MOORCROFT – All five of the Lingle-Fort Laramie wrestlers put together solid performances at the 2A East Regional Tournament on Friday to earn their way to the state tournament.
“It was a tough regional tournament for us,” coach Brandon Gifford said. “I know that we didn’t finish the way our young men wanted to, but regionals is not the end game.”
Todd Walker had the best finish among the Doggers, taking second at 138 pounds. Walker won his opening match over Austin Seeley (Wright) by fall in the second period. The Dogger advanced to the semi-finals, where he beat Moorcroft’s Cole Cook by a 10-0 major decision.
In the first-place match, Walker took on Garrett Schwindt (Glenrock), who has 41 wins this winter. Walker and Schwindt went the distance, with the Dogger falling by decision, 6-4.

Kash Kaufman (126), LFL’s other senior, joined Walker as a podium finisher. He opened Friday with a pin over Wright’s James Moore in the first period. In the semi-finals, Kaufman went the distance but fell to Trey Fischbach (Moorcroft) by decision, 7-4.
Kaufman dropped to the consolation bracket, where he rattled off two wins. He bested Trey Ward (Moorcroft) by pin in the second period, placing him in the third-place match. The Dogger went the distance against Dax Yeradi (Wright) and won by a 3-1 decision.
“Our seniors Todd and Kash will be prepared to lead us into this last tournament with the goal being to win the match in front of us,” Gifford said of the seniors heading into the state tournament. “With this mentality, my hope is that we can still accomplish what we have set out to do.”
Zane Rising took seventh at the regional tournament at 132 pounds. He lost his first match by pin in the first to Rowdy Cranston (Moorcroft). Rising went the distance in his next two matches in the lower bracket, beating Garrett Strohschein (Wright) 13-10 before losing to T.J. Kraft (Glenrock), 14-7.
Gaven Niles (120) was the final Dogger to scratch a place in Moorcroft. He fell in his first match of the day by a 14-8 decision to J. J. Seaman (Hannah-Elk Mountain), dropping him to the consolation bracket. Niles pinned Hulett’s Taylor Dykes in the first period and then beat Glenrock’s Dakota Reynolds by a 10-5 decision to reach the consolation semi-finals. The Dogger took eighth after suffering a loss to Glenrock’s Brysen Collier by major decision, 16-3.
At 113 pounds, Christian Burton was the final LFL wrestler to compete. He went the distance in two matches, but fell in both, losing by a 7-5 decision to Cole Ward (Moorcroft) and an 8-2 decision to Tate Hullinger (Moorcroft).
The Doggers take the mat for the final time this winter in Casper on Saturday at Sunday.
“The exciting thing is that state wrestling does not care what your record is or your past accomplishments,” Gifford said. “All you have to do is win each match and take one match at a time. That type of atmosphere bodes well for our guys and I am excited to see them compete one last time.”