Wolves bring home the championship

The Wolves wrestling team finished up their high school season competing in the state tournament this past weekend, at the Ford Center in Casper. This year, it was a three-day event with a girl's division and all the 2A, 3A and 4A boys' teams from across the state.

The Wolves took 23 wrestlers on the boys' varsity division and three varsity girls who qualified from their regional tournaments. There, they placed 13 boys and one girl, having three champions and placing first as a team. Individual results were:

Champions

132# junior Braydnn Terry made his way into the semifinals, where he won by a tech fall, 18-3 to advance to the finals. There, he won a great match by decision, 11-6 over Aidan Ruby of Wind River to win his first state championship; 138# senior Trenton Sheehan fought his way into the finals, where he had an exciting match that he dominated, winning by a tech fall, 15-0 over Wiley Philleo of Shoshoni to win his first state championship.

Second Place

113# junior and 2X returning state champion Dayne Humes pinned his way into the finals. There, he fought a tough match, where he came up short, losing by decision, 4-7 to place second; 190# senior Wyatt Allred dominated his way through the rounds, winning with all pins to advance into the finals. There, he lost by fall to place second.

Third Place

144# junior Trenten Gray made his way into the semifinals, where he lost to move him into the consolation semifinals. There, he won by pin to advance to the placings, where he won by decision, 9-2 to place third; 150# sophomore Riley DeHaven lost in the first round by an injury default, but came back stronger, wrestling his way back into the placings, winning by pin every match to place third; 215# Oliver Gorsuch went 4-1, losing in the semifinals and made his way back to the placings rounds, where he won by pin to place third.

Fourth Place

138# senior Wyatt Cook went 4-2, losing in the quarterfinals and pinning his way back into the placings, where he won his consolation semifinals match by decision, 5-2. He then had to medically forfeit his match to take fourth; 285# sophomore Elyott Gorsuch went 3-2, losing in the semifinals and wrestled his way back into the placings, where he placed fourth.

Fifth Place

157# sophomore Chayce Buckner went 4-2, losing in the quarterfinals, but battled his way back into the placings, where he won all his matches by pin; 175# senior Spencer Cuthrell went 4-2, losing in the quarterfinals, where he fought his way back through the consolation rounds to win his placing match with a pin in :15 seconds.

Sixth Place

120# junior Kade Haynes lost in the quarterfinals and wrestled his way back to the consolation semifinals, where he lost in overtime sudden victory, 0-2 to move in the placing matches, where he lost by decision to place sixth; 165# senior Marcus James went 3-3, losing in the quarterfinals and wrestled his way back to the placings to take sixth.

Danner Wiseman, 0-2; Caysen Phillips, 1-2; Caden Cantu, 0-2; Weston Haskell, 1-2; Cade Williams, 1-2; Cole Cantu, 0-2; Shane Hannah, 1-2; Jacob Anderson, 0-2; Brady Garoutte, 2-2; Truck Lowrey, 1-2.

As a team, the Wolves pulled ahead and took the championship, their first win since 2020 with 236 team points above second place Kemmerer with 203 points and third place Lingle-Ft. Laramie/Southeast with 174 points.

High scorers for the Wolves were Trenton Sheehan and Braydnn Terry, both with 25.5 points, followed by Dayne Humes and Wyatt Allred, both with 24 team points.

In individual stats for the tournament, as a whole, Riley DeHaven placed third with the most pins in the least amount of time with five pins in 19:03; Truck Lowrey placed for the fastest pin in :11 seconds followed by Spencer Cuthrell with a pin in :15 seconds; Trenton Sheehan placed seventh for having the fastest tech fall in 2:58; and Braydnn Terry tied for fifth for the most single match points with 18 points.

On the girl's side of the state tournament, three girls qualified at their regional tournament and they came away with one champion. Individual results were:

Champion - 110# senior Rebekah Anderson went 4-0, making her way into the finals, where she won with a pin to place first and make it her second state championship.

Nadia Harding, 0-2; Tessa Farnsworth, 0-2.

The teams were welcomed home with an escort through town followed by the proud parents and fans. Coach Charlie Williams said about the state tournament, "it is truly a piece of history. It marks a young group's combined contributions for a great goal." Next up for post wrestling season is Jr. State, this weekend, in Lander, for the triple-crown and a qualifier for the Junior and Cadet National tournament, this July, in Fargo, ND.