Five Bulldogs place at state wrestling tournament

The Lovell Bulldog wrestling team wrapped up their season by attending the state tournament in Casper last week. Wrestling in the Class 3A division, 17 Bulldogs qualified for the state tournament by placing within the top eight at Regionals the weekend before.

“We showed up for State ready to wrestle,” head wrestling coach Ty Hecker said. “I thought everyone poured their heart and soul into each match. With that being said, any 50/50 matches we went into we seemed to be on the bad end of it. I felt that we took our losses well and focused back in to pick up some big wins.”

After three long days of wrestling, five bulldogs secured hardware from the state tournament.

Senior Danika Crumrine was the highest placer out of the Bulldogs this weekend, placing third in the girls 145-pound weight class. Crumrine secured her 100^th career pin after pinning her first opponent of the tournament in the first period. A hard-fought semifinal match resulted in a loss where Crumrine was sent to fight through the left side of the bracket.

“Crumrine wrestled tough and put everything she had into this weekend knowing it was her final season as a senior wrestler,” Hecker said. “She had a tough semifinals match where I thought she got shorthanded on points that would have changed the outcome of the match. She went for a throw in the third period that slipped and resulted with the girl ending on top, sealing the match for her. Crumrine was heartbroken, but she bounced back well and pinned her way to third place.”

Overall, Crumrine wrestled to a 4-1 record to take third place in her bracket.

Senior Dino De La Cruz took fourth place in the 132-pound bracket this weekend. He won his first two matches of the tournament but was sent to work through the left side of the bracket after losing his semifinal match against the defending state champion of Pinedale. After defeating Tyler Wenzel of Powell by a 6-2 decision, De La Cruz dropped his last match of the tournament, placing fourth.

“De La Cruz has been ranked third in the state for most of the year. We were where we knew we were supposed to be going into the third-place match but ended up going for a big throw and landing on our back to get pinned by a kid we should’ve beat,” Hecker said. “De La Cruz has had a great high school career and put himself to place high through his hard work and dedication.”

Mason Christenson competed in the 138-pound bracket and ended his season with a fourth-place finish at State.

“This weekend was some of the best wrestling I’ve seen Mason wrestle,” Coach Hecker said. “He beat expectations in his seeding, which we knew he was capable of. He wrestled his tough and aggressive style.”

Christenson lost his quarterfinal match and was sent to work back through the left side of the bracket. In the consolation rounds he faced Lincoln Kemp of Pinedale, the 3A West regional champion and number two seed in the tournament. Christenson defeated Kemp with 15 seconds to spare in the second period, allowing him to advance to the placing rounds of his bracket. This victory also awarded him his 100^th career win as a junior. Christenson ended the state tournament with a 4-2 record, putting him in fourth place.

Senior Kasey Jordan wrestled back after losing his semifinal match to place him fourth in the 190-pound bracket.

“Jordan has been a different human this year,” Hecker said. “He wrestled with a lot of confidence and believes in himself, which is reflected in his matches. Jordan had never placed at State in his high school career until now, but through his hard work and confidence he was one of the highest placers on the team. That is something he can be proud of and carry through the rest of his life.”

Jordan defeated the 3A East Regional champion in the quarterfinals by an 18-4 major decision and ended his senior season with a 2-2 record and fourth-place finish.

Rudy Hall managed to end in sixth place in the 175-pound bracket this weekend. Hall wrestled back after losing his quarterfinals match, pinning his next two opponents to land him in the placing rounds.

“Hall is one of the most important captains on the team. He cares about everybody and he’s not a selfish human,” Hecker said. “He works hard, and he is a great wrestler that got to place at State. He gave up some matches I thought we should’ve had, but I am super proud of Rudy and everything he’s accomplished in the sport of wrestling.”

Hall finished the tournament with a 3-3 record. 

With the season ending on the mats in Casper, Coach Hecker reflected on the season through his wrestlers.

“The 2024 to 2025 wrestling season was full of highs and lows,” he said. “We can always strive to be better, but I thought all of the kids worked hard, cared, believed in themselves and made huge improvements. Most of our kids qualified for State, which doesn’t always happen, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“Next year is going to be tough, losing big leadership, especially on the girls side with our main three girl wrestlers being seniors. I can’t say enough good things about Danika Crumrine, Maecie Joy and Avery Layne, and they will be severely missed. We are also losing senior boys Dino De La Cruz, Rudy Hall, Kasey Jordan, Talon Burton, Kyler Mickelson
and Sebastian Leifstein-Brown. There is a lot of leadership and determination that will be missing from the team with those senior boys, but I know that they will live good, successful lives partly from the things they’ve learned from the sport of wrestling.”