Bobcat wrestlers make it to Gold Bracket Round

Coming off a spectacular showing at the Powell Invite the preceding week, the Hot Springs County High School Bobcats were in Worland last weekend, to compete at the Battle in the Big Horns Tournament. This is one of the largest events of the season, and draws a crowd of some nineteen schools to compete for the Best of the Best in each weight class.

On Friday, the Cats went 3 and 1 on the day – to reach the Gold Bracket Round on Saturday. Commenting on the Friday rounds, coach Travis McDermott stated, “We lost a close dual to Rock Springs in the opener by 38 to 30. Then, the Cats went on a roll, beating Lovell 54 to 12; Douglas, South Dakota by 44 to 30; and then topping Wheatland by a score of 48 to 23.”

The Bobcats had a tougher day on Saturday - losing all three of their duals: First, to Class 3A powerhouse, Pinedale by 45 to 30; then Rawlins by 41 to 24; and finally, to Riverton by a score of 52 to 21.”

“The Cats wrestled tough, and they had some great matches. We had some new faces in the Varsity lineup that showed a lot of potential, and helped the team to make the gold bracket. Tannen Birdsley, Logan Dafoe, and Mack Buckner all get a lot of credit for stepping up on the varsity side and for being a big part of the Cats team success. They all wrestled really hard against some top competition.”

“Seniors Will Ward, Sam Skelton, Ethan Yarrington and Brody Sorensen all had a good weekend but dropped some tough matches against some top ranked competitors, and that kept them out of the Best of the Best round.”

“We had three wrestlers that did make it to the Best of the Best four-man brackets, Dyllan Myers at 120 lbs., who only lost one match in the duals, and lost in the semi-finals to Lander, but he had a great weekend, and continues to improve every week, as a top wrestler in the state.”

“Junior Haeden Blair went undefeated in the duals at 215 lbs., but came up short in the semi-finals of the Best of the Best. Haeden also had an impressive weekend, and is finding his wrestling style is effective in the upper weight classes.”

“Sophomore Cannon Boren had a rematch in his semi-final match against Young from Rock Springs, who had beat him on Friday. Cannon wrestled a smart match, and came out with a victory. Cannon went on to pin his opponent in the championship match, and become the 138 lb. Best of the Best Champion.”

Following the holiday break, the Bobcats will compete in Douglas, after the first of the year.