Corley is 2X state champ

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Nine Dogies headed to the 3A State Wrestling Tournament in Casper last Friday with two bringing home hardware. Blake Durfee finished in fifth place at 106, and Kale Corley became a two-time state champion as he dominated his way through the 138-pound bracket to take the title.
“It feels pretty good, because I really felt like I had to prove to everyone that my freshman year wasn’t a fluke,” Corley began with a smile. “After falling a little short last year, it felt good to show them that I was meant to be there and that I deserve the title.”
“We couldn’t have planned it any better with his injury and managing the way he came back. We let him come back a little slow, then stayed at 145 his couple of meets back and then dropping to 138 at Regionals,” head coach Lee McCoy nodded. “In a lot of ways, he missed a lot of the grind in January where kids get worn down and suffer some injuries, and when he came back, he was hungry and ready to win.”
Corley went into the tournament seeded number two at 138 due to the wrestler who won the west regional tournament earning the top seed. Corley and McCoy felt confident he would make it through to the semifinal round, where they expected to see some tougher competition.
“Kale had a Star Valley kid right off the bat, and he pinned him quickly in 1:12,” McCoy began. “Up next was a Lyman kid in the quarterfinal match and if you blinked you would have missed it, because Kale made quick work of him in 29 seconds.” 
Corley’s semifinal round had him up against an opponent from Wheatland whom he had wrestled a few times, including last week in Regionals where he pinned him. However, on Friday, Corley suffered a nasty bloody nose which he and the coaches couldn’t get stopped. As a result, the match had to be stopped every 15 seconds to try to get the bleeding under control. 
“The kid just kept getting fresh goes at him. If Kale had been able to go even 30 seconds without having to stop, he probably would have pinned him again,” McCoy chuckled. “It was a dominating win, he just didn’t have time to put things together to put him on his back for the pin.”
As it was, however, Corley got the win by an 8-3 decision which put him in the championship match on Saturday. Meanwhile, the other semifinal match ended up being an upset. Corley and McCoy were hoping he would get the opportunity to wrestle the Star Valley athlete who beat him last year at state, but he lost his semifinal match to his Cody opponent.
“The Star Valley kid got stuck and that was a big upset. I had never even heard of the Cody kid before Friday, so he was a mystery and was pretty decent,” McCoy nodded. “He was a big 138-pounder and coaches told me he is strong but prone to make mistakes. That was exactly what played out in the final match.”
“When the other semi was an upset, Lee and I looked at each other and knew that I had a pretty good shot,” Corley grinned. “Then I had to go out there one more time and do what I do, and not get too ahead of myself.”
The match started slow with both wrestlers sizing each other up during the first period.
“There were no takedowns in the first period. He was very defensive, and was more about stopping what Kale was doing rather than run his own offense,” McCoy described. “In the second period, Kale chose down and the kid was trying to ride his legs. He then tried to pick Kale up and when he did, Kale did a half cartwheel over the top of him, got on top then cradled him and pinned him.”
It came down to about seven seconds of pretty intense action after a couple of minutes of not much of anything happening, however, once things got going, Corley made quick work of his opponent to win the championship.
“Kale couldn’t have had a more dominating state tournament. It was exciting to see him get his second title and he finished his season with only three losses to two kids,” McCoy explained. “The kid who beat him twice from Riverton won state at 145, and the other loss was a South Dakota kid who also placed at state. That’s pretty respectful, and he’s only four wins away from having 100 and will get those early next year.”
With the win, Corley has joined an elite club of NHS wrestlers who are two-time state champs, and if he picks up another next year, he will be one of only two who are three-time state champs. 
“My goal now is to keep working and go for that third title,” Corley smiled.
Durfee also started out strong in the 106 pound bracket. In the opening round, he took care of his Buffalo opponent by sticking him in 1:05. However, he would stumble in the quarterfinal match, which put him out of the running for a state title. 
“Blake started out looking good, but in the quarterfinal match, he had a Powell kid who got him in 3:10,” McCoy stated. “He was doing pretty good, and then he made a mistake which cost him, but it was a competitive match until then.” 
Durfee then came through the wrestle-backs and won Consolation round two by an 8-0 major decision against Star Valley and then pinned his Lyman opponent in the blood round to put himself in the running for bringing home some hardware. 
Unfortunately, Durfee lost to Rawlins with a 2-6 decision in the consolation semifinals, which put him into the fifth place match against the Powell opponent who had defeated him in the quarterfinals on Friday. This time, Durfee was the one on top, pinning him in 1:53.
“It was great that Blake was able to get a little bit of revenge on the kid that beat him in the quarters,” McCoy smiled. “It was exciting to have another state placer as well.”
Jory McFarland (120) and Josh Womack (182) each made it to the blood round as well, but that’s where their tournament ended. The blood round is the third round in the consolation bracket which, if you win, means you are guaranteed to place at the tournament.
McFarland was winning that crucial match against Worland, but according to McCoy, made a mistake which cost him the match.
Womack came up against a good Star Valley opponent in the blood round and put up a good fight. 
“It was a great match. Josh was hustling and giving it all he had. He was coming back in the third period, but with only about 20 seconds left, he ended up getting stuck,” McCoy sighed. “Josh does a good job of wearing people down, and he kind of had the kid broke, but he just had one slip up in the end.”
Aidan Coberly (138) and Weston Simianer (195) each picked up a win in the tournament but fell short in the second round of the consolation bracket, while Cael Holmes (106), Jacob Rhoades (145) and Skylar Jenkins (160) went two and out on Friday.
As a team, the Dogies finished 12th place at the tournament, which was just off their goal of placing in the top ten. However, McCoy noted that it was a good year overall.
“It’s bittersweet for the season to be over,” McCoy admitted. “We had an outstanding season considering how young we were. We were fairly competitive in duals ending with a 6-8 record which isn’t bad. We had more kids out this year and are hoping for more next year to get spread out through the weight classes so we don’t have to give up those open weights, and we’ve come a long way over the last few years.” 
The Dogies are only losing two seniors this year in Rhoades and McFarland, so will return most of the team and the coaching staff is excited for the future as the Dogies/Bobcats are young and have a ton of potential. 
“We’re just starting to put our plan together for next year, to get them in the weight room and get them opportunities on the mat,” McCoy nodded. “We want them to go out for track or soccer to get them a break from wrestling, and we just want to get them better because of their potential.”
McCoy also noted that they have scheduled an amazing camp for the kids this summer which should be great for off-season work. 
Bryce Meredith from Cheyenne who wrestled at UW where he was a two-time NCAA finalist and three time all-American, along with Pat Downey Jr. who is from Maryland and wrestled at Princeton, are now both on the New Jersey Regional Training Center team and working toward making the Olympic team this year. The two are coming to Newcastle on June 25-26 to put on a camp offered to youth up to high school aged wrestlers.