The Bulldogs from Wheatland showed why they are the No. 3 wrestling team in the state as the took down their rivals from Torrington on January 29, at Willi Gymnasium. In all, the Bulldogs received four forfeits and won seven of the ten matches of the night to defeat Torrington 54-15.
“I thought the Wheatland dual was the best effort our kids have shown all year, top to bottom, junior varsity to varsity,” said Coach Doyle Meyer, “We gave our all, but we just came up a little bit short.”
On January 31, the Blazers traveled south to Longmont, Colorado, to compete in a dual tournament. There were five teams present, including Torrington, which was also the only team representing Wyoming.
Meyer commented, “It was great to get out of town and wrestle some teams we have never wrestled before.”
The tournament consisted of each team having to dual one another in a round-robin format. After a first round bye the team took on host Longmont and fell 21-35. Things didn’t get any better for the Blazers as they took on the eventual champions Palisade, CO, and only managed two wins before falling 10-60.
Torrington got back to their winning ways by way of another team called the Blazers from Overland, CO. Torrington won all but two matches to come away with 42-30 victory. The day ended on a high note as the team won all their matches enroute to a 49-6 victory over Palmer, CO.
Junior Mitch Schlager said, “The Wheatland dual stood out in my mind because I got beaten when I should have won. I had a lead but I gave it up.”
“The Palmer dual stands out in my mind because we won every match we wrestled. They only scored points from forfeits,” added sophomore Levi Fales.
“Again this week, we had some outstanding performances from Mitch Schlager and Ben Vetter,” concluded Meyer.