Rocky Mountain / Burlington wrestlers head to Cody, Powell

After nearly three weeks of hard practice, including many early mornings, the Rocky Mountain/Burlington wrestlers are ready to compete, with the boys team heading to Powell and the girls traveling to Cody for tournament action Friday and Saturday.

Coach Eddie Whiting said that because of the strong partnership between Rocky Mountain and Burlington schools, the wrestling team will now compete under the combined name Rocky Mountain/Burlington whenever possible during the season.

Due to the size of this weekend’s tournaments, the teams will split, with the boys junior varsity and varsity squads wrestling in Powell while the girls compete in Cody. Because of limited participation numbers, all girls will wrestle at the varsity level. Weigh-ins in both locations are scheduled to begin Friday at 10:30 a.m.

With the teams divided between locations, Coach Whiting will coach the boys varsity squad while assistant coach Travis Lytle will assist the girls team in Cody and Kyler Marchant will work with the boys junior varsity team.

Three weeks into the season, coaches have finalized varsity and junior varsity competition weight classes. The weights listed reflect the maximum weight for each classification.

The Rocky Mountain/Burlington varsity boys lineup includes Gabriel Whiting at 120 pounds, Benson Jolley and Sam Loyning at 138, Colten Bitton at 144, Zach Unruh at 150, Triffen Jolley at 165, Masen Twomey at 215 and Alex Walker at 285. 

On the boys junior varsity roster are Lucas Undem and Nathan Undem at 138 pounds, Austin Weller at 157 and Michael Broederlow at 190. 

The girls varsity competitors include Sky Olsen at 135, Emmilee Wambeke at 140, Kaitlyn McAlhany at 155 and Charlee Anderson at 235.

Dalan Wambeke and Lyle Montanez will miss this weekend’s competition due to injuries.

This season also marks the first time the team has fielded a female wrestler from Burlington, with Olsen joining the program. In addition, Wambeke is competing in her fourth season, setting a new milestone as the girls wrestling program continues to grow.

The coaching staff is optimistic heading into the weekend.

“Since we’ve been doing two-a-days, I’ve seen a dramatic improvement in these kids,” said Whiting. “We are eager to test our progress and look forward to strong competition in both Cody and Powell.”