Wrestlers place 3rd in Salida

The Mavericks took over the mat in Salida, placing third among the 21 teams at the tournament.
“We’re currently ranked eighth in the state,” said Bob Harris, one of the coaches. “The team wrestled very well.”
Two of the team’s top wrestlers are ranked first in the state — Hugh Hardman, wrestling at 140 lbs., and Stryker Lane, wrestling at 215 lbs. Both Hardman and Lane took first place at the tournament in Salida.
Several of the Norwood wrestlers took second place — Seth Gabardi, wrestling in the 119 lb. class, Trevor Ragsdale, in the 171 lb. class, and Darrell Jensen, in the heavyweight class. Gabardi is ranked eighth in the state, Ragsdale is ranked eleventh, and Jensen is ranked sixth.
Harris said that the teams who participated in the Salida tournament were mostly larger, 3A schools. Next weekend the wrestlers travel to a tournament in Ignacio, before their first and only tournament at home on Feb. 2.

Boys basketball bounces past Dove Creek

Norwood’s varsity basketball players made it to the hoop four times as well as their Dove Creek opponents on Saturday — the final score was Norwood, 44, and Dove Creek, just 11.
“Dove Creek is a young, inexperienced rebuilding team,” said Norwood’s coach Doc Williams. “They did everything well, they just didn’t shoot the ball well.”
Norwood’s players were better able to connect with the basket, even without the team’s only senior, Jesse Efurd, who was unable to play because of an ankle injury. Williams said Efurd hopes to be able to play this weekend.
Zach Andrews led the scoring with 12 points, and Eric McKinney had 8, Edgar Torres had 7 and Nate Johnson, 6.
“That’s a real team effort,” said Williams.
The junior varsity was also able to overcome Dove Creek, winning by 51-26. Taylor Sutherlin had his best game this season, scoring an impressive 19 points; Brian Hanner had 9, Gabriel Torres, 8, Austin Johnson, 7 and Jacob Montgomery, 5.
Williams said that this Friday’s game is likely to be the best-attended game all season, as Norwood takes on its hometown rivals, the Nucla Mustangs.
“This is THE game,” said Williams. “Norwood and Nucla.”
The Mavericks take on the Mustangs at 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 at home.

Lady Mavericks tally first loss of season

Norwood’s Lady Mavericks basketball team played a close game against Dove Creek, but succumbed in the fourth quarter, losing 39-47.
Norwood started out a little slowly, said Coach Jan Gillen, and were down by eight points in the first quarter. By halftime, they were making a comeback and were only trailing by three points.
With just three minutes left in the second half, Norwood was keeping pace with Dove Creek, and the score was tied at 34-34.
“We just couldn’t quite take control of it,” said Gillen. “They’re one of the toughest teams in our league.”
Sam Oliver, a senior, was able to score 10 points. Next week, the Lady Mavericks will face Nucla on Friday night at home, and Mancos on the road on Saturday. Gillen said that Nucla is an arch-rival of the Mavs.
“It’s one of the biggest rivalries in the state,” said Gillen. “And Mancos is a pretty tough team. We’ll have to play hard against them.”