Archive for the 'Wrestling' Category
Friday, February 26th, 2010
More unpublished material: The wrestling edition
Much of the following state wrestling capsules made it into the print edition of today’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle. However, the “About …” section of each team capsule had to be cut so we could fit the remainder of our prep sports coverage into today’s paper. So here are the full state wrestling capsules for Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Burns-Pine Bluffs and Wheatland.
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central
Last season: Fourth place
Returning state placers: Six
Regional champs: 130 Leandro Arias, jr.; 145 Austin Breckenridge, jr.; 152 Bob Helmerick, sr.; 171 Hayden Jones, sr.
Other regional placers: Second, 125 Joe Baca, sr.; 160 Matt Spoon, sr.; Third, 103 Austin Vye, so.; 119 Bailey McHenry, fr.; 189 Taelor Prado, sr.; Fourth, 103 Mike Nelson, so.; 130 Logan Guidry, so.; 135 Chris Nelson, sr.; 140 Tucker Collins, sr.; 215 Russ Bowlin, sr.; 285 Ryan Kuster, sr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Alex Brown, fr.; 119 Tim Scherdon, so.; 125 Brayden Sosa, so.; 135 Dillon Karajanis, sr.; 140 Kendall Nuss, jr.; 145 Mike Hughes, jr.; 152 Ethan Birt, sr.; 160 John Beedle, sr.; 189 James Fossett, fr.; 215 Leon Romero, jr.; 285 Ken Rushing, jr.
About the Indians: Arias, Breckenridge and Jones all wrestled for state titles last year. Only Breckenridge walked away a winner, becoming Central’s first state champ since 2001. … Karajanis is wrestling with a broken left hand. He clinched his state berth by winning his first match at the East Regional in Casper. He defaulted the rest of his bouts but will wrestle at state. … Arias has lost just one match this season.
Cheyenne East
Last season: Sixth
Returning state placers: One
Regional champs: 215 Cheyton Vermillion, sr.; 285 Jacob Edwards, jr.
Other regional placers: Second, 103 Blaze Cress, fr.; 119 Jordan Puente, sr.; 189 Taran Triplett, sr.; Third, 112 Lance Kailey, so.; Fourth, 119 Hayes Stone, fr.; 160 Tanner Hinds, jr.
Other qualifiers: 103 Tanner Wickham, fr.; 112 Darien Briggs, fr.; 125 Kyle Rose, jr.; 125 Luis Reyes, fr.; 130 Blake Hanzlik, so.; 130 Trevor Brower, so.; 135 Isaac Gonzalez, fr.; 152 Nick Haller, jr.; 152 Corey Nelson, so.; 160 Christian Robinson, fr.; 171 Blaine Backman, sr.; 171 Brian Schaefer, so.; 189 Gared Krakow, fr.; 285 D.J. Doolin, jr.
About the Thunderbirds: East does not have an entrant in the 140- and 145-pound classes. … Edwards and junior Dalton Nelson are the only Thunderbirds to place at last year’s state. Nelson spent the winter dealing with a shoulder injury that eventually ended his season. … East coach Dan Ley considers senior 119-pounder Jordan Puente one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the tournament. He also thinks sophomore Lance Kailey (112 pounds) could make some noise.
Class 3A
Cheyenne South
Last season: First-ever state tourney
State qualifiers: 119 Erik Fair, fr.; 152 Tyler Colley, fr.; 171 Che Roberts, fr.; 189 R.J. Nelson, fr.
About the Bison: Fair was 2-2 at the Class 3A East Regional while Colley was 1-2. … Fair’s first round opponent is Wheatland’s Shawn Zavala, who was second at the East Regional. … Colley drew top-seeded Jimmy Seckman of Powell in the fist round. … South is the third-smallest team in the tourney. Class 2A Kaycee and Wind River only have three entrants each.
Wheatland
Last season: Fourth
Returning state placers: Four
Regional champs: 145 Tyler Smart, sr.; 160 Dustin Finnerty, sr.
Other regional placers: Second, 119 Shawn Zavala, jr.; Third, 189 Tyler Tillman, sr.; 215 Travis Jenkins, sr.; Fourth, 103 Jhett Eike, fr.; 125 Joel Dappen, jr.; 135 Dillon Cotterman, jr.; 140 Ceasar Zavala, fr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Chaz McAuley, so.; 119 R.J. Schmidl, jr.; 125 Layne Eike, jr.; 130 Andrew Blumer, jr.; 135 Ben Sanderson, jr.; 145 David Chesser, so.; 171 Quinn Zimmerman, jr.; 189 Chase Irvine, fr.; 285 Chuck Maike, sr.
