Middle school wrestling opens

Last Saturday, the Thermopolis Middle School wrestling team opened its season at the Powell Invitational.

Coach Toby Emery stated, “I was very pleased with our wrestlers at Powell, considering it was the first tournament of the year. Twenty out of the 25 wrestlers who competed placed in the top four in their weight class. Nine Bobcat wrestler placed first, four took second, three grapplers earned a third place and four ended in the day in fourth place.

“Many of our new wrestlers tasted victory for the first time, so it was a great confidence builder and ice breaker to start the season off. Our participation number are up this year with a variety of athletes at different experience levels. Team leaders are starting to emerge, which is essential in building a solid team. Overall, we wrestled well but have a lot of work to do this week to prepare for Lovell this Saturday.”

In A Division 84, Chris Bapst received a bye in Championship Round 1, lost by a 49-second fall to Nate Johnson of Worland in the Quarterfinal, received a bye in Consolation Round 2 and lost by a 1:23 fall to Kannon Grant of Cody in Consolation Round 3.

In A Division A & B 91, Will Ward placed first and scored 21 team points. Ward received a bye in Championship Round 1, and won by a 2:41 fall over Rayce DeGraffenreid of Powell in the Quarterfinal, by a 2:04 fall over Cavell Munda of Riverton in the Semifinal and by a 4:05 fall over Zane Stam of Thermopolis in the first place match.

Stam placed second and scored 13 team points. In addition to his match against Ward, Stam received a bye in Championship Round 1, and won by a 14-second fall over Stetson Asay of Lovell in the Quarterfinal and by a 14-12 decision over Weston McLaughlin of Riverton in the Semifinal.

In A Division 98, Colter Price placed fourth and scored 13 team points. Price lost by a 19-second fall to Trey Smith of Cody in Championship Round 1, received a bye in Consolation Round 1, won by a 1:53 fall over Macix Rothleutner of Cody in Consolation Round 2, by a 3:44 fall over Dylan Casdorph of Worland in Consolation Round 3 and by a 1:42 fall over Triffen Jolley of Rocky Mountain in the Consolation Semifinal, and lost by a 15-2 major decision to Tillman Burns of Worland in the third place match.

In A Division 105, Seth Needham placed second and scored 17 team points. Needham received a bye in the Quarterfinal, won by a 1:58 fall over Matthew Emmett of Worland in the Semifinal and lost by a 2:09 fall to Dalton Price of Thermopolis in the first place match.

In the same division, Price placed first and scored 23 team points. Prior to his win against Needham, Price received a bye in the Quarterfinal and won by a 54-second fall over JD Rodriguez in the Semifinal.

In A Division 110, Ethan Crow placed fourth and scored seven team points. Crow received a bye in the Quarterfinal, lost by a 9-0 major decision to Drew Lynch of Riverton, won by a 2:50 fall over Rudy Hall in the Consolation Semifinal and lost by a 3:19 fall to Trenton Hubbs of Cody in the third place match.

In A Division A & B 120, Chris Arends placed second and scored 18 team points. Arends won by a 44-second fall over Bazel Addison of Riverton in the Quarterfinal and by a 1:07 fall over Ruger Fritz of Powell in the Semifinal, and lost by a 2:55 fall to Ryan Arends of Thermopolis in the first place match.

Ryan placed first and scored 24 team points. Prior to his match against Chris, he won by a 39-second fall over Allen Crawford of Powell in the Quarterfinal and by a 47-second fall over Brody Potter of Thermopolis in the Semifinal.

Potter placed third and scored 13 team points. Potter won by a 46-second fall over Chase Williams of Riverton in the Quarterfinal, by a 15-2 major decision over Bazel Addison of Riverton in the Consolation Semifinal and by a 7-5 decision over Ruger Fritz in the third place match.

