Blazers fall on Senior Night

Erick Starkey
Posted 2/2/18

The Torrington Trailblazer wrestlers hosted a stout Alliance, Neb. team Tuesday, suffering a 57-13 loss on Senior Night.

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Blazers fall on Senior Night

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TORRINGTON – The Torrington Trailblazer wrestlers hosted a stout Alliance, Neb. team Tuesday, suffering a 57-13 loss on Senior Night.

“I knew going in that Alliance is a solid, solid program,” coach Doyle Meyer said. “I thought if we could just wrestle our matches and do what I think we could do, I wouldn’t be happy, but pleased with what’s going on.”

“You saw in all of our guys that they didn’t give up and fought until the very end,” Torrington senior Jacob Wamboldt said. “Something Torrington likes to focus on is not giving up and finishing as hard as you can.”

Action started at 132 pounds, with Pake Haun and Asa Johnson going into the third period. In a back-and-forth match, Johnson got the pin over Haun at the 5:03-mark. Cody Pierce stepped into the varsity lineup for the Blazers at 138 pounds, taking on Kysen Harris, with Harris recording the pin in the second period.

Tristen Kingsley (145) had a tough outing, suffering a pin at the 2:11-mark against Jorgen Johnson. At 152 pounds, senior Nathan Davis stepped into the lineup and lost via a 16-0 technical fall against Braydon Wilson. 160-pounder Chase Dominguez went the distance against Lane Applegarth, but lost in a 10-0 major decision.

At 170 pounds, Casey Britton got the Blazers’ first win of the night. He went the distance and beat Jayce Bauer in a 17-3 major decision. Fellow Blazer Josh Kingsley (182) went all six minutes in his match as well, falling in a 2-0 decision. Torrington’s normal 182-pounder was out with a concussion, so Britton and Kingsley both wrestled up a weight class.

Like Pierce, freshman Riley Grubbs stepped into the varsity lineup at 195 pounds. After he recorded a throw, the Blazer was pinned in the first period.

“I was pleased with how our freshmen did, even though they took some losses. Riley Grubbs threw a kid he had no business being in a match with,” Meyer said. “Cody Pierce stepped up at 138 pounds and wrestled one of their better wrestlers and hung tough until he was pinned. I was pleased with how the freshmen stepped up.”

Brandon Bennick picked up six points for Torrington in a forfeit win at 220 pounds. Heavyweight Wamboldt took the mats against Nathan Lauder. The two lasted all six minutes, with Lauder coming away with the 7-5 advantage over Wamboldt.

Riley Duffield competed at 106 pounds for Torrington, falling by pin in the first period against Ian Erickson. The Blazers had open weights at 113 and 120 pounds, giving up 12 points. Quentin Meyer closed out the night against Jaxon Minnick. The match went all six minutes, with Meyer snagging the 6-2 decision.

“Quentin avenged a loss that he had earlier in the summer against an Alliance kid,” Meyer said. “He wrestled really smart and had a solid day for us.”

Torrington took on Gering, Neb. in a road dual Thursday after press time. The Blazers return to the mats Saturday in the Rawlins Invitational. With eight teams in attendance, Torrington will get five team duals in.

“We have some guys on the team who are less experienced including me – I haven’t wrestled a ton in my life,” Wamboldt said of building toward regionals and state. “The more matches we can get the better. It’s a quick turnaround with Thursday and Saturday, so hopefully we can bounce back from this loss and do better next time.”