STATE CHAMP! Sorensen wins gritty match to earn

The Hot Springs County High School Bobcats wrestling team was in Casper over the weekend, to compete in the 2A State Championships.

The Cats finished in 5th place as a team (just one point behind Big Piney), and Brody Sorensen brought home a state championship with Cannon Boren, Will Ward and Sam Skelton earning 2nd place finishes.

The Cats placed nine wrestlers in the state tournament, the most in one year for Thermopolis. The team also saw the highest scores ever for the Bobcats, earning 159 points overall.

The tournament was held over three days and presented the Cats with some ups and some downs. In the first round on Thursday, the team went 7 and 7 and then went 4 and 3 in the first consolation round. All but three Bobcat wrestlers advanced to day two.

The Cats had an outstanding performance in the Friday morning's quarter-final round, taking 7 of 8 matches and advancing all seven wrestlers into the semi-final round. With that, the seven Cats were then guaranteed a top six placing in the tournament.

Just two Cats made it through the blood round in the consolations to place. Friday evening the Cats pushed four of the seven wrestlers from the semi-finals into the state championship. The end of the second day of the tournament, found the Bobcats in 3rd place,behind only Moorcroft and Kemmerer.

The Saturday morning matches proved to be more than challenging for the Cats, who dropped all five of their Consolation Semi-Final matches - forcing all five wrestlers into the 5th and 6th Place matches, and opening the door for Big Piney to pull ahead in the team standings. Coach Travis McDermott commented: "It was an exciting team race, that had a lot of back and forth between the five teams, and really came down to numbers that we didn't have in three open weights. Our kids put up a fight, and never quit, which makes us very proud of their accomplishments."

Junior, Brody Sorensen (165lbs.) became the latest State Champion for the Bobcats - pinning all three of this opponents, to reach the State Championship Match. "In the Final, Sorensen faced Kelly of Kemmerer, who had beaten Brody the week before at the Regional Tournament. Kelley secured an early takedown, and led most of the way, until the end of the 2nd Period, when Brody got a takedown, just as time expired. In the 3rd Period, Kelly chose bottom and got an escape to take the lead with 1:30 remaining. Brody worked the edges, and finally got a takedown to secure a 4 to 3 lead, with 23 seconds left. Sorensen rode out the remaining time, to become the 19th Bobcat wrestler to win a State Championship. It was a gritty match, that didn't look good for Brody in the beginning, but he turned it on, and accomplished his goal. Sorensen ended his Junior season with a 23 and 7 record, and All State Honors."

The Bobcats advanced three other wrestlers into the Championship Round on Saturday afternoon. "Freshman, Cannon Boren (120lbs.), faced two-time State Champion, Fish of LFLS. Cannon never backed down, but came up just short in a well-planned match by Fish. Cannon finished his Freshman season with a 37 and 8 record, and All State Honors, to go along with a Regional Championship."

Junior, Will Ward (144lbs.), also met a two-time returning

State Champion in Brothwell of LFLS. "Will had trouble getting his offense going early in the match, and Brothwell took advantage of an early takedown, that secured a pin against Ward. Will ends his season with a 38 and 9 record, and All-State Honors, together with a Regional Championship.

Junior, Sam Skelton (157lbs.), faced Emery of Kemmerer for the Championship, and had some exciting scrambles early in the match. Sam was caught in the second on his back, and gave up the fall. Sam ends his season at a 32 and 14 record, and All-State Honors."

Additional Cats placing in the State Tournament were Seniors Ethan Crow (132lbs); Seth Needham (150lbs.), and Mason Reese (190lbs.) who each took home a 5th Place finish. Freshman, Dyllan Myers (106lbs.), and Junior, Colter Price (126lbs.) each earned 6th Place finishes. Tannen Birdsley, Jessen Basse, Haeden Blair, Ryan Axtell, and Blevins Little also competed in the Tournament.

Said Coach McDermott: "We had a good season, with a lot of improvement in our wrestling. We worked well as a team, and scored a lot of points, in every tournament in which we competed. The Cats, as a team, scored 224 pins this season, with a 79% fall rate. That led to a lot of points, and really goes to the mindset of our kids - always looking for the pin. Some of our kids will compete at Junior State this week in Lander to try to qualify for the National Championships this summer in Fargo North Dakota.