With the Moffat County boys making waves at a whole new event and the girls retaining their team title at a familiar tournament, Bulldog wrestlers made their mark this weekend. The girls won Saturday’s tournament in Soroco, while the boys placed fourth out of 30 teams at the inaugural Western Slope Showdown.

The boys fought their way through two days of competition at the Montrose County Event Center, a new effort to bring a large-scale tourney to the region.

Coach Mark Voloshin said that while the crucial second week event was different than last year’s Delta event — during which MoCo was a runner-up and his son Michael was named Outstanding Wrestler last December — it was nonetheless a strong showing by Bulldog athletes.

“We had some great accomplishments — the highlight was Eli Fredrickson in the finals,” Voloshin said.

Fredrickson, a senior, made it the furthest in the brackets of the 138-pound division, moving to the championship round after two pins and a 6-3 decision. He fought to the finish against Buena Vista’s Caleb Camp. Camp remained undefeated with a 2-0 finale.

MCHS boys had eight total grapplers make it to the podium: junior Kaeden Martinez was third in the 144 class with a 5-1 run, senior Aron Aguilar fourth (150) at 4-2, and senior Blake Hill fifth in 175 at 5-2.

Senior Cyrus Goldsmith and junior Zach Hedman were both in the varsity 165 class — Goldsmith took fifth at 5-2 and Hedman took sixth at 3-3 — with the latter enduring an injury.

In the JV rounds, senior Jimi Jimenez won the 157 weight with three pins and a 19-4 technical fall, while freshman Owen Hill went 3-3 for sixth place in the 150 division, all his wins by fall.

Meanwhile, the MCHS girls saw their entire roster place in Oak Creek, as well as taking first as a team.

Sophomores Kayla Deaton and Vanessa Herrera and freshman Amanaki George each went unbeaten in the 130, 155 and 140 classes, respectively. A smaller tournament meant the Bulldogs were often facing their own teammates, and Deaton went 3-0, Herrera 2-0 and George 4-0.

Haylee Staker (130), Abby Martinez (140) and Callah Caperton (170) each placed second; Rockelle Worley (120), Keely Fenhaus (155) and Kali Walton (170) each took third; Sydney Brazeal (105), Raegan McMillan (120) and Miriam Jimenez each fourth; and Danaka Miller was fifth at 140.

With four matches, two of which were against her own team, Miller said it was a tough day but a rewarding one.

“I didn’t do the best, but I learned from it and mentally I did good with that,” Miller said.

Miller and Herrera noted that they both came into wrestling after leaving other activities, and have not been disappointed.

“I’ve always loved the concept,” Herrera said. “When I was younger, I watched UFC and WWE and all that. I’ve been wanting to wrestle for a while, but my mom would have never let me wrestle guys. So, having a girls team is nice. I started practicing, and I just loved it.”

Miller said she has especially enjoyed the atmosphere.

“I have a lot of friends doing it, and I feel like it’s a better environment than some of the other girls sports,” Miller said. “Everybody supports everybody. If something goes wrong, there’s nobody to blame but myself.”

MCHS wrestling will round out the early season this weekend as girls travel to Greeley for the UNC Christmas Tournament and the boys take on Grand Junction Central’s Warrior Classic.