Dogies test depth — Newcastle logs eight duals on weekend road swing

The Newcastle Dogies put together one of their busiest weekends of the season with a trip to Worland for the Battle of the Big Horns, competing in a 21-team dual-format event that drew programs from across Wyoming and South Dakota.

Newcastle tuned up for the tournament with a stop at Buffalo to dual against the Bison, and the focus quickly shifted to Worland, where the Dogies wrestled seven more duals to close out the weekend.

Head coach Teigen Marchant said the volume of competition and the variety of opponents made the event a valuable measuring stick early in the season.

“It was definitely a long weekend with eight duels on the schedule,” Marchant said. “The boys wrestled really hard, starting out with our first dual in Buffalo and then traveling over to the Battle of the Big Horns.”

Newcastle was placed in Pool D and faced Rock Springs, Greybull/Riverside, Lander and Douglas before moving into the bronze bracket after dropping each of those matchups. The Dogies bounced back to come away with a win over Shoshoni after being competitive in duals against Lovell and Rocky Mountain.

“I was very happy with a lot of the improvements I’ve seen from the whole team, especially with how young we are as a dual team,” Marchant said.

Individually, Newcastle found success across multiple weights. Freshman Michael Coombs and sophomore Troy Christensen led the Dogies in pins for the weekend, while Dane Crabtree recorded multiple wins at 165 pounds in both pool and bronze-bracket action. Hugo Cuevas also picked up key victories at 215 as Newcastle continued to build depth in the upper weights.

On the junior varsity side, the Dogies saw strong performances from Owen Evenson and Nolan Gregory. Evenson went undefeated to claim first place in the JV 165B bracket, while Gregory placed fifth at 157 after picking up three wins. Logan Dowdy also gained valuable mat time at 175.

The long weekend gave the team a chance to learn to work through injuries and survive the grind of the weekend.

“We walked away with some bumps and bruises,” Marchant said. “But I couldn’t be more excited for the weeks to come.”

The Dogies will continue working through the holiday break, with practices scheduled throughout Christmas week as the team prepares for the next phase of the season.

“This week we have our Christmas break, but we will still be practicing to sharpen our skills,” Marchant said.

Battle of the Big Horns — Newcastle Results

Varsity Duals

Rock Springs 57, Newcastle 11

Greybull/Riverside 42, Newcastle 30

Lander 65, Newcastle 12

Douglas 64, Newcastle 18

Rocky Mountain 36, Newcastle 27

Lovell 36, Newcastle 30

Newcastle 30, Shoshoni 24

Varsity Individual Records

106: Asic Dawson, 0–1

113: Michael Coombs, 3–3

132: Bridger Hill, 0–3

138: Troy Christensen, 5–2

144: Cayson Phillips, 2–5

150: Adam Butler, 0–7

157: TJ Harrington, 0–7

165: Dane Crabtree, 3–4

175: Gustavo Munoz, 0–7

215: Hugo Cuevas, 3–3

Junior Varsity

157: Nolan Gregory, (3-4, 5th place)

165B: Owen Evenson, (4-0, 1st place)

175: Logan Dowdy, (0-4, 5th place)