10 I The Lovell Chronicle I February 2, 2012
Healthy Bulldogs top the field to capture Greybull Memorial
BY DAVID PECK
Almost complete and
getting tougher. That's the
current assessment of the
Lovell wrestling team as
the team continues to heal
up from some nagging inju-
ries.
With only Nathan Bal-
lard still on the mend, the
Bulldogs, now wrestling at
nearly full strength, won
the Greybull Memorial Invi-
tational Saturday, winning
six individual titles and
placing 13 at the 12-team
tournament.
The victory didn't come
easily, though. With Moor-
croft and Greybull/Riverside
breathing down their neck,
the Bulldogs needed every
win and every high placing
to win the tournament.
Lovell topped the field
with 192.5 points, followed
by Moorcroft with 185 and
G/R with 153. Wright was
fourth with 117 points.
%Ve did pretty dang
well," coach Daniel Robert-
son said. 'Tee got a little bit
of a scare from Moorcroft.
They came out of nowhere
on us. Their lower weights
are tough.
"We can tell we have a
full crew now. Everything's
better from the moment you
show up. It's good to have
everyone back."
Senior Mark Grant re-
turned to the lineup after
healing and rehabbing from
his early-season arm injury.
The defending state cham-
pion made short work of the
competition at 220 pounds,
pinning Troy Noel of Wright
in 53 seconds and Zane
Edeler of G/R in 1:30 for the
title.
"It was good to get Mark
back," Robertson said. "He
wasn't afraid to use his bad
arm and did a good job still
attacking. It's pretty obvi-
ous he's dominant. It will be
interesting to see how this
weekend goes (at the Ron
Thon Invitational in River-
ton)."
Facing a logjam in the
middle weights, senior
Brigham Hopkin elected to
move up to 195 pounds, and
though he was taking on
opponents that out-weighed
him by 25 or 30 pounds, he
won the title with a 3-0 re-
cord. Like Grant, Hopkin
recently came back from an
injury that had sidelined
him.
"Our middle weights are
stacked up due to the weight
classification changes," Rob-
ertson said. "Brigham re-
quested to go up, and it was
very successful. He's still
not in top shape, but he's a
very good athlete and he's
determined."
Hopkin first edged tough
Gabriel Villegas of GreybulY
Riverside 3-1 in overtime. In
a battle of wills, there were
no takedowns in regulation.
Villegas got an escape in the
second period and Hopkin
tied it with an escape in the
third. Neither could gain an
advantage in overtime un-
til the final seconds, when
Hopkin and Villegas went to
the mat and Hopkins circled
around him for control and
the winning takedown.
"Those two boys abso-
lutely broke themselves
against each other," Robert-
son said. "They were smash-
ing against each other."
The win advanced Hop-
kin to meet Zach Thompson
of Powell, and in another
nail-biter, Hopkin won 9-7
in double overtime, revers-
ing Thompson for the win-
ning points.
All that did was ad-
vance the Cardiac Kid to
the championship match,
where he had to face the
top-ranked 195-pounder in
the state, Cody Flynn of Du-
bois. Hopkin got down early
5-0 but outscored Flynn 12-6
the rest of the way to win
12-11.
"He had to come back
and out-wrestle him," Rob-
ertson said. "He had to out-
score him, because he wasn't
going to pin him (since Fly-
nn was larger)."
PATINA SAILS
THROUGH
Another eyebrow-rais-
er was the strong perfor-
mance of Dimas Patina at
138 pounds. Earlier in the
season, Patina found him-
self behind Jesse Bassett
and Adam Beck. But Bas-
sett went down a weight
and Beck went up, leaving
Patina alone at 138, and he
took advantage of the op-
portunity, going 3-0 to win
the title.
Patina pinned Hyrum
Burger of Moorcroft in 38
seconds, crushed Tats Stin-
son of Saratoga in a 19-3
technical fall and pinned Ja-
cob Davis of Powell in 1:28
for the title.
" "It's not often that you
tech someone in the semifi-
nals," Robertson said. "He
has found his place. He
found a home at 138. The
hardest part for Dimas was
wrestling varsity on his own
team."
Junior Nathan Grant
broke through to win the
152-pound title, pinning
Skyler Landerman of Cody
in 4:53, beating tough Jake
Jones of Rocky Mountain
4-1 and defeating Luke
Zeller of G/R 6-2 for the ti-
DAVID PECK
Lovell senior Eli Moody puts the squeeze on Gabriel Villegas of Greybull/
Riverside during a consolation semifinal match at the Greybull Memorial
Invitational Saturday. Moody won 6-3, then won again to capture third place at
195 pounds.
tle.
"That was a pretty neat
story for Nathan," Robert-
son said. "He just wres-
tled his own match against
Jake. He and Jake have dif-
ferent styles, and he was
able to wrestle his own style
instead of Jake's style. He
wrestled hard and fast and
did exactly what we've been
practicing.
"With Jones, Grant
and Zeller, you never know
who's going to win. They
will be the top three at
State. They're all good."