About the Bulldogs: Dappen, Finnerty, Smart and Tillman all medaled last year. Dappen and Tillman were fourth; Finnerty and Smart were sixth.Class 2A
Burns-Pine Bluffs
Last season: 19th
Returning state placers: None
Regional placers: Second, 215 Todd Baker, sr.; Fourth, 160 Frank Vossler, sr.
Other qualifiers: 112 Grady Mikesell, so.; 119 Trenton Culp, so.; Jacob Miller, fr.; 152 Travis Herrington, fr.; 189 Shawn Cole, jr.; 189 Adan Gandara, jr.
About the Broncs: Baker, Cole and Gandara have qualified for the past three state tourneys. … Baker and Gandara won two matches each at last year’s state to account for four of the Broncs’ six wins.
Friday, February 26th, 2010
Coach’s corner: Dan Ley
Occasionally I ask coaches questions that I’m interested to learn the answers to, but have no intention of ever publishing their answer. Sometimes it’s to gain some insight into their thinking so I can ask better questions and write better stories down the road, sometimes it’s because I’m a gigantic sports nerd and am just interested in the answer.
Cheyenne East wrestling coach Dan Ley and I got to talking about the concept of “wrestling within one’s self.” Coaches don’t want guys to try things they’re not capable of, but they don’t want guys who are too passive and constantly lose matches because they’re too timid to try and take control.
So I asked Ley, what’s worse, a guy who is too passive or a guy that doesn’t know his own limitations? I felt pretty proud of the question when he doubled back and changed his answer mid-stream because I felt I’d forced him to examine something he hadn’t in a while.
A lot of it is learning to wrestle within your abilities and not outdo yourself. A lot of kids beat themselves rather than their opponents beatnig them.
I don’t know that I could rank one worse or better than the other. They’re both a detriment to an athlete. Probably being overly cautious will cost you more matches.
Then again, hanging back and being afraid isn’t good. We use a baseball analogy, ‘You can’t steal second with your foot on first’ with our kids all the time. If you don’t attempt, it’s pretty hard to score.
Maybe I’ll reverse my thinking and say being underconfident and afraid to attempt something is worse than actually trying. If we’re drilling and working on something, even if they’re a little bit under-confident to even attempt it or overconfident with it and attempt it, something good will come out of it.
You have to have a game-plan going in, know what your capabilities are, try not to do more than you’re capable of and go from there.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Prep profile: John Beedle
School: Cheyenne Central
Grade: Senior
Sports: Football, wrestling and lacrosse
Favorite class: I have my sports marketing class with Mr. (Chad) Whitworth first thing in the morning. It’s a great class that keeps me entertained and it’s a great way to start my days.
Late-starter: I’ve played lacrosse since my freshman year at Upper Arlington (Ohio) High and in the two years since my family moved back to Cheyenne. This was my first year playing football and wrestling in high school. The wrestling coaches have been trying to get me to come out for the team since my sophomore year, so I finally decided to give it a shot my senior year. I always thought the sport was a little weird, but I decided to try it out and now I love it. Both of those seasons were more than I ever expected. I’ve gotten to know some awesome coaches and awesome athletes.
Learning curve: The toughest thing about coming out for wrestling my senior year was getting used to the conditioning. It was way hard to start off with, but I got used to it.
On my mp3 player: I usually listen to Eminem’s “‘Til I Collapse” before I wrestle. Before football games, I listened to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” (by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell). It’s an old song, but a really good one.
Appointment TV: I have to watch “SportsCenter” every night and every morning before I come to school. I want to know how the Cleveland Cavaliers and Ohio State Buckeyes have done.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
More wrestling
A few things I forgot to mention in my last wrestling post.
1.) Cheyenne Central has now won the past three conference duals with Cheyenne East. That winning streak improves to four if you count the Indians dual win at the Bill Thoman Memorial in Green River earlier this season.
2.) Central senior Dillon Karajanis missed Friday’s dual with a broken left hand. He injured the hand helping a teammate warm up for Tuesday’s dual with Casper Kelly Walsh.
Karajanis expects to get a soft cast/wrap he can legally wrestle with some time next week. He had one doctor tell him he shouldn’t cause further damage to his hand by finishing the season and another advised against finishing the year, but said he should be OK. Karajanis said he’s going to give it a go.
