WORLAND – The Torrington Trailblazers racked up 133.5 team points to finish fourth at the 3A East Regional Tournament over the weekend, led by eight Blazers finishing in the top-four in their weight class.
Tristen Kingsley had the best finish among the Blazers, taking the top spot at 138 pounds. He started the weekend with a pin over Jeffery VanAntwerp (Thermopolis) in the second period, followed by a pin in the first against Rawlins’ Aragon Garro. In the semifinal, the Blazer went the distance against Wheatland’s Seth DeWitt, winning in a 9-6 decision. Kingsley again had another six-minute match in the finals, beating Jacob Dworek (Rawlins) in a 4-3 decision.
Heavyweight Jacob Wamboldt picked up a second-place finish, starting with a pin over Domingo Acosta (Rawlins) in 55 seconds. In the semi’s, the senior pinned Douglas’ Dallas Wik in the first period. Wamboldt went the distance in the finals against Worland’s Morgan Tigner, but lost in an 8-1 decision.
Nycholas Melchor (106) was one of three Blazers to snag third. After a bye, he pinned Newcastle’s Jory McFarland in the second period, before falling in a 10-2 major decision against Austin Ireland (Thermopolis). In the lower bracket, Melchor won by a 10-0 major decision over Chance Himle (Douglas), followed by a pin in the third period of the third-place match against Buffalo’s Colton Briscoe.
At 152 pounds, Casey Britton picked up the bronze. In the quarterfinal, Britton was pinned late in the third period against Wheatland’s Kye Hicks. Britton dropped to the lower bracket, where he rattled off four-straight wins, all by pin. He pinned Simone Mainetti (Wheatland) and Jace Skovgard (Buffalo) in the first period, before pinning Thermopolis’ Cullen Becher in the second period. In the third-place match, Britton got his revenge against Hicks by pinning him in 54 seconds.
Josh Kingsley (170) was the final Blazer to finish third, starting his weekend with a bye, before falling to Rawlins’ Desmon Martinez by a 5-4 decision. In the consolation semi’s, Kingsley beat Elijah Johnson (Buffalo) in an 11-2 major decision, before going the distance in the third-place match, beating Worland’s Peyton Woffinden in a 4-2 decision.
Jacob Polkowske (145) picked up a fourth-place finish, beginning the weekend with a pin over Colton Woffinden (Worland) in the first period, followed by an 18-1 technical fall over Thermopolis’ Jaxson Jensen. In the semi-final, Polkowske was pinned in the third period against Alan Baker (Newcastle), dropping him to the lower bracket, where he won by a 15-2 major decision against Thermopolis’ Koy Myers. In the third-place match, Polkowske went the distance but lost in a 7-2 decision against Luke Gonclaves (Worland).
Senior Chase Dominguez posted a 2-2 record on his way to fourth at 160 pounds, starting the weekend with a bye, before beating Riley Shaffer (Thermopolis) in a 10-6 decision. In the semi’s, Dominguez again went the distance, falling to Buffalo’s Jake Watterson (7-6), before snagging a 7-6 win of his own over Rawlins’ Tristan Mikesell. In the third-place match, Dominguez was pinned by Worland’s Lane McBee.
Riley Grubbs stepped up at 195 pounds, picking up a fourth-place finish as well. He won his first match by pinning Rawlin’s Alex Rodriguez in 57 seconds, followed by a loss via pin in the second against Douglas’ Cody Pinkerton. In the lower bracket, Grubbs won by a 16-14 decision against Daniel Hutchins (Wheatland), before falling to Hyrum Rich (Thermopolis) by pin in the second period of the third-place match.
Quentin Meyer (120) picked up two wins on his way to an eighth-place finish. After a bye, he was bested by a 13-1 major decision against Worland’s Adam Bankert, before pinning both Robby Meyers (Buffalo) and Austun Maston (Wheatland) in the first period. Meyer’s weekend was ended by a pin in the third against Newcastle’s Kale Corley.
At 126 pounds, Pake Haun also recorded two wins, starting his weekend with a 5-1 decision loss against Rawlins’ Trezdon Martinez. In the lower bracket, Haun pinned Buffalo’s Joe Burtnshaw and Rawlins’ Erik Miller, both in less than a minute. Kagan Lenzen (Douglas) got the better of Haun, pinning him in the second period.
Cody Pierce (138) snagged a win to open his weekend, pinning Worland’s Jesse Davenport in the first, before being pinned in the first by DeWitt and being pinned in the second against Newcastle’s Gavin Durfee.
Nathan Davis joined Britton at 152 pounds, pinning Worland’s Anthony Estes in the first period to start his weekend. In the quarterfinal, Davis was pinned in the first against Douglas’ Christian Coffman, followed by a 17-2 technical fall against Thermopolis’ Jon Harvey.
Nicholas Sherbeyn secured a fifth-place finish at 132 pounds. After a bye, he was pinned by Wheatland’s Ethan Read, dropping the Blazer to the lower bracket, where he got another bye. Rhett Karr (Wheatland) ended Sherbeyn’s weekend by pinning him in the second period.
Tyler Juma (160) had a similar weekend, receiving a bye in the upper and lower brackets. He suffered pins in the first period against both Douglas’ Dax Read and Rawlins’ Mikesell. Ryan Walson (182) also had two losses and two byes to finish fifth. He fell to Logan Cole (Thermopolis) in the third period and Kullin Lindbo (Douglas) in the first.
At 106 pounds, Riley Duffield had a bye, before falling in the first period against Keegan Meyer (Wheatland). After another bye, Duffield was pinned in the first by Douglas’ Chance Himle. Brandon Bennick (220) had two byes as well, along with losses by pin in the first period against Wyatt Crane (Wheatland) and Andrew Yarbrough (Thermopolis). Bennick and Duffield both finished sixth. Jakob Brott did not place, falling to Worland’s J.R. Hofmann in a 10-4 decision, before losing to Weston Bezold (Rawlins) in a 15-10 decision.
Torrington’s 133.5 points earned them the fourth slot, just behind Rawlins’ 140 points. Host Worland took the top spot with 199 points, with Douglas finishing second with 190 points.
Sixteen Blazers punched their ticket for the 3A State Tournament this weekend in Casper. Action kicks off at 9 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday. The championship matches are slated for Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
