Middle school wrestlers already shining

The Thermopolis Middle School wrestling team attended their first tournament in Powell on October 22.

Teams included at the tourney were Laurel, Mont., Powell, Cody, Lovell, Worland and Rocky Mountain l.

Coach Toby Emery said, “This was our first tournament and first competition of the season. Only 10 of our 15 wrestlers competed at the tournament. Overall, I felt the wrestlers did very well. The kids were on the attack and their conditioning was better than most opponents. We ended the day with the highest win percentage (63.64%) out of the seven teams. Most wrestlers earned at least a win, which is a huge confidence boost, making them eager to compete again soon. We did a lot of things well, but we have a lot to review and learn as there is always room to improve. Conditioning and technique will be amped up this week.”

Coach Emery said, “ We had a great showing at Powell. We crowned six champions and had three runners-up. The champions include: Garret White (70 lbs. A), Dyllan Myers (91 lbs. A), Cannon Boren (120 lbs. A), Wiley Jones (145 lbs. A), Mack Buckner (155 lbs. A) and Clint Kimes (98 lbs. B). The runners-up include: Lilly Quintanilla (105 lbs. A), Trevin Shaffer (98 lbs. B) and Jesalyn Blair (women’s 138 lbs.).

In addition, the wrestlers dueled Greybull on Thursday evening winning 12 out of 26 matches.

“From a coach’s perspective, we are seeing what we drill in the practice room translate to the mat during competition. The better our technique and conditioning, the more success and confidence we build within our team,” said coach Emery.

The team has a dual tournament this Friday, November 4 in Glenrock starting at 10 a.m. In addition, the team will travel to Riverton on Saturday, November 5 with that tourney starting at 9:30 a.m.