Best state finish ever!

Grizzly grapplers take second at 2A State TournamentThe Rocky Mountain High School wrestling squad took second place out of 21 teams at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament Friday and Saturday in Casper with six grapplers placing in the top four of the weight classes.[caption id="attachment_11005" align="alignright" width="300"] Saturday night after the championship round of the State Wrestling Tournament. Brian Crawford, held high by coach Josh Collins as assistants Stacey Hiser and George Laughlin look on.
Nathan Oster photos[/caption]Moorcroft won the team title with 221.5 and Rocky placed second with 159.5 points to beat Cokeville by 6.5 points and Greybull/Riverside and Lyman by 28.5 points. It was Rocky’s highest finish at State since 2005, when the Grizz placed third.“That’s the highest we have ever placed at State,” coach Josh Collins said. “It makes the coach and everybody on the team feel great. It just goes to show that the wrestlers were prepared to go to State and they were ready to wrestle.”After two years of finishing second at State, junior Brian Crawford won the state title at 106 pounds by winning a 10-0 major decision over William Fish of Lusk to finish the season 34-5. Crawford opened up the tournament by pinning Austin Ireland of Thermopolis in the first round in 28 seconds, then stuck Kylee Smith of Kemmerer in 1:31. Crawford pinned Lochlyn Teichert of Cokeville in the semifinals to advance to the title match.“He wrestled good,” Collins said. “It’s fun to see them take first. We had two of them and it was great to see both of them get to be state champions.”Wes Homewood finished his senior season 23-7 and took home the state title at heavyweight by pinning Chase Meeker of Big Piney in the championship match in 5:04. Homewood pinned Brennan Underwood of Burns/Pine Bluffs in the first round in 1:36, stuck Cade Mostellar of Moorcroft in the quarterfinals in 1:01 and pinned John Hunter of Southeast in the semifinals in 55 seconds to advance to the finals.[caption id="attachment_11003" align="alignright" width="300"] Wes Homewood, hugged by Laughlin as Hiser and Collins celebrate. After the championship round of the State Wrestling Tournament Saturday night.[/caption]“His last match was pretty close until he pinned him in the last period,” Collins said.Junior Garrett Vezain finished the season 24-16 and placed second at State, falling to Patrick Forester in the championship match in 3:07. After pinning Dade Greene of Greybull/Riverside in the first round, Vezain won a 6-2 decision over Nolan Schindler of Burns/Pine Bluffs in the quarterfinals and defeated Tucker Allison of Moorcroft 11-5 in the semifinals to advance to the title match against Forester.“He was good,” Collins said. “He took State last year. He (Vezain) wrestled hard in his matches before. It was nice to see three wrestlers get to the final match.”Senior Shay Bond wrapped up his senior season with a 30-13 record after placing third at State by winning a 4-1 decision over Morgan Styvar of Lingle-Ft. Laramie. Bond won his opening round match on a technical fall over Taven Pharris of Greybull/Riverside, then fell the Styvar in the quarterfinals on a 6-5 decision.Bond powered through the consolation bracket by winning a 3-2 decision over Devin Fenus of Lyman in the second round, pinning Thomas Pitlock of Big Piney in the third round in 4:43 and winning a 4-2 decision over Reece Jolley of Hulett in the[caption id="attachment_11004" align="alignright" width="300"] An exhausted Shay Bond is greeted by his father, Joe, after winning his 170-pound third-place match at the state wrestling tournament Saturday.[/caption]semifinals before winning his third-place match.“Shay went 5-1,” Collins said. “He wrestled good and placed third overall. He lost to a guy before and then came back to beat him in the third place match. He came back fighting hard and had a great ending.”Burlington High School sophomore Malachi Cook placed fourth at 113 pounds and finished the season 21-10. Cook took care of Nathan Roberts of H.E.M. quickly by pinning him in 13 seconds and then stuck Michael Donnaway of Sundance in 4:49 to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Cook fell to Ammon Teichert of Cokeville in 1:05, then won his consolation semifinal match as he stuck Kyle Laird of Wind River in 1:51. Cook lost his third-place match to Dylan Humes of Moorcroft on a pin in 1:13.Grizzly sophomore Stephen Preator also took fourth at State and finished the season 32-9. Preator defeated Jaxon Peacock of Lyman in 4:42, then fell to Jaxon King of Saratoga on a 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals to drop into the consolation bracket. Like Bond, Preator also worked his way through the consolation bracket by pinning Caleb Cook of Moorcroft in 2:24, winning a 3-1 decision over JJ Seaman of H.E.M. and pinning Isaac Ronning of Burns/Pine Bluffs in the consolation semifinals in 2:56. Preator lost his third-place match to Jorge Carmona of Greybull/Riverside on a close 6-5 decision.“This is their first year placing at State,” Collins said of Cook and Preator. “They wrestled hard and fabulous. It was nice to see them come out with a fourth place at State.”Freshman Travis Lytle went 1-2 at 132 pounds and finished the season 26-17, pinning Gerrit Mikesell of Burns/Pine Bluffs in 1:59.[caption id="attachment_11006" align="alignright" width="300"] Junior Garrett Vezain battles for the 220-pound state title against a Shoshoni opponent.[/caption]BHS sophomore Danner Davidson also went 1-2 at 138 pounds, winning a 12-3 major decision over Ahren Vezina of Wright in the consolation first round.Grizzly grappler Dylan Langston went 2-2 at 145 pounds and finished the season 11-8, winning a 10-9 decision in the first round over Bentley Johnson of Cokeville and sticking Tanner Hort of Southeast in the consolation second round in 4:15.Senior Stetson Durand also went 2-2 at 152 pounds, pinning Jon Nelsen of H.E.M. in the first round in 3:43 and sticking Beau Mitzel of Sundance in the consolation second round in 2:15.Freshman Nathan Hatch went 1-2 at 160 pounds, pinning Tristan Gray of Saratoga in the first round in 1:42.Sophomore Austin Grohman went 1-2 at 182 pounds, winning an injury default over Justis Fisher of Big Piney.Senior Dylan North went 2-2 at 182 pounds, winning a 9-3 decision over Pat Cornell of Shoshoni in the first round and pinning Logan Schofield of Lyman in the consolation second round in 2:35.Other Grizzly wrestlers at State were senior Daniel Shreeve, who went 0-2 at 195 pounds, and junior Connor Holzwarth, who also went 0-2 at 195.“Without the entire team, we wouldn’t have taken second place at State because it takes the entire team to win State,” Collins said. “Every single win earns points.”Rocky will lose seniors Homewood, Bond, Shreeve, Durand, North, Chase Brand and Dalton Wardell to graduation.“It was fun to have a good team,” Collins said. “We had a great end of the season tournament. I would like to place high at State next year again.”

By Sam Smith