Mont Zunich, of the West End, won first place, including a trophy buckle, and also second place in the San Juan Skijoring that happened over the weekend in Ridgway. Both of his wins were in the snowboard light, the novice division held on Jan. 12. The wins came as a surprise to Zunich who hadn’t done the skijoring before, and wasn’t sure he would enter the competition.
He entered with Blaine Tedder, also of the West End, and together they took the second place title. Zunich said he feels like he and Tedder could’ve had definitely taken first place together.
His winning ride, though, was with Krista Burns, a random rider he was required to draw for. His scores qualified him to compete in the open classes the next day (the professional division). On Jan. 13, he did fairly well, marking a fifth place. Again, he was surprised, since many of the pros had four gos, and he had just two. He then competed again on Sunday and earned a seventh place.
Zunich is an experienced snowboarder. He previously taught the sport for Telluride Ski Resort and worked as a board park ranger for them. He’s been snowboarding since he was 13.
His trophy belt buckle is silver with rubies. He’s impressed, as is his sister Michele Zunich, who’s competed in many rodeos.
“It was fun, the most crazy experience I’ve had,” he said, “and nerve-wracking, and then to see yourself on the big screen.”
Zunich told the Forum he would consider entering the San Juan Skijoring again in the future. Both he and Tedder also won money.
In high school sports, the basketball teams had to rearrange last week with the new gym not being open yet. (The new school in Nucla was not complete.) The Cedaredge game was moved to Norwood last week, and the Dove Creek game happened away.
For the boys basketball team, they faced Cedaredge Jan. 9. Then, the guys lost, 65-74. High scorer for the Mustangs was Steele Arnold with 22 points. Slade Gillen had 18, and Brycen Rummel had 10. The guys played Dove Creek Jan. 11 and won, 51-42. In that game Steele Arnold had 23 points, and Slade Gillen had nine.
The girls basketball team fell to Cedaredge that same night, 32-49. Shay Snyder led with eight points, and Lantry Galley put up seven. The ladies lost again to Dove Creek when they traveled with the guys, 35-52. Lantry Galley led in points with 11, and Kendra McCluer contributed eight.
By the weekend, the Mustangs held the first wrestling tournament in the district’s brand new school, which had not even been open for classes yet. Inspectors were on site and gave approval for the tournament at the end of last week.
And, the Mustangs took third overall in their own house with 153.5 points, falling to Montrose by two and Monticello by a half point.
In first place were Jackson McCabe, Arthur Connelly and JW Nasland. Coming in second were Paxtin Caruso, Derrick VanDellan and David Quigley. Hunter Rowe was third, and Cole Bray and Jacob Davis took fifth. Nolan Cressler was eighth.
This week basketball hosted Ridgway Jan. 16, their first games in the new gym. The Mustangs will travel to Dolores on Friday, Jan. 19. For wrestling, the guys head to North Fork for a dual on Friday, and then compete in the tournament there the following day.
