Grapplers end season

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogie/Bobcat grapplers hosted their last regular season match on Friday as the Douglas Bearcats braved the elements to come to Newcastle. Being just a dual between the two teams the event was short, but according to head coach Lee McCoy it wasn’t all that sweet.
“I really was disappointed in how we competed because we just didn’t wrestle, and at this point in the game you just can’t do that,” he frowned. “When you do nothing, not only are you allowing your opponent to have his way, but you also don’t come out of the match with anything to work on.”
McCoy admitted that some of the lackluster performance from his athletes may have been attributed to the disruption the weather caused to practices throughout the week. However, he also made no excuses for the 12-72 point loss.
“Wrestling is all about overcoming obstacles, and you just can’t come out and not compete if you expect to have any success,” he determined. “At this point of the season we need to have our ducks in a row, and we didn’t on Friday night.”
As with any sport, gaining momentum in a match is vital to a team’s success. However, as McCoy pointed out, in a single dual the opportunity to claim it is fleeting. 
“If your first guy goes out and has a good match, things have a tendency to snowball from there,” he explained. “We just didn’t have any momentum. We just didn’t have ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ is. I want so bad for these kids to win, their parents, family and friends want them to win, but the bottom line is they have to want it. Part of the growing and maturing process is learning that winning is better than losing, and you have to do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
Kale Corley was the lone Dogie to pull out a win on the night in the non-exhibition matches, but his victory did not come easy.
“Kale gave us a little bit of a scare, but he recovered to get the pin,” McCoy chuckled. “The Douglas kid is wiry and he took advantage of a mistake. Kale went out and got the takedown right away, and then he went for the cradle but just didn’t have it hooked up right. He almost paid a big price for it.” 
Gavin Durfee got a forfeit at 145, but because it was the senior’s last home appearance, McCoy had him wrestle the Bearcat’s junior varsity 152 pounder, which he got the better of in short time. 
“Gavin wanted to wrestle because it was his last time at home, so it was good we could give him that chance,” McCoy nodded. 
With the regular season in the books, the Dogies are preparing for the 3A East Regional Tournament in Rawlins this Friday and Saturday. At present, the only certain seed for the squad is defending state champion Kale Corley, who will go into the tourney seeded first at 132 given he has gone undefeated in 3A throughout the season. The remaining seeding will be determined at the seeding meeting early Friday afternoon.
Regardless of how the bracket shakes out for the Dogies, McCoy stressed that each and every wrestler would have to put forth his best effort all weekend if the season is to be extended another week.
“This part of the season is about all the work you’ve put in throughout, and we’ve definitely put in the work,” he nodded. “Now it’s a matter of believing in your training, believing you can win and not beating yourself before you even walk out on the mat.”
The Dogies will be back to full roster on Friday, though perhaps not fully healthy. Senior Reid Holmes will be back in action after injuring his shoulder at the Newcastle tournament a few weeks ago, but he is not 100 percent.
“This is do-or-die for Reid, so he will be giving it everything he’s got this weekend,” McCoy stated. “He will be wearing a brace for his shoulder, and hopefully he’ll be able to go hard enough to be successful.”
The squad is also adding another member to the team for the weekend. Sophomore Reece Woodard of Upton has been cleared to compete, so he will be joining the Dogies for the first time this season at 220 pounds.
“I’m hoping Reece will have a pretty big impact for us, because he’s a big, strong, athletic kid who can surprise a lot of people,” McCoy predicted. “Last year as a freshman, he placed at state in both the shot and discus, so we are pretty excited to have him.”
Weigh-ins for Regionals will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon with wrestling to begin at 2.