Grizzly grapplers place six in top two places

The strong fall season for the Rocky Mountain Middle School wrestling team continued in Worland Saturday as the Grizzlies recorded three champions and three runners-up at the Brawl in the Basin Tournament.
Three Grizz wrestled to individual titles Saturday: seventh grader Benson Jolley and eighth graders Cashe Thompson and Alex Walker. Placing second were eighth grader Zach Unruh, Mason Richardson and sixth grader Hudson Moore.
“We were a little bit ‘feast or famine’ this week,” head coach Tim Jones said.  “We had more kids in the finals this week, but we also didn’t place as many as we have been placing in previous weeks.  To be honest, a couple of our guys had pretty tough draws.  They wrestled hard and were competitive but weren’t quite able to get the job done.  Hopefully they will learn and grow.
“We had two champions in the A division this week, and that was fun.  Bensen Jolley wrestled very tough and is getting a little more consistent each week.  Alex Walker also won and looked solid in his matches.  Cache Thompson won the B 110 and continues to put up wins since coming back from injury.
“Mason Richardson, Zach Unruh and Hudson Moore all wrestled well   throughout the day but lost in the finals.  We had a pretty good day. This is a fun age to coach because, no matter win or lose, there is always a lot to go back to the room and work on.”
Jolley pinned his way to the title at 110 pounds A, pinning opponents in 41 and 38 seconds before sticking Trevin Shaffer of Thermopolis in the championship match.
Walker won both of his matches to wear the crown at heavyweight in the A division, claiming a 7-0 decision and pinning Anthony Mountain of Wyoming in three minutes for the title.
Thompson won the 110B weight class with a 4-0 record. He won by a 12-3 major decision and two falls before edging Xayver Stanley of Riverton 11-7 to win gold.
Unruh pinned his first two opponents at 126A before being pinned in the final match. Similarly, Richardson had two pins before dropping a 15-13 decision in the finale. Moore went 3-0 with two pins and a sudden victory before losing by pin in the finals at 77B.
Seventh grader Rowan Hanusa placed fourth at 98B with a 3-2 record, seventh grader Tejeo Scheeler went 2-2 at 120B to place fourth and sixth grader Dally Malson was 2-2 at 132B, also placing fourth.
Winning at least one match were Jesse Ganoung at 98A, Ethan Haslem at 120A, Brogan King at 155A, Madden Cooley at 77B (3-2 record), Jason Unruh at 91B and Xavier Hetland at 115B.
Rocky Mountain placed sixth in the 12-team tournament with 71 points, beating Thermopolis, Worland, Wyoming Indian, Riverton, Greybull and Shoshoni.
Having passed the midway point in the 2023 season, the Grizzlies will compete at a tournament in Shoshoni Friday, with action beginning at 2 p.m. Following the Thanksgiving break, Rocky Mountain will host a triangular with Lovell and Greybull Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 4 p.m.