Senior Tony Rodri-
guez went 3-0 to win the
170-pound title. He pinned
Cory McFarland of Ther-
mopolis in 1:21, crushed
Clayton Svalina of Moor-
croft 12-3 and battered
Spencer Redland of G/R for
the title, 12-4.
"Tony wrestled really,
really well," Robertson said.
"He has one of the pretti-
est, most effective sprawls
I've seen in a long time. He
flattens out and immediate-
ly attacks. He gets a lot of
his takedowns from other
people shooting. He's very
active on his feet, which
makes him very danger-
ous."
At 182, Dino Collins
made quick work of the
competition, winning both
of his matches to win the
title. He pinned Drew Mc-
Millan of Cody in 5:57, lead-
ing 12-1 at the time, then
crushed Sterling Baker of
Dubois 9-0 for the title.
"He beat Baker again,"
Collins said of the familiar
foes. "Baker was getting
closer, but this time Dino
pounded him."
OTHER PLACERS
Two Bulldogs reached
the finals but lost the ti-
tle. match - brothers Adam
(145) and Jacob Beck (160).
Senior Adam Beck
pinned Dustin Grands of
Moorcroft in 2:34, stuck
Jared Wantulok of Powell
in 3:03 and edged Kodiak
French of Wright 6-5. In the
finals he met tough Corson
Kerbs of Saratoga, falling
16-4.
"Adam ran into a buzz
saw in Corson Kerbs," Rob-
ertson said. "Adam wres-
tled well in Greybull."
Jacob Beck crushed
Miles Galovich of Thermop-
olis 14-1, then met Nathan
Hetzel of Greybull/River-
side in the finals. Hetzel
won 12-4.
Senior Preston Blan-
kenship was tough at 113
pounds. The defending
state champ pinned Justin
Smith of Rocky Mountain
in 26 seconds, then ran into
Kenny Sissons of Moorcroft
in the semifinals, falling
8-3. He rebounded to pin
Kyle Strasheim of G/R in
1:58 and Max Dickerman of
Cody 5-1 to place third.
"Sisson is tough," Rob-
ertson said. "PJ rebounded
from that loss. He just has
to adapt to a higher weight
(103 last year) and pay a lit-
tle more attention to detail
in practice. I think he has
turned the corner. He has
started to move like a state
champion."
Joining Brigham Hop-
kin at 195, fellow senior
Eli Moody pinned Brandon
Shelstad of Moorcroft in
3:39, fell to Cody Flynn on
a pin in 2:35, then battled
back to beat his nemesis,
Villegas of Greybull/River-
side, 6-3 and capture third
place with a 5-1 win over
Shelstad again.
"Eli wrestled hard,"
Robertson said. "tie did a
really good job against the
Moorcroft kid. Pie was real
patient and wasn't going to
be denied. He was very de-
termined."
Also placing third was
Jacob Asay. The junior
dropped his first match
to Jakob Weyer of Wright
on a pin in overtime, then
pinned Trenton Kelly of
G/R in 4:46 and beat Ja-
cob Wells of Saratoga 2-0 to
take the medal.
"Jacob took kind of a
tough route," Robertson
said. "I was really proud
of him. He has vrestled
Weyer several times and is
getting closer and closer. I
think Jacob's getting it fig-
ured out."
Other Lovell results are
as follows:
106 - Freshman ris-
ten Snyder went 1-3 to
place sixth, and fellov¢ fresh
Trey Smith went 0-2.
120 - Freshman Jaccob
Mickelson went 0-2.
126 - Freshman John-
ny Mickelson went 1-2.
132 - Senior Jesse Bas-
sett pinned Levi Kelly of
G/R in 1:47, then hurt his
neck in a 4-2 loss to JJ lYlar-
tinez' of Wright. Pie Look
injury defaults in his next
two matches to place sixth.
Robertson said he should be
OK.
132 - Sophomore
Hyrum Hopkin went 2-2.
"Hyrum just 10st at the
wrong time," Robertson
said. "He lost to the eventu-
al champion (Zack Larson of
Thermop) and the eventual
third-placer (Toby leynolds
of Moorcroft). It vas kind of
a tough row to hoe. I-Iyrum
always wrestled tough."
145 - Freshman Daniel
Strom went 0-2.
152 - Freshman Zeke
Collins went 0-2.
RIVERTON NEXT
The Bulldogs will travel
to Riverton this weekend for
the annual Ron Thon Me-
morial Tournament. Action
begins Friday at 10 a.m. for
junior iy wrflers at
Riverton Mitidle Scho01:antl
at 11 a.m. o varsity res-
tlers at the adjacent high
school. Both divisions begin
at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Ron Thon is like an
all-class state tournament,
with most schools in the
state participating.
"This is a biggie," Rob-
ertson said. "It's a tough
one." He noted that the
Bulldogs won't see the same
kind of success they had at
Greybull, but the experi-
ence will be very valuable.