3.) East junior Dalton Nelson’s shoulder injury is going to keep him out for the rest of the season. Nelson had been in and out of the lineup because of that injury. He tested it in practice earlier this week, but tweaked the injury again and was forced to shut it down.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Misc. thoughts from the East-Central wrestling dual
First things first, tonight’s 48-21 Central win was pretty entertaining. The Indians raced to a 21-0 lead behind four wins. East knotted the score 21-21 behind five consecutive victories. Central closed the dual with four wins and a forfeit.
Here are some notes and quotes I wasn’t able to work into my story.
When I spoke with Cheyenne East junior 285-pounder Jacob Edwards and East coach Dan Ley for a Prep Athlete of the Week feature on Edwards, both said smaller, athletic heavyweights could pose problems for Edwards, who is a smaller heavyweight himself. Cheyenne Central’s Ryan Kuster fits that bill, but also presents different problems for Edwards.
“His length and height are also a problem,” Ley said of Kuster, who could wrestle at 215 pounds if the Indians were already three deep at that spot. “He’s got such an advantage in reach. Those things give Jacob a lot of problems. … Kuster is really tough on top. Jake isn’t bad standing up, but if Kuster gets a takedown on him, he can reach both ends easily and make things tough.”
Edwards is 3-2 against Kuster this season and the two will most likely meet in the East Regional final next week. It should be another good match.
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Ley has been dissatisfied with the performance of some of his upperclassmen in recent weeks and has made some very pointed comments to that effect. Friday was a different story.
“I’m pleased with the idea of the competition and the way we stepped up and rose to a challenge,” Ley said. “It’s reminiscent of the dual we had with them at the Green River tournament about a month ago. I think that scored ended up 48-24. That’s what we were hoping. We wanted to step out, compete and win the matches we probably were even or had slight advantages in.
“A lot of people don’t realize that, yeah, the dual was what is was, but the regional tournament is next week and those seeds we gained in a couple of weight classes could help us. We needed to win some of those matches to maintain the seeding advantage.”
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Cheyenne Central coach T.J. Castillon got a call from freshman Alex Brown on Thursday night. Brown wanted Castillon to consider putting him at 112 pounds so the Indians wouldn’t have to be open in that weight class. Brown promised Castillon he wouldn’t surrender six points (the value of a pin in a dual meet) to East’s Lance Kailey. Brown delivered on that promise, dropping a 12-6 decision to Kailey. Central’s coaches were probably as excited as they’ve ever been for a 12-6 defeat.
“I told him he was going to have to go out and wrestle tough,” Castillon said. “He told me, ‘I can keep the score within four or five instead of giving up six.’ He did that. That was a win for us in that situation. To call me and say, ‘I want to wrestle varsity,’ that shows a lot of character for Alex Brown in that situation.”
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Joe Baca’s 12-6 win over Kyle Rose swung things back in Central’s direction and halted East’s five-match winning streak. Baca scored five takedowns in that match and allowed Rose to escape two times so he could go for more takedowns. It’s was all part of a strategy.
“He actually started to take some shots and that’s something we really needed from him,” Castillon said. “That’s why we kept cutting (Rose free) and going after it again. (Baca) is usually a defensive wrestler. That’s how he’s posted such a good wrestler, but in order to win matches you’ve got to go and get the first takedown.”
“It felt right and I was in the right position to get them all,” Baca said. “… I think I’m in a lot better shape than other people, it’s just a matter of scoring the points I need to get the lead.”
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Wrestling reflections
Here are a few things I took away from spending most of my Saturday watching Cheyenne East and then Cheyenne Central wrestle against Gillette.
–Cheyenne East 103-pounder Blaze Cress could make some serious noise at the state tournament. The freshman was already ranked third in the WyoWrestling.com poll, which means he’s getting respect. But he showed a lot of heart and poise in his 4-2 win over Gillette’s Lukas Poloncic. Poloncic, who also is a freshman, has spent much of the season as Class 4A’s top-ranked 103-pounder.
Cress scored a takedown late in the first period and was unable to battle off the bottom in the second. Poloncic knotted the score 2-2 when he scored a reversal just two seconds into the final frame. Cress got his match-winning reversal with 11 seconds remaining. It’s a quality win over a quality opponent.
Poloncic was dominant in his 6-3 win over Cheyenne Central’s Austin Vye later in the afternoon. This was Vye’s first weekend at 103, so that could have played a role in him not wrestling to his usual form. Nonetheless, the win over Poloncic bodes well for Cress.
