Grizzlies battle top competition at Memorial Mixer

Mixing it up against some of the strongest teams and wrestlers in the state, the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies came away from the Dylan Humes Memorial Mixer with some hardware in the form of three placing medals.

“Moorcroft is that tournament that not only is a tough one physically but can wear on you mentally,” Rocky head coach Eddie Whiting said. “These young men and women wrestled hard, and they learned to believe in themselves as much as us coaches believe in them.”

Three Grizzly wrestlers placed in Moorcroft. In the girls tournament, sophomore Charlee Anderson placed second in the 235-pound weight class with a 1-1 record. Anderson pinned Tamra Knight of Wright in 1:42, then fell by pin in the championship match to Marley Dickinson of Casper Natrona in 1:21.

“Charlee came away with second place, falling short to the number 1 girl in the state in my mind,” Whiting said. “She
fought tough and got to feel her out, and we should see her again if that’s what Charlee wants.”

Junior Colten Bitton won four matches before forfeiting his final two bouts due to not making weight, finishing in eighth place at 138 pounds. He beat Tanner Layher of Sheridan 9-4, fell by fall in 5:56 to Jake Raffensperger of Casper Kelly Walsh in 5:56, then won three straight. He pinned Will Thompson of Wright in 4:10 and Tristan Tuma of Kelly Walsh in 4:56, then crushed Jesus Rivera Lopez of Glenrock 17-9 before forfeiting his two remaining matches.

“Colten came back from a little vacation in the beginning of the year, and it was an awesome day one for him,” Whiting said. “He looked really good and started to flow like himself. Day two, on the other hand, was a coach miscommunication. We missed weigh-in,
but I didn’t mention to him that it’s only a
two-pound allowance the whole weekend. So, it was hard to say.

“We as coaches do make mistakes, and we also learn from it, too. In my mind he would have been in the third- and fourth-place match, but we will get him ready for Riverton.”

Junior Triffen Jolley also placed eighth, going 3-3 at the tournament at 165 pounds. After a first-round bye, Jolley fell to Keegan Rager of Sheridan 17-1, pinned Peyton Klaproth of Shoshoni in 46 seconds, edged Stryker Marvel of Kelly Walsh 10-9 and pinned Caleb Vollmer of Tongue River in 2:14. He fell to Brady Garoutte of Moorcroft 6-0 and Kai Heck of Colstrip, Montana, by fall in 4:13.

“Triffen wrestled tough and smart,” Whiting said. “There were three weight classes this weekend with nine state placers in them -- 150, 157 and 165 -- and Triffen was in one of them, so for him to place eighth in one of the toughest weight classes is awesome. I feel Triffen grew from this weekend and that we grew mentally stronger.”

Freshman Zach Unruh had a strong tournament, winning two matches at 138 pounds. Wrestling to a 2-2 record, his two wins were against Will Thompson of Wright (pin in 53 seconds) and Aiden Hall of Circle, Montana (pin in 19 seconds).

Also wrestling in the varsity division were sophomore Sam Loyning at 132 pounds, sophomore William Torres at 215 pounds and senior Hayden Wambeke at 215.

Freshman Ethan Haslem went 1-2 in the junior varsity 139-154 weight class, crushing Joe Nugent of Tongue River for his lone win, and freshman Austin Weller wrestled at JV 134-144 pounds.

“The young man that stuck out for growth besides our placers was Ethan Haslem,” Whiting noted. “He really came out and took the fight to his competition. He came away 1-2, but the improvement he made is huge in his wrestling. Sam Loyning may have gone 0-2, but there was growth in his mental game. I believe in Riverton we will see this young man come out and just wrestle.”

In the girls division, senior Rebecca Herren went 1-2 at 130 pounds, pinning Vivian Smith of Kelly Walsh by pin in 3:35 for her win, and sophomore Andria Doren went 1-2 at 155, pinning Page Tisdale of Gillette in 57 seconds.

Grace McAlhany wrestled at 130 pounds.

The road to victory will be even tougher this weekend for the Grizzlies as they travel to the Ron Thon Memorial Tournament in Riverton, considered a true best-of-the best event.

“I am excited for this weekend in Riverton at the Ron Thon,” Whiting said. “Everyone is there,
and we get to see great wrestling from everyone chasing the belt.”

The Ron Thon girls division will be held today (Thursday) at noon, with the two days of boys division wrestling commencing Friday and Saturday at
9 a.m. each day.

The Greybull Memorial follows on Saturday, Feb. 8.