As the end of 2021 nears, Moffat County High School’s winter sports teams have earned a holiday break after their final week of competition in the first half of their respective seasons.
With four years to hone their skills, some Moffat County High School wrestlers may find success immediately, and some find it rising through the ranks little by little.
PUEBLO Kaden Hixson was bleeding all day.
The Moffat County sophomore fell in his CHSAA State Championships quarterfinal match via 15-7 major decision and adding injury to insult, he smashed his face off the mat, breaking his nose.
The pain was one thing, but the bleeding was a disruption in the remainder of his matches, sometimes halting the contest as Hixson was gaining momentum.
“My nose hurts pretty bad and throughout the match blood just keeps coming out and stopping the match. It’s a little hard to breathe,” Hixson said. “Wrestling, you’re going to get your nose bumped. After breaking it, getting it hit again and again, it just hurts.”
Moffat County Bulldogs athletics.
Moffat County wrestling turned in a strong first day of the 3A Region 1 tournament Friday in Pagosa Springs.
As of Friday night, nearly the entire Moffat County wrestling team is still in the hunt in the regional tournament at Pagosa Springs.
Moffat County saw two wrestlers make the championship round Friday night, with sophomore Kaden Hixson losing in the 113-pound weight class to Gunnison’s Royce Uhrig, and junior Caden Call, who fell to Austin Featherman of Montezuma-Cortez in the final of the 132-pound weight class in a 9-5 decision.
Hixson got to the final by way of a first round bye, followed by wins over Rifle’s Kellen Johnson, and Alamosa’s Dario Valdez, before then falling by a major decision (12-0) in the 113-pound final.
Moffat County s Caden Call pins Steamboat s Owen Kirby in the 132-pound match Thursday at Steamboat Springs High School. (Andy Bockelman / For Craig Press)
Staring down a busy 6-match weekend Friday and Saturday, the Moffat County Bulldogs’ wrestling team rose to the occasion in late-season action, rolling to a perfect 6-0 mark against the likes of Coal Ridge, Battle Mountain, Summit, Gunnison, Delta, and Alamosa.
The Bulldogs traveled to New Castle Friday night to take on the Coal Ridge Titans, Battle Mountain and Summit Tigers, before then turning right around on Saturday to hit the road for a quad dual against the Gunnison Cowboys, Delta Panthers, and Alamosa Moose in Delta.