Bobcat wrestlers head into break following busy week

The Hot Springs County High School Bobcats Wrestling Team went to Greybull for a dual last Thursday and came away with a win, scoring 57 to 21, despite being hindered by illness and injury.

Colter Price put up a win in the 132 pound class against a tough opponent, and Mason Reese came away with a first-time win against a wrestler he had faced before, but hadn’t managed to beat. Additionally, in their matches, pins were recorded by Cannon Boren, Sam Skelton and Will Ward.

The boys and girls teams went to Worland on Friday and Saturday for the Battle of the Big Horn event, where 19 schools were in attendance to compete.

Bobcats

In the pool on Friday, the boys team could enter wrestlers in only 8 of 14 weight classes, due to the illness and injuries.

Up first in pool wrestling came Riverton, who defeated the Cats 48 to 36, although the Bobcats took wins in 5 of 8 classes.

Next up was Buffalo, where the Cats went 4 and 4 and suffered a loss at 36 to 27.

Then, on came Rawlins, where th Bobcats came away with a win, going 5 and 3, with 42 to 26 in points. The team finished the day against Newcastle with another win, 36 to 30, going 3 for 7 in matches.

Friday’s scores placed the boys team in the Silver Bracket for Saturday’s contest, where they came away with a loss to Lander at 39 to 36, (going 5 and 2 in matches), and wins against Glenrock and Douglas, at 48 to 30, and 51 to 27, respectively.

The boys took all of their seven matches, all by pins, against Glenrock, and went 5 and 2 against Douglas. The boys team finished the tournament in 6th place in the Silver Bracket.

Coach McDermott was pleased with the outings, stating, “I thought we wrestled very well through all the duals on both days. We pinned a lot of people, and our technique is improving. Even though we were beat up on the dual scores, the boys maintained great attitudes, and worked very well together as a team. We had fun in a packed gym, and a long tournament.

He added, “Cannon Boren had a great weekend at 126lbs, ending the duals with a 6-0 record, to put him into the Best of the Best match at his weight. Cannon knocked off Longwell of Glenrock, who was a state runner-up last year with a fall. He then beat Johnson of Douglas in a tough match with a 3-2 score. In his Best of the Best match, Cannon lost by a technical fall to Johnson of Pinedale, who was a state champion in 3A last year as a freshman. Cannon gets better every single week, and is going to be a great competitor. He will definitely be in the hunt for a state championship.”

“Colter Price (132lbs) and Will Ward (144lbs) each finished their dual meets with 6-1 records. Colter had a couple of tough matches but also put up 4 falls. Will Ward was also dominating, except for his loss, where he got caught and pinned. Will recorded 5 falls on the weekend, both being very close to making the Best of the Best,” said coach McDermott.

Dyllan Myers (106lbs) went 1-2, Ethan Yarrington (138lbs) went 2-4, Haeden Blair (157lbs) went 2-4, Sam Skelton (165/175lbs) went 3-2 and Mason Reese (195lbs) went 4-3.

Several JV wrestlers competed in pool wrestling throughout the weekend. Tannen Birdsley (120lbs) went 1-3, Lance Axtell (132lbs) went 3-2, Ryan Axtell (165lbs) went 2-3 and Blevins Little (175lbs) finished at 1-4.

Lady Cats

The Lady Cats team competed in Worland at the Battle of the Big Horn, and came away with two championships, and a 3rd place finish.

In the pool on Friday, the Lady Cats put up a record of 18 and 8, and followed up on Saturday, finishing at an impressive 25 and 15 for the day.

Summer Galovich pushed through a knee injury, and gathered some valuable experience, going 2 and 5 on the weekend. Ava Dafoe went 4 and 4, and was just one match short of finishing in the top 4. Kaitlin Barral faced some of the top wrestlers in the state, and got her first takedown against Dexter of Pinedale, who was last years’ runner-up at state. Wrestling in her first tournament, Kailey Allen finished 3rd at 6 and 2.

Alix Sorensen maintained her undefeated status, going 5 and 0 on Friday (with five falls) and was 8 and 0 for the tournament. Notably, all of her wins were by pins. Coming off her win at the Powell tournament the prior week, coach McDermott said she “was the busiest wrestler of the weekend, and is dominating her class.”

Lilly Quintanilla was once again dominating, going undefeated in the tournament, and extending her undefeated streak to 10 and 0 for the season. Remarkably, Lilly pinned all four of her opponents in the first minute of each match, and picked up her second straight championship. Just for good measure, she added her second straight Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Coach McDermott said, “Lilly wowed the crowd with her inside trip, and spent a grand total of 2:24 on the mat this weekend. We were disappointed that Worland chose to not let Lilly wrestle on the boys side of our dual team event.”

The Lady Cats are now off for the holiday break, however, they will return the first week of January, with a dual at Glenrock and then on to a challenging tournament in Douglas.