BURNS – The Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers finished ninth as a team, with four wrestlers placing at the 2A East Regional Tournament over the weekend, including a third-place finish by Zane Rising.
At 138 pounds, Rising started his day with a pin over Glenrock’s Adrian Mass, before falling in a 15-0 technical fall against Brysen Collier (Glenrock). In the lower bracket, Rising pinned Hulett’s Taylor Dykes in the second period to advance to the third-place match, where he pinned Wright’s Jacob Goodrich at the 2:43-mark.
Gaven Niles (126) picked up a fourth-place finish, starting with a pin over Robbie Marta (Hanna-Elk Mountain) in the first period. In the semi-final, Niles lost in a 4-1 decision against Wright’s Dax Yeradi, before beating Moorcroft’s Charmayne DeLong in a 17-0 technical fall. In the third-place match, Niles was pinned at the 2:13-mark by Moorcroft’s Hunter Garoutte.
Jessy Valentine took the mats at 220 pounds, starting his day with a bye, before falling by pin in the first period against Moorcroft’s Peyton Morris. Valentine went on to pin Seth Waldroupe (Burns/Pine Bluffs) in the second period, before losing in an 8-3 sudden victory against Thayne Vailpando (Burns/Pine Bluffs).
Joel Costello (106) picked up a win in his first match by pinning Southeast’s Kaden Brothwell, before losing back-to-back matches by decision, falling to Tyzer Isenberger (Moorcroft) by an 8-6 decision and Kagen Baker (Wright) by a 2-1 decision.
Dustin Swartwood was the final Dogger to compete, joining Rising at 138 pounds. He was pinned in his first match in the first period against Wright’s Jacob Goodrich, before going the distance in an 11-6 decision loss against Hulett’s Taylor Dykes.
The Doggers racked up 33.5 points to finish ninth, just behind Hulett’s 35 points. Moorcroft took the top spot with 279.5 points, with Glenrock (188) and Wright (106) rounding out the top-three teams.
Four Doggers advanced to compete at the 2A State Tournament in Casper this weekend. Action kicks off at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, with the championship matches slated for 5:15 p.m. on Saturday.
