Bobcat wrestling season off to a great start

The Hot Springs County High School Bobcats and Lady Bobcats Wrestling Teams kicked off their seasons at the Powell Invitational Tournament last Thursday and Friday.

There were twenty-two schools competing in the event, from both Wyoming and Montana. Teams from Montana performed well at the event, taking the top three spots in the boys standings, and two of the top three spots in the girls standings.

Bobcats

The Bobcats put in a good effort overall.

Coach Travis McDermott said, "Friday during pool wrestling the boys put together one of the best performances by a Bobcat team that I have ever seen at this tournament. We pushed 10 of 14 Varsity wrestlers into the Saturday bracket Tournament."

Colter Price led the way with a 4-0 record. Will Ward, Cannon Boren, Seth Needham and Brody Sorensen all went undefeated with 3-0 records. Ethan Crow, Jessen Basse, Sam Skelton and Mason Reese all ended the day with 2-1 records.

"We wrestled very tough, and pulled out some great wins, said coach McDermott."

The freshman team also made a good showing with Cannon Boren winning big against Ty Peterson, a former Bobcat, and state Runner-up in 3A last year.

"Cannon just battles every second of a match, and it paid off for him," said coach McDermott.

He added, "Brody Sorensen came back from a 4-2 deficit in the last 20 seconds of a match to get a win against a wrestler from the Lockwood team out of Billings, and Colter Price wrestled the best I have ever seen from him. He is going to be a strong competitor this year."

"The team had a lot of heart, and good team spirit on Friday, that propelled some fine efforts. Will Ward was dominating, and earned a top seed. Seth Needham won some gritty matches, and pinned some tough kids," said coach McDermott.

 With the competition becoming more difficult on Saturday, coach said he felt "The boys came out a bit flat, and lost some matches we probably should have won. We also lost matches to some kids that we had beaten the previous day. Our technique was a bit off, and we need to work on the mental part of two-day tournaments."

Overall the boys team finished 8th, and was the highest placing 2A school in the tournament.

Cannon Boren (126lbs), Will Ward (144lbs), and Brody Sorensen (165lbs) all finished in 4th place in their weight class.

Jessen Basse (144lbs) and Seth Needham (150lbs) finished 5th in their classifications. Sam Skelton (165lbs) and Mason Reese (190lbs) finished the tournament in 6th place in their weight class.

 Three JV wrestlers all made their first wins of their high school careers, with sophomore, Blevins Little, making it to the second day, with a 6th place finish. Tannen Birdsley and Ryan Axtell both got their first wins in Friday matches, however, they but did not move on to the Saturday events.

"Attitude and effort were great from the JV team, and these guys will be contributors in no time," said coach McDermott.

Lady Bobcats

The Lady Cats also performed well in Powell, with four ladies competing on Saturday and two being crowned champions.

Freshman, Summer Galovich, kicked off her wrestling career with a win. "Summer is a scrappy wrestler who is going to be winning a lot of matches in the future. Freshman, Ava Defoe, battled well in her matches, and got some good experience to take forward into the season," said coach McDermott.

Sophomore, Alix Sorensen, was competing in the first tournament this season and went undefeated, winning the girls 155lb class. "Alix was the first Thermopolis girl to win a girls tournament last year at Powell. This year she dominated by pinning all of her opponents, to claim the title for the second year in a row. Alix definitely has the skills to be a force this year," said coach McDermott.

The highly anticipated debut of freshman, Lilly Quintanilla, proved to be everything that had been expected, and she dominated the field at 115lbs. "Lilly showed great technique, with 2 technical falls, and the remainder being wins by pin, including a pin in the title match," said coach McDermott.

She was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in the Girls division. Coach added, "We all have been looking forward to watching Lilly in the high school ranks, and she did not disappoint."

The Cats go to Greybull this Thursday with action starting at 4 p.m. in a dual, and then on to the Battle of The Big Horns at Worland on Friday and Saturday, a dual style tournament, with teams moving through brackets. The JV wrestlers will compete in a regular tournament.

The Lady Cats also go to Greybull on Thursday, and to Worland on Friday and Saturday for a bracketed individual tournament.