In A Division 126, Brody Sorensen placed first and scored 23 team points. Sorensen won by a 1:09 fall over Carson Asay of Lovell in the Quarterfinal, by a 1:01 fall over Michael Munda of Riverton in the Semifinal and by a 11-3 major decision over Justin Newberry of Riverton in the first place match.

In A Division 138, Ethan Music placed first and scored 23.5 team points. Music won by a 17-0 tech fall over Aiden Martinez of Worland in the Quarterfinal, by a 2:54 fall over Merced Silva in the Semifinal and by a 1:07 fall over Ethene Burns of Worland.

In A Division A & B 145, Blevins Little placed third and scored 12 team points. Little received a bye in the Quarterfinal, lost by a 31-second fall to Travus Powell of Lovell in the Semifinal, and won by a 13-second fall over Sebastian Lefstein-Brown of Lovell in the Consolation Semifinal an by a 1:19 fall over Mitchel Wainscott of Powell in the third place match.

In the same division, Mason Reese placed first and scored 23 team points. Reese received a bye in the Quarterfinal, and won by a 1:16 fall over Wainscott in the Semifinal and by a 2:59 fall over Travus Powell of Lovell in the first place match.

In B Division 77, Jo-Jo Crow received a bye in Championship Round 1, and lost by a 1:29 fall to Daniel Casdorph of Worland in the Quarterfinal and by a 1:53 fall to Caden Dodd of Thermopolis in Consolation Round 2.

Dodd scored eight team points. In addition to his win against Crow, he lost by a 1:17 fall to Ares Smith of Riverton in Championship Round 1, received a bye in Consolation Round 1, won by a 41-second fall over Jaden Kuhn of Riverton in Consolation Round 3 and lost 9-7 in sudden victory of Dino DeLeCruz in the Consolation Semifinal.

In B Division 84, Nolan Collins lost by a 15-2 major decision to Autumn Osbourne of Riverton in the Quarterfinal, and by an 8-2 decision to Kooper Pierce of Rocky Mountain in Consolation Round 1.

In B Division 98, Haeden Blai placed first and scored 24 team points. Blair won by a 27-second fall over Ayden Kelly of Riverton in the Quarterfinal, by a 1:47 fall over Paxton Yeates of Cody in the Semifinal and by a 3:23 fall over Alex Sitz of Cody in the first place match.

In B Division 105, Samuel Skelton placed first and scored 19 team points. Skelton received a bye in Championship Round 1, and won by a 3:52 fall over Ashten Hubbs of Cody in the Quarterfinal, by a 59-second fall over Stone Pebbles of Thermopolis in the Semifinal and by a 4-2 decision over Alex Jordan of Powell in the first place match.

Pebbles scored three team points. In addition to his match against Skelton, he received a bye in Championship Round 1, won by a 10-8 decision over Kylen Ragland of Lovell in the Quarterfinal and lost by a 30-second fall to Ethan Yarrington of Thermopolis in the Consolation Semifinal.

Yarrington placed third and scored 19 team points. In addition to his win over Pebble, he won by a 36-second fall over Matthew Reimers of Lovell in Championship Round 1, lost by a 1:04 fall to Alex Jordan of Powell in the Quarterfinal, and won by a 3:23 fall over Chase Visocky of Powell in Consolation Round 2, by a 1:41 fall over Dexter Opps of Powell in Consolation Round 3 and by a 3:26 fall over Jessen Basse of Thermopolis in the third place match.

Basse placed fourth and scored nine team points. Basse won by a 15-second fall over Dariun Nicholson of Greybull in Championship Round 1 and by a 2:34 fall over Opps in the Quarterfinal, lost by a 2:38 fall to Jordan and won by an 8-7 decision over Hubbs in the Consolation Semifinal.

In B Division 110, Daniel Blair placed first and scored 20.5 team points. Blair received a bye in Championship Round 1, and won by an 18-1 tech fall over Molly Borhoft in the Quarterfinal, by a 3:47 fall over Holden Yeates of Riverton in the Semifinal and by a 2:34 fall over Kash Brazelton of Powell in the first place match.