TORRINGTON – Torrington High School sophomore Brendan Woodard squared off against Cooper Sanchez, of Burns/Pine Bluffs, in the first-place round at 150 pounds at the 3A East Regional Wrestling Tournament hosted by Torrington on February 17. 

Woodard battled through his bracket on both Friday and Saturday to reach the final match. In the quarterfinals, Woodard pinned Douglas’ Treysen Parker 26 seconds.

The semifinals pitted Woodard against Brody Behrend, of Buffalo. Woodard battled his opponent through the opening half of the first period before achieving a pin at 1 minute, 27 seconds.

One final task remained for Woodard – defeat Sanchez in the first-place match. Woodard began to warm up as the bout approached.

“I walked in the hallway and tried to focus on my match and how I was going to win,” Woodard said. “I wasn’t super nervous because I figured I was going to win. I just had to see it to believe it.”

Woodard gained the initiative right out of the gate against Sanchez with a takedown and a near fall to pull ahead, 5-0. Sanchez managed to get an escape with 18 seconds left in the first period.

Undaunted, Woodard maintained his momentum and pinned Sanchez at 2:48, to snag the regional title at 150 pounds and qualify for the state tournament this weekend. Woodard rose to his feet, holding up his right arm in triumph as his coaches and teammates cheered from the sidelines.

“On the first cradle, I thought I had (Sanchez) pinned,” Woodard said. “After I let him go, I was a little worried. But once I locked him in, at that point, I knew I won.”

Fifteen athletes from the Torrington Blazers’ varsity boys’ team will join Woodard at state along with one Lady Blazer, sophomore Aubree Fahrmeyer. 

The number of state qualifiers highlighted a successful weekend for Torrington High School grapplers, culminating in the Blazers capturing second place as a team with 148 points.

The Blazers beat Buffalo, Worland, Wheatland, Burns/Pine Bluffs and Newcastle, gaining positive traction as the team gears up for state and the culmination of a challenging season. 

The Lady Blazers – with a single athlete – placed 19th as a team out of 25 schools as a result of Fahrmeyer earning eighth place in the 145-pound bracket.

“I was pretty happy with the way our wrestlers competed,” head coach Cody Grant said. “We had our first ever girl state-qualifier in Aubree Fahrmeyer. Our boys battled to a second-place finish in the region and many of them set themselves up with good seeds for state by placing in the top four at regionals.”

Grant thanked volunteers and fans for coming out to support Torrington grapplers at regionals.

“It was fun to put on a show for our home crowd and wrestle well,” Grant said. “I’m proud of our team and excited to finish strong. I feel like we are peaking at the right time and that has been the goal all season.”

Sixteen qualifiers

Junior Tyler Nicolay punched his ticket to state with a second-place finish in the 120-pound bracket. Nicolay pinned Wheatland’s Austin Brennan in the semifinals before taking down Charlie Bowles, of Newcastle, by fall in the semifinals.

At 132 pounds, junior Barrett Eichenberger garnered second place. Squaring off against Rawlins’ Jacob Zamarripa in the quarterfinals, Eichenberger won by fall at 2 minutes. Eichenberger battled Newcastle’s Casey Matthews through three periods in the semifinals to score a victory by a 12-4 major decision.

Sophomore Ty Albaugh captured second place in the 138-pound division. Albaugh won the quarterfinals by an 11-1 major decision against Douglas’ Jack Noblin. Advancing to the semifinals, Albaugh pinned Scott Larson, of Newcastle, at 58 seconds.

Sophomore Colby Sandusky took third place at 144 pounds, pinning Worland’s Lucas Ramirez 27 seconds into the final period of the third-place match.

In the 150-pound bracket, junior Kaden Romig secured third place by pinning Wheatland’s Mauriccio Grimaldo 58 seconds into the third-place match.

Fourth-place finishes included sophomore Amon Napier at 106 pounds, junior Hunter Massie at 157 pounds and junior Nicholaus King at 215 pounds.

Senior Reece Grubbs and sophomore Jaden Ruiz both took fifth place at 126 pounds and 138 pounds, respectively.

At 157 pounds, junior Brayden Dykes came in sixth place. Sophomore Chase Graves placed seventh in the 215-pound classification. Senior Bryce Hager and junior Griffin Wolfe each took eighth place at 175 pounds and 132 pounds, respectively.