Camp Verde’s wrestling team hosted Northwest Christian in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 30. It marked the fifth time that the Cowboys had been on the mats in a dual meet since they lost the season opener to Morenci on Jan. 20. And as was the case in the prior four meets, the Camp Verde grapplers were victorious.
Due to forfeits, the Cowboys started the meet down six points. They more than made up for it on the mat, though, earning their fifth-straight win by defeating the visiting Crusaders 41-24.
“I think it went really well,” said Camp Verde 160-pound wrestler, junior Garrett Dulaney. “It was supposed to be really evenly matched and a lot of our guys had battles. But I think we all did really well and proved that we were the better team.”
Dulaney was one of several star performers during the meet. He won his match by pinfall, aided by a double-leg takedown that coach Larry Allred compared to something you’d see in college wrestling. Senior Dade Woodard [132 pounds] maintained the dominance that he’s shown all season, posting a pinfall victory.
While the early season performances of Dulaney and Woodard were impressive, they haven’t necessarily been unexpected, as they’re two of the top returning wrestlers on Camp Verde’s team. Jeremy Jones, who won his match at 138 pounds, is also returning, but his performance has been perhaps a little bit more of a positive surprise to Allred, who noted how much he’s changed in a year’s time.
“The most improved guy has got to be Jeremy,” Allred said. “We couldn’t get him to settle down. He was always going out there and wrestling with adrenaline and athleticism but never really like a wrestler should with the techniques, setups and methodically going through what you need to do to beat a kid. This year, a totally different kid. I’ve really been impressed with his improvement.”
Allred also singled out a couple of newcomers in the win over Northwest Christian. One was 106-pounder Chris Dulaney, who got onto the mat for the first time on Saturday, having won all of his prior matches via forfeit. He earned a pinfall victory. Another was 170-pounder Logan Kurowski, who won his second of two matches on the season in a highly competitive contest.
“He’s so athletic and has such a great heart,” Allred said. “Which is something you can’t coach.”
“My neutral is a little rough — it was a little undisciplined,” Kurowski said. “But I was able to make up for it when I got on offense.”
Fewer than two weeks passed between Camp Verde’s season opening loss to Morenci and the win over Northwest Christian.
But while it was a short time on the calendar, it was enough to give the Cowboys much more confidence, creating the feeling that while the names and faces are the same, the team is far different.
“We’re doing our stuff and listening to what the coaches say,” Jones said. “And it’s working out.”
“I think we’ve improved so much,” 113-pounder Angel Casillas said. “When we first faced Morenci, we were nothing like this. We’ve improved vastly.”
With six dual meets, the first two weeks of Camp Verde’s season have been action packed. The next two will be a little more calm.
The Cowboys will return to the mats on Friday, Feb. 5, for a road dual meet against Bagdad. Their next meet will be a week later when they host Arizona Lutheran on Friday, Feb. 12. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. The busy schedule will resume after that, with six matches being contested between Saturday, Feb. 13, and the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 27.
All told, the Cowboys have eight more dual meets scheduled before Sectionals, with three coming at home. In addition to the home meet against Arizona Lutheran, Camp Verde will host St. Johns on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 4 p.m. and Page on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 12 p.m.
Each home team wrestler is allowed to have up to two guardians at every meet. For those who can’t attend, the home meets are streamed online on Camp Verde Wrestling’s Instagram page [@campverdewrestling].
