Grapplers wrap up regular season

The Dogies/Bobcats finished up their regular season Thursday at a triangular in Wheatland where they split with Douglas and the Bulldogs, and head coach Lee McCoy is liking the trajectory his team appears to be on as they head into the post-season this weekend.
“We had a pretty good day and we did much better against Douglas than we did before,” McCoy determined. “We won a few more matches that we had lost at their quad, so I’m pretty happy about that.”
In their 29-50 loss against the Bearcats, Jackson East (120-pound weight class), Cael Holmes (126)
and Josh Womack (220) each won their matches. 
“One of the really good match-ups that we wanted to see was Jackson against Edgar Sosa, who had beat him earlier this year,” McCoy said. “Jackson took the mat on the mission, and he was pretty fired up to get revenge on him. He took the kid down, rode him and then pinned him in just a little over a minute.”
Holmes’ match at 126 was also a good one for Newcastle/Upton. Holmes has been working to overcome a back injury he sustained early in the season, but Thursday he looked strong and won not only his match against Douglas, but also against his Wheatland opponent.
“It was fun and I did pretty good,” Holmes said with a grin. “I beat my Douglas guy by a technical fall and I pinned the Wheatland kid, so that was awesome. Neither kid was ranked, but they were both talented, and I got beat at 132 the last time I wrestled in Douglas, so it was nice to get a little revenge.”
Finally, Josh Womack, who currently is ranked third in 3A in the 220 weight class, also prevailed over both his Douglas and Wheatland opponents. Unfortunately, in the Douglas match-up, the fourth-ranked Bearcat Carter Archuleta was held out of the competition so Womack went up against Kolby Parker, the No. 4 ranked heavyweight instead.
“It was disappointing that they held Archuleta out because Josh and he are currently tied 1-1 against each other,” McCoy said. “I would have liked to have had that decided regarding who is the better kid before heading into regional seeding this Friday.”
Womack appeared not to harbor much anxiety regarding who stepped on the mat to compete against him, however, as he took care of Parker in just 1:42. 
“They have enough kids to move them around pretty easily, so they bumped their heavyweight down to wrestle me,” Womack explained. “I would have liked to see Archuleta, but I don’t really care where I’m seeded for regionals. I’m just going to go out and wrestle the way I can.”
Wheatland was up next and pretty much the whole match went the way of Newcastle/Upton. The Bulldogs gave up some in forfeits, but in all but two matches that were decided on the mat McCoy’s team came out on top to take away a 42-32 win.
Holmes at 126, Thomas Prell (132), Aidan Coberly (145) and Womack (220) all picked up wins on the mat.
In addition, Kyah Miller (113) wrestled an exhibition match against Chloe Palmer of Wheatland who competes in the 132 weight class. Palmer has committed to Chadron State College to wrestle next season, so both coaches wanted to see the outcome of this match-up.
“Kyah weighed in at 113 so Chloe had her by about 20 pounds,” McCoy began. “Palmer is a very good wrestler, but Kyah went out and wrestled her tough and pinned her, so we were really excited about that.”
Newcastle/Upton plays host for the 2021-2022 3A East Regional Tournament Friday in the Dogie Dome.
“We’ve been preaching all season about out-working, out-smarting, and out-wrestling our opponents, and this is where it counts,” McCoy said. “It’s great for our seniors to get to have regionals at home, using the energy from our hometown crowd. Our crowd usually shows up pretty well, so hopefully that happens on Friday.”
McCoy feels pretty confident that the Dogies/Bobcats should be able to qualify 12 for the state tournament weekend after next. In order to move on, wrestlers must finish among the top eight, and to be seeded they must make top four.
“Now is when it is most important to be peaking,
and I feel good and I feel ready for regionals this weekend,” Holmes said. “I think we’ll
do pretty good as a team, and I think we should be in the
top three because we are pretty solid.”
Womack has his eyes on the top of the podium at state, so this weekend the senior is determined to walk away from the regional tourney with a top seed.
“I just go out and wrestle every match like it’s my last. I don’t go out and wrestle just to survive, I go out to dominate and to win,” Womack declared. “As Coach Schlater tells me every day in practice, ‘leave no doubt,’ so that’s exactly what I plan on doing this Friday. I’m going to leave no doubt that I deserve to be there.”
Action at the 3A East Regional Tournament begins at 11:30 on Friday morning. Admission is $9 for adults and $6 for students for an all-tournament pass.