G-R boys knock off Lander in final tuneup for regional

Greybull-Riverside’s final tuneup before the regional tournament was a productive one as its boys and girls went a combined 13-4 at a Feb. 10 dual in Lander.

In both, G-R faced uphill climbs because of open weights that resulted in six-point forfeits s for the hosts. 

The boys were able to overcome them, winning 39-36 thanks to pins by Bennett Sanford at 138, Hayden Jensen at 144, Corbyn Godfrey at 190 and Camden Schriner at 215 along with a Caiden Sorenson win by decision.

Braxten Link and Nikoah Sorensen were credited with forfeit wins to complete the G-R scoring.  In all, the G-R boys went a combined 8-2 on the night.

“It was a good win for us because we had to have different guys step up,” Coach Mark Sanford said, crediting Godfrey, in particular, for the way he stepped up.

It was by no means a perfect outing for G-R, as Sanford recalled a tough loss for Levi Cochrane, who led by eight going into the third before getting pinned with two seconds left.

Had that one gone G-R’s way, the margin would have been wider.

On the girls’ side, G-R won five of the seven contested matches, but didn’t win the dual. Open weights proved costly, with each resulting in six points for the hosts.

Adeline Kunkel, Melanie Perez-Cabrera, Kadance Powell, Rhianna Gaytan and Ellie Holloway were credited with wins for G-R.

Regionals

For G-R and every other team in the state, it’s regional tournament time this weekend. The boys will compete in Cowley, the girls in Powell. 

Asked to size up the two tournaments, Sanford began with the girls. “For those first-year girls, it’ll be hard, but if we can battle, get a couple wins under our belt and maybe slip into the top eight, it would be awesome for them.

“Among our returning girls, Rhianna placed at regionals last year, top four. Ellie didn’t get to wrestle. Hopefully we can put ourselves in good positions there (going into state).”

On the boys side, Loomis Alexander, a returning state champion and the top-ranked 157-pounder in 2A, has missed the last couple weeks with an injury but is expected to go. Others who should go in as high seeds include Sanford, Kuntz and Caiden Sorensen, with Garrett Wiggins sitting on the bubble.

“Teamwise, if we take care of the individual situations, we should be in pretty good shape,” Sanford said. “It’ll be interesting.  Kemmerer, for example, is a team that might be us here, because of their numbers, but at state, if we can run kids where to need to, we could run them down.

“It’s takes everybody (to achieve team success), though — the Braxten Links, the Phillip Thomases, the Nikoah Sorensens, those are the guys who need to come through for us, win a match or two and put themselves in good positions.”