But that's nothing new. Duford can't hear much at all.
The senior 171-pounder is hearing impaired, yet his performance during and after Friday's opening rounds spoke volumes about the young wrestler's character. Unlike the uneasy reporter, Duford is perfectly comfortable talking about his hearing loss, which he puts at somewhere between 95-97 percent since birth.
“It's not hard at all. I kind of use it to my advantage,” Duford said. “Sometimes there are a lot of distractions. The crowd gets you distracted and you're trying to listen to different people and I can just ignore it. I'm in my own zone. Whenever I want I can look over and talk to my coaches, so it's got its own advantages and disadvantages to it.”
Duford, who also played defensive line for the Pirates' football team, wears hearing aides, just not when he wrestles. His American Sign Language interpreter, Pam Carruth, sits mat-side with head coach Bob Owen, who still squirms around in his chair, but is much more subdued compared to other wrestlers he instructs.
“He's probably gotten used to it by now,” Duford said. “I've been wrestling with him pretty much since the first grade.”
Owen will tell Carruth a move or a position he wants Duford to use and she'll sign it to Duford, who peers over occasionally when his line of sight allows. For the most part he's on his own, though.
That's OK with Duford, who's pretty independent. Owen said he has to be careful what he says to his assistant coaches at practice and also Carruth.
“She said he's the best lip-reader she's ever seen,” Owen said. “I told Ryley he should go work for one of the pro football teams as a sign stealer.”
Too late, Bob.
“Yeah, sometimes my friends will be like, ‘Hey what's that chick saying over there?' and I'll watch closely and I can usually catch most of it,” Duford said. “But sometimes it's harder to look at and understand. My friends have fun with that.”
“He's something else,” said Owen, smiling.
Duford lost his first match at state, then won an elimination round match later that day, before losing to Ronan's Josh Krantz, the eventual third-place winner, in another loser-out bout. Duford never placed in two trips to state, but you won't hear him complain.
“This is probably one of the top athlete sports out there,” said Duford of why he picked up wrestling. “It's a very physical, very mental sport. There's a lot of commitment to it and it's just a really good feeling staying in shape.”
Duford wrapped up his career with a 20-8 record this season, but he's not done with wrestling. He helped get Carruth's son, Drew, interested in the sport.
“At first she didn't (like it),” said Duford, who's been working with Carruth since the sixth grade, “but now she's gotten used to it. She's helped me out tremendously in school and sports. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't be able to be where I am without her.”
Corvallis senior 145-pounder Ethan Burt made his final state meet - and his first one - a memorable event.
A “yearlong JVer,” Burt won his opening match at the all-class state tournament in Billings 9-8 over Sidney's top-seeded Richard Heckler. Neither Heckler, also a senior, or Burt had ever placed at state, but Heckler was at least a divisional champion, while Burt barely made it as a No. 4 seed from the Southwestern A.
“He's our JV senior,” said an elated Corvallis coach Jeff Nagel, who brought 15 grapplers to state. “He was our extra wrestler, but for the rest of his life he's going to remember this tournament.”
Burt went 2-2 at the two-day meet, losing his quarterfinal match before beating Heckler's teammate James Collins in the consolation bracket. Heckler also went 2-2, losing out finally to Burt's teammate Andy Jessop, also a top seed.
Arlee coach Ken Hill was mighty impressed with his wrestlers after Saturday's finals wrapped up at the MetraPark Arena.
And for good reason. The sixth-ranked Warriors earned a championship trophy as the top-scoring Class C school in the combined Class B-C competition. The team also had two individual champions in junior Jake Trujillo (112) and senior Jared Foust (135). But there was a third victory for Arlee.
It seems freshman Cassandra Kline (98) became the first girl to win a match at state when she pinned Wolf Point's Travis Redekopp in 55 seconds of their first-round consolation bout. There have been plenty of girls to qualify for state, but none have ever won a match, said Hill, who was told by MHSA rules interpreter Dave Edington of Ronan, a longtime worker of state tournaments.
A few of the unique accessories seen on the mats: Eureka senior Kallan Roose (215) entered the arena during Saturday's parade of finalists wearing a red and black flannel shirt with cut-off sleeves, looking like a mix between Al Borland from the TV show “Home Improvement” and pro wrestler Hacksaw Jim Dugan, minus the beards of course. ... Fairfield's Ethan May (140) wore a different pair of argyle socks - and a different color on each leg - for each round of the tournament. He became a two-time champ. ... Browning's William Wells (215) sported a pair of red and white tye-dyed socks. He earned runner-up honors. ... And lastly, among a sea of tattoo-clad wrestlers, the best ink job goes to the Libby Loggers' Brandin Mills, whose ballpoint pen inscription of “Tank” on the back of his neck could never be more true. The junior heavyweight wound up taking fifth at state.
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