There’s no place like home. Just ask the Norwood wrestling team — at Saturday’s first and only home tournament of the season, every wrestler placed and the team took second overall among the 14 teams that attended.
The athletes waited patiently for their six minutes of intense struggle on either of two mats, as about 150 wrestlers made their way through the championship and condolence brackets. The gym felt like the tropics, hot and sweaty and stuffed with fans, cheerleaders and kids, and the only break in the all-day action was a ten-minute intermission for food and whistles blown so that the coaches could wipe the spatter off the mat from the inevitable bloody noses.
Two of Norwood’s wrestlers are ranked first in the state: Hugh Hardman, wrestling at 140 lbs., and Stryker Lane, wrestling at 215 lbs. Both Hardman and Lane were unbeatable again, taking down all their opponents Saturday and winning their weight classes.
Nor could any wrestler beat Norwood’s Tyler Stewart, who took first place in the 112 lb. weight class. Seth Gabardi also took first place, wrestling for Norwood in the 119 lb. weight class.
Billy Fourney wrestled in the 145 lb. weight class, and took second place. Dustin Winner, wrestling at 125 lbs., and Ethan Alexander, at 160 lbs., both took third place. Trevor Ragsdale, wrestling at 171 lbs., and heavyweight Darrel Jensen both snared a fourth place finish Saturday.
“I think that the hometown match really got the boys fired up,” said Sherri Hardman, wife of Coach Dirk Hardman. “It was a big success for Norwood. Everyone there placed.”
The event was also a success for organizers. Lots of volunteers helped run the matches and transform the gym from a basketball court into an arena for the grapplers. Clark’s Market and U.S. Bank donated food for the coaches’ hospitality room, and local bakers donated pies, coffee cakes and cookies for a silent auction to raise money for the wrestling team. Hardman was grateful for the community’s support.
“Thank you to all the volunteers that helped us put it together,” she said.

Lady Mavericks hand Telluride a homecoming defeat

The girls basketball team in Norwood is having a very good season — unfortunately for their opponents this weekend, Dolores and Telluride. The Mavericks beat both teams and catapulted their record to 10-2.
The Lady Mavs took down Dolores on Friday night, 54-37. Coach Jan Gillen said that every time Norwood would get a comfortable lead, the Bears would make a comeback, but in the end the Mavs were able to pull away and get the win.
“It seems like we’d get up by ten, and they’d make a run on us,” said Gillen. “We just kept fighting. The girls showed a lot of character, and didn’t get nervous.”
Sam Oliver had 25 points against Dolores, and Malisha Sutherlin had ten.
It was homecoming weekend for Telluride, but the Mavs didn’t let them take home the win on Saturday night. Norwood smoked the Miners, 55-20.
Gillen said that his team dominated the game from the beginning.
“From the start we pretty much took control of the game. They ran offense really well, played good defense … it was one of our better games of the season,” said Gillen.
Malisha Sutherlin had 18 points in the game, and Sam Oliver had 16.
Gillen said that this season’s success is due to the players’ ambition and ability to play well together.
“They want to do really well, they want to prove they can win a lot of games,” he said. “It seems like every time we go out there we have a good team effort, and everyone is involved.”
The Mavericks play Dove Creek, one of only two teams that have beaten them this season, on Saturday.

Norwood boys basketball teams lose on the road

Norwood Mavericks boys basketball team suffered a tough loss against Dolores Friday night, after losing a substantial lead early in the game. The final score was 68-59.
Coach Doc Williams said that the Mavs had the lead, but that it was erased by a series of three-point shots. The Dolores Bears got lucky on the outside, hitting ten three-point shots in the second half.
“We were up at one point, 16 or 18 points,” said Williams. “The kids played extremely hard.”
Senior Jesse Efurd had 21 points against Dolores; Zach Andrews had 17, and Erick McKinney had 12.
Norwood’s Junior Varsity boys basketball played a close game against Dolores, losing by just 32-29. Both Austin Johnson and Edgar Torres were able to score ten points against the Junior Varsity Bears.
The Mavericks also took on Telluride Saturday night, playing in Telluride at the Miners’ homecoming game. The Mavs lost, 66-42.
Williams said that the games in Dolores had worn out the team, but the playing time that some of the players get in the Junior Varsity games is paying off.
“You could see that we were tired from being on the road the night before, but I was particularly impressed with five of our J.V. players that came in the third quarter,” Williams said. “They came off the bench and changed the momentum of the game for us.”
Jesse Efurd and Eric McKinney both had 15 points against Telluride, and Zach Andrews had ten.
Norwood’s Junior Varsity boys also succumbed to Telluride, losing 35-27. Norwood has barely enough players to field both the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams, so Williams has to keep a careful eye on the amount of playing time his athletes get, to keep them eligible according to the state rules. Williams said he has also been plagued by injuries this season.
“I’ve got more sprained ankles to tape than I have in quite some time,” said Williams.