SARATOGA – The Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers had three wrestlers compete in the Carbon County Invite over the weekend in Saratoga with all three placing in their weight class.
“This weekend is usually a weekend where we appear a bit sluggish due to our peaking cycle, which is normal,” coach Brandon Gifford said. “I felt we battled through the sluggishness and competed at a high level.”
At 138 pounds, Todd Walker had the best weekend for the Doggers, finishing first. He won his first match by pin in the first period over Kadon Dewitt (Shoshoni). Against Wright’s Austin Seeley in the quarterfinals, Walker won by a 15-0 technical fall.
Walker was pushed all three periods in his final two matches. He bested Wind Rivers’ John Thoman by a 7-1 decision to advance to the first-place match. In the finals, Walker won by an 8-2 decision over Adam Willoughby (Big Piney).
“Todd Walker wrestled really solid and came out looking like a veteran and like he is peaking at the right time,” Gifford said.

Gaven Niles (120) suffered only one loss in Saratoga and finished third. He opened the weekend with a win by a 9-8 decision over Kyle Laird (Wind River). The Dogger then pinned Rawlins’ Levi Bezold in the first period. In the semi-finals, Niles went the distance, but lost to Kemmerer’s Carson Carlson by a 12-6 decision.
The loss dropped Niles to the semi-finals of the consolation bracket, where he faced off against Laird again. Niles did not need all three rounds to beat Laird for the second time, pinning him 43 seconds into the third period. In the finals of the lower bracket, Niles pinned Colt Ramsey (Pinedale) in the second period to finish on the podium.
“Gaven Niles also wrestled well and was able to pull out some wins in a few tight matches,” Gifford said.
Zane Rising was the final Dogger to compete in Saratoga with a sixth-place finish at 132 pounds. To open the weekend, Rising pinned Big Piney’s C.J. Hamilton in the third period. After the win, the Dogger took on Goshen County rival Elijah Boyd (Southeast). Rising pinned Boyd in the second period to advance to the semi-finals, where he was pinned by Pinedale’s Ian Grover in the third period.
In the consolation bracket, Rising lost to Dubois’ Wyatt Gleim by pin in the first period to be sent to the fifth-place match, where he had a rematch against Boyd. The Cyclone got the better of Rising, dropping the Dogger by a 19-3 technical fall.
With only three wrestlers, LFL finished 11th out of 15. The three Doggers racked up 56.5 team points. Burns/ Pine Bluffs took the team title with 160.5 points.
The action in Saratoga was the final time the Doggers took the mat in the regular season. They return to competitive action for the regional tournament on Friday and Saturday in Moorcroft.
“All of the wrestlers are excited to begin the peak phase as we roll into the final two weeks of the season,” Gifford said. “The goal is to be feeling our best by the time Friday rolls around. I am excited to see how we wrestle and where we are able to align ourselves for the state tournament.”