RIVERTON – Trey Rodriguez and Lane Johnson placed third in their weight classes at the Ron Thon Memorial Tournament in Riverton on Friday and Saturday.
“It’s a testament that they wanted it more than the other wrestler,” coach Doyle Meyer said of Johnson and Rodriguez’s third-place wins that both came in overtime. “Sometimes it comes down to who puts in more effort and fights through.”
At 120 pounds, Rodriguez started his weekend with two wins by decision. He beat Dallas Lopez (Buffalo) 5-2 and Nathan Redman (Lander Valley) 8-6.
In the semi-finals, Moorcroft’s Dylan Humes pinned the Blazer in the second period, putting him in the consolation semi-finals, where he won by decision over Riverton’s Justyn Corbett, 8-4. In the third-place match, Rodriguez and Cameron Metcalf (Rock Springs) went past three periods, with Rodriguez winning in sudden victory, 7-5.
“Trey showed a lot of grittiness to get a win in the third-place match,” coach Doyle Meyer said.
Johnson’s third-place finish came in the heavyweight division. He started his day with two wins via pin in the first period. The two wins put Johnson in the semi-final, where he lost by decision, 9-7, to Worland’s Nathan Kern.
In the lower bracket, Johnson won by decision over Jadon Williams, 6-1. He, like Rodriguez, went longer than three periods in the third-place match, as he beat Bryce Womack (Newcastle/Upton) by tiebreaker, 2-1.
“Lane ended up taking third and came back in overtime to win and showed a lot of grit to come back,” Meyer said.
Matthew Garcia (145) was the only other Blazer with two or more wins. He picked up a win to start the weekend by pin in the first period. Garcia lost by fall in the second period in his second match, dropping him to the consolation bracket. In the lower bracket, Garcia beat his teammate Casey Britton by medical forfeit, before losing by decision, 10-4, in the third round of the consolation bracket.
At 126 pounds, Gavin Garner and Tristan Kingsley each picked up a win. All four of the combined losses came by pin in the first period. Garner earned a win by technical fall over Jack Steed (Lovell) and Kingsley won by decision over Cheyenne South’s Addison Johnson.
Austin Fox (132) and Jacob Polkowske (138) both started their weekend with wins. Fox pinned Dubois’ Wyatt Gleim in the third period and Polkowske won in the ultimate tiebreakre over Green River’s Tanner Adam. The two Blazers then went on to lose their next two matches. Polkowske went the distance in both of his losses, while Fox went the distance in one, and lost the other via medical forfeit.
“Jacob Polkowske showed good things at the varsity level,” Meyer said. “He has been getting better all season and could do some good things at regionals and states.”
Britton and Chase Dominguez were the final Blazers to compete at the varsity level. Britton suffered an injury in his first match and was inactive the rest of the weekend. Dominguez went the distance in his two matches, but lost by two points in both decisions.
As a team, Torrington racked up 51.5 team points to finish 19th out of 43 teams. The Blazers finished sixth out of the 3A teams in attendance. At the Lander tournament earlier this season, Torrington finished eighth among 3A schools.
“We gained on a couple of 3A teams who beat us in Lander and that is pretty exciting,” Meyer said.
At the JV level, Torrington had three wrestlers place at the Ron Thon. Josh Kingsley (160) took first, Quentin Meyer (120) took second and Brandon Bennick (220) took sixth.
“He went into a field of 32 and came away with a first-place finish and showed some good things,” Meyer said of Kingsley. “To go into a bracket with 32 kids and to make it to a championship match is a big feat, no matter if it’s at the varsity or JV level.”
Esequiel Rodriguez (2-2), Shane Roberts (0-2), Pake Haun (1-2), Carlos Fitzwater (0-2), Kevin Ferguson (0-2), Brett Posten (3-2), Nathan Davis (1-2), Alejandro Chavarria (0-2), Ryan Walson (0-2) and Jakob Brott (2-2) all competed for the Blazers at the JV level. The JV squad finished ninth out of 47 with 109 team points.
“Torrington wrestling always seems to peak at the end of the season and we go into regionals and states hot and hungry,” Meyer said.
