Bobcat wrestlers win at Greybull Invitational

It's been a while since anyone on a wrestling bus had occasion to shout "We're Number One," but that was the case late Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats departed for home with a winning point total of 175.5 and the championship trophy from the Greybull Memorial Invitational tournament.

The 14-team tournament was dominated by two of 2As tougher teams in the Bobcats and Lovell who chased the Bobcats but finished 5.5 points behind them.

Four Thermopolis wrestlers - Austin Ireland, Chance Watt, Logan Cole and Remington Feree - finished as tournament champions with four more Bobcats - Wyatt McDermott (2nd), Jeff VanAntwerp (2nd), Riley Shaffer (2nd) and Jon Harvey (3rd) - finishing in the top three in their weight divisions

Bobcats and their team points are as follows: Ireland - 26, McDermott - 21, BlakeWilliams - 8, VanAntwerp - 18, Harvey - 10, Shaffer - 18, Watt - 24, Cole - 25.5, and Feree -24.

While the three "big men" - Watt (195), Cole (220) and Feree (285) - dined on their competition (six pins, one tech. fall), it was a couple of Bobcats at the other end of the lineup that proved more than a little helpful in the Bobcat victory. Ireland (113) and Wyatt McDermott (126) earned five pins and a major decision in seven matches on their way to a championship and runner-up position respectively.

Jeff VanAntwerp and Riley Shaffer together earned valuable team points as they wrestled to the finals scoring a couple of pins on the way. Blake Williams and John Harvey added a couple of pins to the Thermopolis total. Without those points, the outcome could have been much different. Proof that the Bobcats were ready to wrestle was shown by the ten first period pins scored by the busy Bobcats along with the 15 first takedowns in the Bobcat column.

The schedule will give the Bobcats little time to reflect on past results with visits to the strong Glenrock Herders on Thursday and the Lovell Bulldogs Friday. The following week the Bobcats can look forward to meeting Kemmerer and Cokeville at the regional tournament in Kemmerer as the season is quickly winding down to the state tournament.