Four champs lead the way for G-R at home tournament

Bennett Sanford, Zack Kuntz, Rihanna Gaytan and Ellie Holloway gave home fans lots to cheer about Saturday at Buff Gym, winning their weight classes and powering their teams to top-five finishes at the annual Greybull Memorial Invitational.

The boys finished fourth in the team standings and likely would have been higher with a healthy Loomis Alexander; the Riverside senior and returning state champion was held out with a knee injury.  The rest were credited with 125 points, topped by only Moorcroft, Tongue River and Thermopolis, in that order.

With four of their six wrestlers placing, the girls settled in fifth, trailing only Powell, Shoshoni, Thermopolis and Lander Valley in the final standings.

The weekend began with a pair of duals Friday night.  Moorcroft, the No. 2 ranked team in 2A, won both, handling Rocky Mountain 54-12 in the opener before taking down G-R 56-24 in the nightcap. The home team got wins from Bennett Sanford, at 138, and Zack Kuntz, at 190.

“They’re darn solid — though maybe not as blowout tough as they have been in the past,” said Coach Mark Sanford. “There were a couple matches I thought we could have turned our way — Garrett’s and Caiden’s — so going in, I thought we’d score a few more points than we did.”

Sanford and Kuntz rolled right through the tournament, each of them going 4-0.

Sanford was dominant, notching first-period pins in his first two matches before tech-falling Benson Jolley of Rocky in the semis and winning by 15-6 major decision over Mason Christianson of Lovell in the final.

Afterward, the Greybull junior was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.  Tom Urbach’s name was attached to the honor this year.  A coaching legend who led Greybull to nine state titles over an 11-year span, Urbach died unexpectedly last month. His presence was felt over the weekend as G-R coaches wore T-shirts with a quote attributed to him: “Don’t wrestle not to lose. Wrestle to win.”

Making Sanford’s run even more impressive, he emerged from the most crowded weight class, with 16 in the bracket. “He just had a good tournament,” said the coach, adding that he “beat him worse than he did at the Ron Thon.”  After the final, the longtime rivals acknowledged that they wouldn’t meet again and embraced as a sign of respect.

Kuntz strengthened his case as threat to win the state title at 190, winning all four of his matches by fall. Just one of them last beyond the first period. “Zack’s been giving up takedown early in matches; we need to sharpen that tool a little bit,” Sanford said. “But he has a really good feel, is very strong and puts people in bad places quickly.”

G-R saw four of its wrestlers vie for third place.  Caiden Sorenson posted in the only victory in that round, finishing the day 4-1 at 165.  Hayden Jensen, at 144; Nikoah Sorensen, at 175, and Camden Schriner, at 215, lost and placed fourth.

“We talk about odds and evens — we want to be finishing in odd numbers because it means we won our last match,” Sanford said. “For this tournament, we had a few evens we were hoping could have turned into odds.”

Sorenson lost only two matches all weekend — both to  Brady Garouette of Moorcroft, a wrestler Sanford described as “cagy. He doesn’t attack on his feet; he lets you come at him and waits for you to make a mistake.” The key to beating him is getting an early lead, Sanford said.

Wiggins’ only losses were to 3A wrestlers he won’t face again.

And while he went 1-3, Sorenson “is doing some good things,” but just needs to avoid putting himself in bad places,” Sanford said.

As for the rest, Braxten Link went 2-2 at 106, Corbyn Godfrey went 1-2 at 190, Riley Wiggins went 1-2 at 138, Levi Cochrane went 1-2 at 144, Carlin Mulley went 0-2 at  120 and Ben Mendenhall went 0-2 at 157.

Mulley is a freshman still looking for his first win. He nearly secured it, losing his final match by sudden victory. All his teammates were on the edge of the mat, cheering him on like it was a state final. “That did my heart good,” Sanford said. “I always say wrestling’s a family thing ... that was cool. They know what it takes and see how he’s been working every day.”

Girls

Last week, Sanford spoke of the need to get Gaytan going again. After starting fast, she’d been mired in a midseason slump. That began to change on Saturdya, as she won four straight — one by pin, three by decision. 

“Good for Rihanna ... we needed a weekend like that out of her,” Sanford said. “But we still need to start doing some things on our feet better. She needs to go back to her doubles, rather than the cross-body singles.”

A week after winning Ron Thon, Holloway took down the only contender she didn’t face in Riverton — Alix Sorensen of Thermopolis — en route to the 155-pound crown. It came in thrilling fashion, via third period pin.  “Ellie did a really good job being smart, wrestling smarter and staying in good position,” Sanford said, adding that Holloway must do a better job of avoiding the cradle if the two meet down the road.

Kadence Powell has become one of the season’s feel-good stories.  She went 3-1, losing only to Elizabeth Gribowskas of Lander in the final to place sections. “She’s come so far, having never wrestled in her life before this year,” Sanford said. 

Melanie Perez-Cabrera added a fourth-place finish at 115, going 2-2.  Sanford said she came close to pinning her final opponent, Kiera Big Knife of Lander, but lost 9-7.  “She had that girl on her back,” Sanford said. “But we can’t blame the official; we can’t leave it up to the official.”  

And though they didn’t place, Adeline Kunkel (1-2 at 110) and Ashlyn Chacon (1-2 at 115) each won a match and “wrestled tough” as the progress through their first seasons in the program.

G-R traveled to Lander Tuesday for one final dual before the Class 2A West Regional, which will be in Park County Feb. 20-21.