Rocky's team of four compete at Greybull Basketball teams join the
BY PATTI CARPENTER
The relatively small
team of four wrestlers
from Rocky Mountain High
School travelled to Greybull
to compete at a tournament
that was held on Satur-
day. The team placed ninth
overall against of field of 12
mostly larger teams.
Tyler Lindquist placed
third in the 106-pound
weight class and Jake ......
Jones placed third in the
152-pound class.
Lindquist wrestled
four opponents, ending the. ....
tournament with a 3-1 re-
cord. He pinned his first
opponent, Stetson Curtis
of Worland, in the first pe-
riod but was outscored by
Kole Schell of Moorcroft at
11-9 in his second match.
Later in the tournament
he pinned Noah Wozney of
Powell in the second period
and outscored Nathan Mar-
tinez of Wright 13-8.
Coach Josh Collins is
pleased with Lindquist's
performance so far this sea-
son. The match with Schell
is only the third match
Lindquist has lost this sea-
son.
Jake Loyning went
0-2 in this match in the
132-pound class. Loyning
was pinned by Salvador
Glen of Morland in the first
period and Nathan Weyrich
of Worland in the third.
"He's starting to get
NATHAN OSIER
Rocky Mountain 152-pounder Jake Jones works
to finish off his Moorcroft opponent, Chandlar
Lawrance, in the third-place match at the Greybull
Memorial Invitational Saturday. The Grizz will
travel to Riverton this weekend.
more and more aggressive,
which is good," said Collins,
who noted that, in spite of
losses on his record, Loyn-
ing is showing improve-
ment.
Justin Smith returned
to a higher weight class
this meet, wresting in the
ll3-pound class. Smith
wrestled at 106 in his
last few meets, which his
coaches felt was more ap-
propriate for his size, but
he did not make weight for
the lower weight class in
this particular meet.
"He was liking 106
(weight class), but he just
didn't make weight for
that class this time," said
Collins. "He wrestled two
matches 2-0 against bigger
kids."
Collins noticed Smith's
improvement in his take-
downs in the last few
matches and is seeing him
continue to improve his
technique in this regard.
"He needs to continue
working on his stand-ups
and getting off the bot-
tom," said Collins.
Smith was pinned by
his first opponent Preston
Blankenship of Lovell in
the first period and by Kyle
Bartlett of Saratoga in the
second period.
Jake Jones wrestled
in the 152-pound class. He
pinned Brad Wagner of
Moorcroft in the third pe-
riod but was outscored by
Nathan Grant of Lovell 4-1
in his second match of the
day.
"This is the second
time his wrestled Nathan
this season. He beat him
the first time but lost after
a close match this time,"
said Collins. "They're a
pretty close match every
time."
Jones went on to pin
Nathan McDonald in the
first period and Chandlar
Lawrance in the third.
The boys will travel to
Riverton next for a large
tournament. The tourna-
ment will take place on
Friday and Saturday start-
ing at 11 a.m. on Friday
and 9 a.m. on Saturday.
The boys will have a full
week to practice and refine
their skills before compe-
tition at regionals on Feb.
17-18.
battle to fight breast cancer
BY PATTI CARPENTER
Lovell basketball teams
will battle it out on their
home court while helping
fight the battle against can-
cer at the annual "pack the
place in pink" event that will
be held on Saturday after-
noon at Lovell High School.
The annual event raises
much needed funds that will
help raise awareness and
find a cure for breast cancer.
Lovell High School bas-
ketball players and other
students have been selling
pink T-shirts for the past
several weeks for the event
that will take place on Satur-
day, Feb. 4 basketball games
where Lovell will host Big
Horn. Game times are 2:30
and 4 p.m.
The fundraiser will also
include a 50/50 raffle, silent
auction and bake sale. Some
pink items will be available
for purchase at the event.
Cash donations will also be
accepted.
All proceeds from the
sale go toward entry fees in
the Susan G. Komen walk.
Last year Shelly Lohof,
her daughter Cori Thomp-
son and friend Elisa Tracy
walked more than 60 miles
in the event. All entry fees
are used by the Susan G.
Komen Foundation to help
find a cure for breast cancer
through research. Cost to en-
ter the event is $2,400 per
person. All proceeds are used
to help find a cure for cancer.
The event last year
earned more than $9,000.
For more information, con-
tact Lohof at 899-4962 or
548-6492.
Championship banners to be
unveiled Saturday at game
Two championship
teams from the 2010-11
school year at Lovell High
School will be honored Sat-
urday during the Pack the
Place in Pink basketball
games against Big Horn at
the LHS Johnny Winterhol-
ler Gym.
According to Lovell Ath-
letic Director Joe Koritnik,
the 2011 Lovell girls basket-
ball and girls track teams
will be honored for their
Class 2A state champion-
ships, and the championship
banners will be unveiled.
The honors and unveil-
ing ceremony will take place
at halftime of the Lovell-Big
Horn boys basketball game,
which begins at 4 p.m.
