Wrestlers compete in Lander

Last weekend, the Hot Springs County High School Bobcat wrestling teams traveled to Lander for the Lander Invite Tournament where twenty-six teams were in attendance. The Bobcats finished 7th as a team, while the Lady Cats ended the week-end in 5th place.

Lady Cats

All four Lady Cat wrestlers placed in the Lander tournament, and coach Travis McDermott was pleased with their performance saying, "The ladies are improving every week, and their attitude and effort are fun to be around."

Lilly Quintanilla extended her winning streak with three pins, and came away with another championship by a tech fall score of 16-0 in the final match.

Summer Galovich had two wins, finishing 4th in her class.

Ava Dafoe also had two wins and finished 3rd in her class.

Kaitlin Barral had a good win over Mata from Pinedale and also finished 3rd in her class.

Bobcats

The boys traveled to Cody on Thursday last week for a weekend warm up, in a dual against a very good Cody team. While the team lost by a score of 45 to 31, Will Ward, Haeden Blair, Sam Skelton and Mason Reese all had wins in the event.

Friday and Saturday the team was in Lander for a very tough 3A tournament. The Cats finished with 113 points, ahead of last year's 2A state champions Kemmerer by 1.5 points, leaving the team at the top of all of the 2A teams in attendance.

Coach McDermott said, "This was definitely a team effort, as we didn't have any champions, but still placed five wrestlers. Everyone got at least one win to put points on the board."

Will Ward ended the tournament with a 2nd place finish, pinning his first two opponents and then beating Grant of Cody in the semi-finals by a score of 2 to 0.

"In the finals, Will fought the entire match against Green River's Weipert, who was a state placer last year, but came up just short in a close 7 to 5 decision," said coach McDermott.

He added, "Cannon Boren continued to knock off top contenders, beginning with a fall over Hansen of Lyman. In the quarter-finals, Cannon faced returning 3A state champion, Ryan Nutt of Pinedale, and took him to overtime - giving up a late takedown, to lose a very competitive match. He fought his way back through the consolation rounds, pinning his first two opponents. In the consolation semi-finals, Cannon took on defending state champion, Jackie Meador of Big Piney and dominated the match, winning 4 to 0 and finished the day beating Laramie's, Liam Knerr to bring home a 3rd place." 

Dalton Price finished in 4th place with a 6 and 2 record.

Sam Skelton had a very good tournament at 157lbs, getting a 4th place finish. "Sam got a huge win in the consolation semi's over 3 time runner-up and #1 ranked Gabe Emery of Kemmerer. Sam put Emery on his back late in the 3rd to get the 5 to 2 decision. In the 3rd place match Sam came back to avenge an earlier loss to Hubbs of Laramie. It was a great battle, with a reversal costing Skelton in the final seconds, to lose a tough 7 to 6 decision," said coach McDermott.

Mason Reese placed 5th at 190lbs, coming up just short in his consolation semi-final round.

Tannen Birdsley brought home a 4th Place finish for the JV team.

Dyllan Myers (106lbs), Lance Axtell (126lbs), Jessen Basse (138lbs), and Haeden Blair (150lbs) all had wins and put up valuable team points for the tournament.

Next up for the Bobcats will be the Ron Thon Memorial Tournament in Riverton. The Ron Thon is the largest tournament in the state for the season. The varsity boys team and the girls team will be at the high school, while the JV team will be at the middle school.