Blazers 11th at Charlie Lake

Erick Starkey
Posted 12/13/17

Jacob Polkowske was the lone Torrington Trailblazer to place at the Charlie Lake Invitational in Cheyenne over the weekend, while five other Blazers picked up at least one win.

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Blazers 11th at Charlie Lake

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CHEYENNE – Jacob Polkowske was the lone Torrington Trailblazer to place at the Charlie Lake Invitational in Cheyenne over the weekend, while five other Blazers picked up at least one win.

At 152 pounds, Polkowske found his way into the championship match. He received a first-round bye, before winning by a 7-1 decision over Kevin Anderson (Kelly Walsh), to move on to the semi-finals. In his second match of the weekend, Polkowske won via a 15-7 major decision over Gering’s Andres Canales. In the championship match, the Blazer suffered a loss via pin at the end of the first period, with Derek Robb (Sidney) taking the gold.

Casey Britton finished the weekend with a 3-2 record at 160 pounds. His weekend did not get off to the way he hoped, suffering a loss via pin in the third period against Kelly Walsh’s Javen Palmer. In the consolation bracket, Britton ran away with three wins. He pinned Ethan Short (Laramie) in the first period, along with pins in the second period over both Joshua Namenyi (Chaparral) and Nathan Lundberg (Cheyenne Central). Cheyenne East’s Daniel Grube ended Britton’s run in the lower bracket, pinning the Blazer at the 2:56 mark.

Nycholas Melchor competed at 106 pounds for the Blazers. He received a first-round bye, before being pinned by Toby Gavette (Eaton) in the first period of the quarterfinals. Melchor turned things around in the lower bracket, pinning Cheyenne Central’s Isaac Lopez at the 4:56 mark. In the third-round of the consolation bracket, Melchor lost by a 7-6 decision against Gavin Mancini (Kelly Walsh).

Austin Fox (138) started his weekend with a pin over Tanner David (Erie), with 1:11 to go in the match. In the quarterfinals, Fox was pinned at 2:35 against Sidney’s Brody Raines, followed by a loss via pin in the second period against Jackson Hesford (Cheyenne East), ending his weekend.

Tristen Kingsley was pinned in his first match of the weekend against K.C. Higer (Sidney) at the 0:45 mark. After receiving a bye in the first round of the 145 pound consolation bracket, Kingsley went on to pin Wheatland’s Seth DeWitt with less than 30 seconds to go in the third period. In the third round of the lower bracket, Kingsley was one takedown away from a win, falling in sudden victory against Jamis Lopez (Cheyenne East).

Heavyweight Brandon Bennick was the final Blazer to pick up a win on the weekend. He started the invite with a pin in 37 seconds against Ryan Thapa (Kelly Walsh). In the quarterfinal, Bennick was pinned in the first period against Poudre’s Weston Mayer. He also fell via pin against Casey Pushchak (Cheyenne Central).

Quentin Meyer competed at 126 pounds in Cheyenne, losing by pin in the second period against both Kevin Price (Scottsbluff) and Deklyn Miller (Fort Collins). Jakob Brott was the final Torrington representative at Charlie Lake. At 195 pounds, he was pinned in the first round by Braden Barker (Mountain View) and in the second round by Darrell Goekeler.

In the JV ranks in Cheyenne, five Blazers took first in their weight classes. Gabe Mitchell went 5-0 on his way to the gold. Riley Grubbs went 4-0 and Cody Pierce finished 3-0, both taking first. Brett Posten and Daeden Morrow both went 3-1 to finish first.

Pake Haun and Brandon Deen both went 2-2 on their way to third-place finishes. Nathan Davis (fifth), Sebastian Doucette (fourth) and Jerald Merrick (fourth) all picked up a win. Chasen Small, Landen Norris and Riley Duffield all competed in the JV ranks but failed to picked up a win.

Torrington finished with 41 points to finish 11th. Poudre took first with 186 points, with Cheyenne East (144.5) and Kelly Walsh (138.5) rounding out the top three.

Torrington 53, Cheyenne South 30

Five Blazers picked up wins, with Torrington raking in another four wins via forfeit Thursday at home to beat Cheyenne South, 53-30.

Starting at 106 pounds, Melchor picked up the 17-1 technical fall over James Wood. Following the win by Melchor, the Blazers hit a bit of a dry spell. Duffield was pinned in the first period at 113 pounds, followed by a forfeit loss at 120 pounds. Meyer (126) reached the third period, before being pinned at the 5:17 mark. Sherbeyn (132) was pinned in the second period and Haun was pinned in the third at 138 pounds.

Kingsley got the Blazers back on the winning track after pinning his opponent at the 3:22 mark. Polkowske continued the winning with a pin of his own, but his came in the final minute of the third period. Britton picked up a win at 160 pounds via forfeit.

The lone senior varsity wrestler, Dominguez, continued the momentum for the Blazers with a pin at 170 pounds in the second period. Walson’s match at 182 pounds went to the third period, and the Blazer came away with a pin with 1:02 to go on the clock.

Brott (195), Doucette (220) and Bennick (285) all picked up wins via forfeit to rack up their score to 53, while limiting the Bison to 30.

The Blazers return to the mats this weekend to compete in a tournament in Loveland, Colo.