Wrestlers place third at WR

The Bobcat wrestling team had an outstanding weekend at the Don Runner Invitational in Wind River, placing third behind Rawlins and Cokeville.

Head coach CJ Scholl said, “It was a super successful weekend. I couldn’t be more happy with how they wrestled.

“Our guys went in and fought and we took some big wins. We had a lot of pins.”

At 106 lbs., Austin Ireland, with a 12-8 record, placed fifth individually, scoring 14 points for the Cats. He won fifth in a major decision over Corgin Conk of Rich County, Utah.

Also at 106 lbs., Josh Lackey, with a 3-10 record, lost to Conk by fall, just 39 seconds into a consolation match.

Blake Williams (14-7), at 113 lbs., scored 16 team points with a fourth place finish. Williams lost by an 8-3 decision to James Knigge of Shoshoni.

At 120 lbs., Jonathan Hagen, with a 13-8 record, scored 24 team points with his fourth place win. Hagen went down by decision in a consolation match to Alex Nicholson of Lovell.

Chase White, at 126 lbs., placed fourth, adding 18 points to the team score. White lost the third place match to Aaron Braun of Rawlins by fall. He has an 8-8 record for the season.

With a 5-7 record, Aidan Ozmon lost the 132 lb. consolation match by fall to Brendan Miller of Kemmerer.

Hunter Mounts (5-10) provided another eight points to the scoreboard for the Cats even though he lost the 132 lb. consolation match by fall to Corban Woolstenhulme of Pinedale.

Nine points were scored by 138 lb. Jeffery VanAntwerp (9-9). VanAntwerp lost his consolation match by fall to Caden Stoll of Mountain View.

In the 145 lb. bracket, Jon Harvey, with an 8-7 record, lost his consolation match to Braydon Johnson of Cokeville.

Also at 145 lbs., Eric Bleak lost by fall to Ahren Vezina of Wright in his consolation match.

With a record of 10-6, 152 lb. Riley Shaffer scored eight team points going into his final consolation round. Shaffer dropped, by decision, to Beau Hines of Rawlins.

Tanner Boss, another 152 lb. Bobcat, lost his consolation round, by fall in the third period, to Hines.

Cullen Becher, with a 21-5 record for the season, placed first in the 160 lb. category, scoring a whopping 28 team points for the day. Becher won by decision over Cordell Vieweg of Cokeville.

Four more points were added to the team score by 170 lb. Michael Harvey (9-9). Harvey dropped his consolation match, by decision, to Rick Nate of Cokeville.

Tyson Tobar (6-13) placed fifth for the Cats, adding nine team points at 182 lbs. He took down Desmon Martinez from Rawlins in the third period of the match.

Andrew Yarbrough (4-14) lost by fall to Raistlin DuBeau of Shoshoni in his 220 lb. consolation match.

To show how close the scoring was for each of the teams, Rawlins placed first with 198 points, Cokeville placed second with 165.5 points, Thermopolis is third with 164 points and Kemmerer took fourth with 162 points.

Next up for the matmen will be the Lander Invitational this weekend.

According to Scholl, this tournament is equivalent to a 3A preview for the State Tournament.

“We have some JV wrestlers who are going to have to step up to varsity for this meet,” Scholl said. “This will give us a good look at how we’ll compete against 3A on an individual level.”