WHEATLAND – Led by Caleigh Essert’s two-day score of 159, the Torrington Lady Blazers won the 3A East regional golf tournament over the weekend in Wheatland, edging out Buffalo by one stroke.
“The girls team came back from third and a six-stroke deficit after the first day to sneak by Buffalo by one,” coach Jeff Halley said. “It wasn’t our best weekend of the season, but I was proud of the girls for battling and pulling it out.”
Essert had the two lowest scores of anyone, carding a 78 on the first day and 81 on the second day. Her total score of 159 was 16 strokes better than the second-place finisher (Katelin Scheuerman, Worland).
“Caleigh is in a great spot heading into the state tourney,” Halley said. “If she plays to her potential, I think that she will have a fun weekend.”
Kaylee Wilson finished second for Torrington, taking 10th overall. She shot a 113 on Friday and trimmed her score to 103, finishing with a two-day score of 216. Laura Halley and Jenna Kaufman came in just behind Wilson, tying for 11th. Both Lady Blazers trimmed their score from the first day to the second day, but Halley (116, 102) took more off her score than Kaufman (111, 107).
Rounding out the Torrington girls, Jade Reinhardt shot a 243 (128, 115) to slide into 16th, while Audrey Perry turned in a score of 250 (121, 129), finishing 19th.
The top-three Lady Blazers combined for a team score of 588, finishing one stroke ahead of Buffalo’s 589. Worland turned in a score of 618, while Douglas finished with 694. Wheatland, Thermopolis and Rawlins did not have enough golfers to put together a team score.
“Our entire girls team had a chance to do some big things this coming week, but we will have to have a great weekend to take down Lander and stay ahead of Buffalo and Cody as well,” Halley said.
On the boys side, Torrington did not have enough golfers to record a team score. Douglas finished first with 684, followed by Worland (695), Wheatland (726), Buffalo (733), Thermopolis (753) and Rawlins (774).
Although the Blazers were unable to put together a team score, Torrington’s Jordan Malm had a solid two days. He finished third after shooting an 88 on Friday and rallying for a 74 on Saturday. Thermopolis’ Hudson Rolling (140) took first and Worland’s Logan Foote (161) took second, one stroke ahead of Malm.
“On the boys side, Jordan finally had the round that we were looking for to get back into the 70’s,” Halley said. “Hopefully he is peaking at the right time to make some noise on the boys side as well.”
Cameron Murphy and Wyatt Lackman rounded out the three Torrington golfers in the boys division. Murphy tied for 11th with a two-day score of 176, carding an 89 Friday and an 87 Saturday. Lackman shot a 109 in the first round and followed that with a 107, taking 33rd.
The Blazers head for the 3A State Tournament in Douglas over the weekend.