– Central 215-pounder Russ Bowlin dropped a 7-5 decision to Gillette’s James Boylen on Saturday afternoon, but, in my mind, that match played as big a role in the Indians’ 35-28 win over the Camels as any of their eight wins. Injuries helped thrust Bowlin into the varsity lineup. First Taelor Prado suffered a back injury and then 189-pounder Zach Mowry suffered separated ribs. Prado moved down to 189 and Bowling stayed at 215. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him keep that spot for the forseeable future after the way he wrestled Boylen.
Central’s coaches hoped to get at least one win between 189 and 285. Senior 285-pounder Ryan Kuster provided the win in that section of the lineup and Bowlin very well could have too.
Bowlin jumped to a quick 4-0 lead with a first-minute takedown and two-point back exposure. Boylen rebounded to take a 5-4 lead, but Bowlin quickly knotted the score with an escape.
Boylen tried to muscle Bowlin around the mat, but Bowlin gave little to no ground. Boylen scored the final takedown with 30 seconds remaining. Both wrestlers were nearly out of bounds when Boylen scored the takedown.
Boylen was 17-22 a year ago and gave East’s Cheyton Vermillion — the state’s third-ranked 215-pounder — fits before Vermillion held on for a win. I’m indifferent when it comes to moral victories, but I would have to say Bowlin’s close loss has to be an enormous confidence-builder. It was a winable match for Bowlin and I think its something he can’t use as a foundation for future success.
Looking ahead to the East-Central dual
Assuming the lineups stay relatively the same, here are some matches I’m looking forward to when Cheyenne Central and Cheyenne East get together Feb. 12 at Central.
103: Cress vs. Vye: Vye is only a sophomore, but is a battle-hardened veteran who placed sixth at state. This has the potential to be an action-packed match with lots of points. It’ll be another good test for the youngster Cress. It also should serve as a good barometer of where Vye is at once he settles into the lighter weight class.
125: Jordan Puente, East, vs. Joe Baca, Central: Save for Saturday’s loss to Gillette’s Dani Fischer, Baca has been pretty consistent all year long. Puente has been up and down coming off a season-ending leg injury. East’s regular 125-pounder Dalton Nelson has been struggling with a shoulder injury. This will be an equally interesting bout if Nelson is healthy and Puente drops to his normal spot at 119.
215: Bowlin vs. Vermillion: Vermillion has been one of East’s most consistent performers all year long. Bowlin is a relative upstart. Both are big, strong kids.
285: Jacob Edwards, East, vs. Ryan Kuster, Central: The No. 1 and No. 3 heavyweights in 4A according to WyoWrestling.com. Both are light for their division. I know for a fact Kuster could wrestle at 215, but the Indians need him at 285. They’ve split their head-to-head match-ups this season.
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Can familiarity help?
There’s a big wrestling dual on the schedule for this weekend between Class 4A No. 1 Cheyenne Central and second-ranked Gillette. Central coach T.J. Castillon wrestled in high school for Gillette coach Tom Seamans when both were in Green River.
Castillon has tried to coach the Indians with a style similar to what he learned from Seamans. It’s that familiarity he hopes can put the Indians over the top against the Camels on Saturday.
“They ride the legs and have a similar style to us,” Castillon said. “Coach Seamans still does a lot of the same things. They ride legs and come out firing. We’re similar in our wrestling styles.”
It’s not going to be easy for Central, which may have a handful of its top guns missing because of illness. If the Indians are at full strength, it should be a pretty good dual.
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Wrestling thoughts
The Charlie Lake Invitational gave me a good opportunity to see the Capital City’s high-school wrestling teams in action. Cheyenne Central ran away with the tournament title by having seven athletes win titles and three more wrestle for championships. The Indians finished with 234 team points to runner-up Douglas’ 127. Cheyenne East was fourth in the 12-team field at 100.
The tournament wasn’t filled with teams that will factor into Central’s chase for a state title, but the Indians did exactly what was expected of them — and maybe more by running roughshod over the field. That a very positive sign in Central’s development as a legitimate state title contender. It takes a lot of horses to win a state title and winning a tournament that convincingly is evidence the Indians might have what it takes to be in the thick of the hunt come late February.
Cheyenne East had freshman Blaze Cress win the 103-pound title, while senior Jordan Puente won at 125. To me, that’s the Thunderbirds turning a negative into a positive because those two were their only finalists. East also fared well in the wrestleback rounds with junior 130-pounder Dalton Nelson, senior Cheyton Vermillion (215) and junior Jacob Edwards (285) rebound to get third. Nelson and Vermillion’s third-place finishes are all the more impressive considering the number of matches they had to win. Often times, the third-place finisher is one of the guys who dropped to the loser’s bracket after a semifinal loss. Not in Nelson or Vermillion’s cases.
