Wrestlers fair well in Douglas

Bobcat wrestlers, though few in numbers, scored 61 points at Douglas’ Shane Shotto Tournament last Friday and Saturday, and placed four of their competitors in the top six of their weight class to lead 2A teams. Casper’s Kelly Walsh led all teams with over 200 points, and host Douglas led 3A teams with 189 points,

Entering only five wrestlers in the competition, Wyatt McDermott (6th), Roedy Farrell (6th), Cole Christianson, Riley Shaffer (6th), and Logan Cole (2nd), The Bobcats showed their strength in tournament action. Of those listed above, only Shaffer is a senior competitor, and only Logan Cole a junior.

McDermott returned from a football injury to score two pins and an overtime victory for 13 team points to establish his readiness to resume where he left off last year as the state runnerup, but an ankle injury Friday prevented further competition. Coach McDermott wisely choose not to take chances with his sophomore son’s season.

Farrell earned 11 team points and reached the semifinals with a bye and two pins including Cyruss Meeks (2nd seed rom Natrona) before losing his next three matches, all to seeded wrestlers. Wyo Wrestling has this freshman lad rated in the top 6 in the class 2A, and his performance justifies that ranking.

Christianson won’t be found in the statistics as a placer or team point winner because another Bobcat, senior Riley Shaffer, also wrestled at the same weight, placed 6th, and earned 11 team points. Though their records were nearly identical, Christianson is facing the prospect of dropping to a lower weight class to avoid that situation again, and to add team points along with getting credit for his hard work.

Shaffer won his way to the semifinals, but his tournament ended in the consolation bracket with a narrow 2 point loss to Thunder Basin’s Christopher Richter, 6-4.

Cole breezed through his first two matches with quick pins to meet Kelly Walsh’s Phoenix Buske. Wrestling his best match of the season to date, Cole nipped Buske by a single point, 5-4, in the semifinals, only to find longtime adversary, Douglas’ Cody Pinkerton. Pinkerton proved to be the best on this occasion with a major decision.

“We had a really good Friday… losing only one match, and we had four wrestlers get to the semifinals. The competition got a lot tougher Saturday,” commented head coach Travis McDermott. “Remy (Faree- top rated 2A heavy weight) was not available from an injury but should be ready for our next tournament. Wyatt (McDermott) is a wait and see, but practice will determine their activities for next week (Don Runner Tournament).

McDermott continued, “We have to work on conditioning after the long Christmas layoff, and we will also be working correcting some of the problems that showed up on the mat.”

Next action for the Bobcats is the Don Runner Invitational, Jan. 17-18 at Wind River HS.

Shane Shatto Results

126 pounds: Wyatt McDermott, 6th place, 13 team points. Champ. Round 1 won by fall (3:58) over Dalton Leach (Riverton), Champ. Round won in sudden victory (SV-1 8-6) over Parker Lee (Thunder Basin), Quarterfinal won by fall (3:44) over Aiden Gregory (South), Semifinal Tyler Nagel (Gering) won by injury default, Cons. Semi Charlie Koss won by injury default, 5th Place Match - Cole Wirtz (Kelly Walsh) won by injury default

138 pounds: Roedy Farrell, 6th place, 13 team points. Champ. Round 1 received a bye, Champ. Round 2 won by fall (1:44) over Taheim Hill (Castle View), Quarterfinal won by fall (4:43) over Cyruss Meeks (Natrona County), Semifinal lost by fall (5:52) to Cael Porter (Thunder Basin), Cons. Semi lost by fall (2:31) to Asa Johnson (Alliance), 5th Place Match lost by fall (2:16) to Keltan Ewing (Douglas)

182 pounds: Riley Shaffer, 6th place, 11 team points. Champ. Round 1 received a bye, Champ. Round 2 received a bye, Quarterfinal won by fall (1:59) over Ethan Zancanella (Wright), Semifinal lost by fall (1:23) to Corbin Zimmer (Castle View), Cons. Semi lost by tech fall (18-3) to Vincent Genatone (Natrona County), 5th Place Match lost by decision (6-4) to Christopher Richter (Thunder Basin)

182 pounds: Cole Christiansen, Champ. Round 1 received a bye, Champ. Round won in sudden victory (SV-1 7-6) over Dawson Stinson (Douglas), Quarterfinal lost by fall (2:47) to Emery Bemis (Niobrara County), Cons. Round 4 won by fall (4:06) over Jahazail Orozco (South), Cons. Round 5 lost by fall (0:34) to Vincent Genatone (Natrona County)

220 pounds: Logan Cole, 2nd place, 24 team points. Champ. Round 1 received a bye, Champ. Round 2 won by fall (0:44) over Jordyn Pearson (Wheatland), Quarterfinal won by fall (3:29) over Ethan Johnson (Sheridan), Semifinal won by decision (5-4) over Phoenix Buske (Kelly Walsh), 1st Place Match lost by major decision (9-1) to Cody Pinkerton (Douglas)

Cody JV Results

120 pounds: Jorge Agguire, 4th place, 3 team points. Round 2 lost by fall (3:03) to Eric Edholm (Worland), Round 3 lost by fall (1:09) to Brent Childers (Powell), Round 4 lost by fall (3:33) to Andrew Valdez (Powell), Round 5 won by fall (2:34) over Jacob Caudle (Cody)

126 pounds: Elijah Skelton, 2nd place, 20 team points. Round 1 won by fall (4:33) over Jaiden Lloyd (Worland), Round 2 won by fall (0:41) over Caleb Cruz (Powell), Round 3 won by fall (3:24) over Samuel Grzybowski (Worland), Round 4 lost by fall (3:30) to Kyle Anderson (Worland), Round 5 won by fall (3:21) over Evan Habeck (Powell)

132 pounds: Wyatt McDermott, 1st place, 25 team points. Round 1 won by major decision (10-1) over Michael Timmons (Powell), Round 2 won by fall (0:50) over Loren Fincher (Worland), Round won by fall (5:19) over Gullian Comstock (Worland), Round 4 won by fall (0:59) over Carter Fowler (Shoshoni), Round 5 won by fall (1:25) over Gavin Vance (Cody)

170 pounds: Austin Barral, place is 3rd place, 9 team points. Round 1 won by fall (3:33) over Bryce Stewart (Cody), Round 2 lost by fall (1:48) to Grayson Beaudrie (Cody), Round 3 lost by fall (3:25) to Ralph Moreno (Worland)

220 pounds: Jarek Sorensen, 2nd place, 4 team points. Round 1 lost by fall (1:32) to Trey Wright (Worland) Round 2 won by fall (5:43) over Jonny Williams (Cody)