Young Dogies/Bobcats shine in Douglas
Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Editor
The Newcastle/Upton wrestling squad was up against it last weekend as they competed in the Shane Shatto Memorial Tournament in Douglas on Friday and Saturday. Five athletes competed in the tough varsity division while the remainder of the squad were entered into the JV division where each and every one earned a place on the podium by the end of the day on Saturday.
“I was really proud of our young kids, and of Josh [Womack] who placed third in the varsity division,” began head coach Lee McCoy. “I put most of the kids in the JV division because we wanted to get them matches and experience, and they all wrestled really well.”
The tournament was a big one with 25 teams competing in the varsity ranks ranging from 4A all the way down to 1A. With the exception of Ron Thon, it’s the toughest tournament the team competes in during the regular season.
The format of the tournament consisted of pool competition on Friday where the wrestlers were seeded for the bracket competition on Saturday based on their performance in their pool.
Cael Holmes (132 pounds), Aidan Coberly (145), Jacob Prell (160), Ian Simmons (182) and Josh Womack (220) were the five McCoy entered into the varsity division. Womack was the only one to place, and he did so by earning third place.
“I was very, very pleased with how Josh wrestled over the weekend,” McCoy said. “He lost a pretty controversial match in the semi-finals which knocked him out of the running for the championship, but it was a good learning experience for Josh to learn not to leave the match up to anyone but himself.”
The match in question was a narrow 9-8 decision loss to a Douglas wrestler and would ultimately be his only loss of the tournament.
Womack went up against some tough competition which included a first round win over a Rock Springs wrestler, then getting past a talented Sheridan opponent in the consolation semifinal round.
“Josh’s third place match was great against a really big 220-pounder from Lusk who he was able to pin in the second period,” McCoy explained. “It really was a great weekend for Josh and we were just really happy with how he did.”
McCoy doesn’t usually go with the JV, however with most of the team participating in the JV level he decided to hang with them.
“We knew some of our younger kids would be able to win a match or two in the varsity tournament, but we felt like it was better for them to get in more matches over the weekend, which is why we put them in the JV division,” he began. “We had three win championships and all of them placed so I was really happy with how they performed.”
Junior Kyah Miller, the only girl on the team, had a very good tournament placing fifth in the 118-122 weight class. She did so by pinning a Laramie wrestler in just 53 seconds, winning a 6-2 decision against an opponent from Campbell County, and pinning her Lander Valley opponent in the fifth-place match in 2:49.
“On Saturday in her fifth-place match, she was up against a pretty tough kid, but she was being aggressive and her confidence level was way up there,” McCoy said. “She had a number of matches where she had to work to stay in the match and she did. We were pretty impressed with how she did, because her intensity and being aggressive and going out to win the match isn’t something we’ve seen a lot of from her when she’s up against boys. She will when she has another female opponent, but last weekend she was taking that aggressive attitude into all her matches.”
Jackson East (118-126), Scott Larson (117-126), and Cullen Davis (150-154) went undefeated to take the title in their weight classes. Haven Vrana (92-100) was runner up with a 4-1 record while Thomas Prell (134-137) placed third by going 3-2 on the weekend. Chase Smith (131-141), Robert Hobbs (145-152), and Walker Simianer (153-161) each placed sixth with records of 2-3.
“In pool play on Friday, the JV competition left a little to be desired, but on Saturday in bracket competition, they went up against some pretty good opponents so it was good for them and they had to work pretty hard,” McCoy said. “Jackson and Scott each had tough matches in the finals and Cullen had to come from behind at the end to get his kid, so those were great matches.”
This week, the Dogies/Bobcats host their annual tournament on Friday with wrestling scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Then on Saturday, the team heads to Torrington for the Trailblazer duals where McCoy expects to get in five duals so it will be another busy weekend for the squad.
“Our tournament is shaping up to be a pretty good one and I had several coaches talk to me about coming down who usually don’t,” McCoy began. “It’s getting to be a pretty good sized tournament which is great.”