Nelson had to win three matches to take third after dropping a 3-1 decision to eventual champion Joe Baca of Central. Vermillion need four wins to take third after losing to eventual champion Jacob Arellano of Niwot, Colo.
East clearly has some work to do before it can achieve the middle of the pack finish longtime coach Dan Ley hopes for this season, but there’s a decent foundation to build from.
Sunday, March 1st, 2009
Time to take a breath
I’m sitting in my hotel room in Casper breathing a GIGANTIC sigh of relief that I was able to get my two state wrestling stories in under deadline. This is the sixth year I’ve had the pleasure of covering the state tournament and it never disappoints.
I always marvel at the organized chaos that envelopes the Casper Events Center during the last Friday and Saturday in February each year. For those who have never been to state wrestling, let me paint you a picture: Nine mats, 46 teams, 46 teams worth of supporters and 42 weight classes worth of bouts being wrestled. The Events Center is packed to the rafters for the finals and the atmosphere is electric.
But there are other things I enjoy about covering state wrestling:
1.) Seeing all the new singlets that come out during the finals. Pretty much every team — right down to the smallest schools — has two sets of singlets. There’s the set that gets used during duals and in every round of tournaments leading up to the medal rounds. Then there’s the set that gets worn during the medal rounds. Heck, some teams only let the athletes in championship matches wear the spiffy duds.
Just when you think you can identify which school a wrestler hails from just by looking at the singlet, they switch it up on you.
One of my favorite trends is when guys break out the old-school threads for the finals. I’m pretty sure it was Class 2A 130-pound champ Brodey Serres of Lingle-Fort Laramie that was rocking a singlet that had probably been moth-balled in the early 1990s. It was a classy red number with a horizontal powder blue strip running across the chest with a white “LFL” in the middle.
2.) Most of the coaches look like they could still get out there and put on a pretty entertaining bout themselves. These cats are in shape, even some of the … How can I phrase this politely? … veteran coaches. I know many of them have kept the LBs off by working with their kids in the wrestling room, but not many of them appear too far removed from the weight classes they competed in during their heydays.
3.) Not only do the athletes themselves bring out new gear for the finals, the coaches do too. Many of those guys don’t cut corners either. They go from the team color polo shirts and sneakers to suits and ties.
State wrestling truly is a spectacle in the best possible ways.
Monday, February 16th, 2009
The Wrestlers
Turns out the East-Central wrestling dual wasn’t as close as I predicted. Central jumped out to a 39-0 lead before taking a 48-27 victory Friday. It was still pretty exciting despite the Indians winning the first seven bouts — two of them by forfeit.
One of the night’s big surprises came when East sophomore Michael Galicia downed Central senior Brad Ramsey 3-2 at 189 pounds. Galicia was a standout youth wrestler for the Team Braves program, but has struggled adjusting to the competition presented by his often older foes at the high-school level. Ramsey was ranked in the top six in Class 4A at 189 pounds entering the bout, but Galicia was the better wrestler Friday. He jumped out to a lead, was warned for stalling and smartly shot on Ramsey in the final 17 seconds to seal the match.
Galicia and East coach Dan Ley think Friday’s win is a sign of Galicia’s maturation.
“(Galicia) didn’t get frustrated, he focused and maintained his composure and stayed with his gameplan,” Ley said.
The second-most thrilling match of the night was the 125-pound bout between Central’s Leandro Arias and East’s Eric Maestas. Arias, a sophomore, pinned Maestas, a senior, in 5 minutes, 36 seconds. The pair spent the bulk of the match on their feet trying to find the slightest chink in the other’s armor to exploit.
Maestas held a lead before Arias finally got the opening he was looking for: His go-to move the spladdle.
“It’s a move that goes against every fundamental rule of wrestling,” Central coach T.J. Castillon said.
How so? Arias practially gives opponents an ankle. As soon as they have that ankle, Arias somehow hooks in and rolls them onto their back for a pin.
It defies convention, but Arias isn’t the second-ranked 125-pounder by accident.
Also, expect Maestas to stay at 125 pounds at this weekend’s East Regional and next weekend’s state tournament. He previously wrestled at 125 this winter.
The East Regional starts Friday at Central.