (152).

Among the four of them, they amassed 11 pins, with Duzik the only one to see competition in every round, taking a 16-1 technical fall and 8-6 decision in the process.

At 120, Caden Call took two pins one defeat, a last-second fall given up to Central, while Pepper Rhyne (160) was also 4-1 with three falls.

With a pin and two wins by decision, Blake Juergens (138) was 3-2 for the day, while seniors Dagan White and Taylor Coleman split the duties at 145, combining for 2-3 with Coleman getting his first fall for the Bulldogs.

At 2-3, 182’s Daniel Cruz took both W’s by pin, and while freshman Billy Lawton struggled with a 2-3 day at 170, he also had the fastest win for the team, pinning Coal Ridge’s Ronin Rockey in 15 seconds.

Elsewhere, Michael Voloshin waltzed through the brackets in Olathe, winning the JV tourney’s 160 class with three straight pins, all of them in the first period.

The Dogs picked up a pair of silver honors as well. At 138, Coltyn Terry also took a trio of falls over opponents before finding himself on the wrong side of a 13-9 decision to Fruita Monument’s Sullivan Sample in the last round. A bye round, a pin and a forfeit sent Alexander Black (152) to the championships, where Wyatt Kunz of Delta won via sudden victory at 9-7.

With a home dual scheduled for Wednesday against Basalt, varsity and JV MCHS wrestlers will be in Steamboat Springs Tuesday for Moffat County’s annual triangular with the Sailors and Coal Ridge, a rematch with the Titans.

While this will be the first face-off of the season against Steamboat, Seislove said he anticipates a similar showing the second time against Coal Ridge.

“I would expect no less than going out and repeating our performance or improving on it,” he said.