Dowling top G-R placer at Ron Thon

With teams from all three classifications in the field and just a single bracket at each weight, the Ron Thon Invitational offers athletes from the state’s smallest schools opportunities to measure themselves against their 3A and 4A counterparts.

As usual, Greybull-Riverside made some noise.  Gabby Dowling, Curtis Strohschein, Loomis Alexander and Reece Whisenant placed in their respective varsity weight classes and several others made strong runs to join them before bowing out in the “blood” round.

Coach Rob Nuttall said he was pleased with the way his team performed, especially considering the strength of the field.

Dowling, a Greybull senior wrestling at 140, won her first three matches by fall, beating girls from Shoshoni, Kelly Walsh and Mountain View to reach the final. In it, she was pinned in the third by Kaylie Julander of Kemmerer.  “She’s tough ... very athletic and very physical,” Nuttall said of Julander.

They could meet again at the state tournament, unless Dowling opts to move up or down.  “We’ll see what she wants to do,” Nuttall said, adding, “The ball is in her court.”

Dowling’s record stands at 23-3.

Rhianna Gayton, at 125, went 2-2 in Riverton, beating girls from Cheyenne East and Rawlins before losing back-to-back matchups with Kelly Walsh wrestlers.   

Tawny Bertolini, at 145, also went 2-2, beating wrestlers from Powell and Newcastle while losing to wrestlers from Thunder Basin and Burns/Pine Bluffs.

Kaluha Woolsey, 1-2 at 120, and MaKenna Schell, 0-2 at 125, also competed at the Ron Thon.

Boys division

G-R placed 21st in the varsity boys division, scoring 39.5 points.  In all, there were 42 teams in the field.

Strohschein was G-R’s highest finisher.  A Riverside senior, he was stunned in the opening round, losing to Jayce Spears of Natrona County. Spears entered as the No. 7 ranked kid in 4A. 

“It was a bit of a surprise,” said Nuttall, “but when you show up and have to sit around for six or seven hours, it makes it tough, but maybe it isn’t all bad.  We learned a hard lesson — I don’t see it repeating itself come state tournament.”

Strohschein regrouped, reeling off six straight wins — five over ranked opponents — to capture third place.   In his final match, Strohschein beat Kingston Hanson of Thunder Basin, the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in 4A.

Alexander and Whisenant found themselves in the same 144-pound class.  They faced each other in the quarters, with Alexander winning 12-6.  Alexander went on to place fourth, compiling a 4-2 record; Whisenant took fifth, going 5-2.

“Loomis wrestled really well on the front side, but ran into (Jerred) Smith of Kelly Walsh in the semis and he’s tough,” said Nuttall.  “(Smith) ended up winning it, so Loomis lost to the eventual champ. But he came though on the backside and got to the third- and fourth-place match before we decided enough was enough and we medical forfeited him out.

Alexander sports a 31-3 record.

Whisenant was unseeded going in, so to end up placing was an impressive feat, according to Nuttall. Besides the loss to Alexander, he suffered just one other defeat, losing to Cheyenne Central’s Ryan Gonzalez, the No. 3 ranked kid in 4A.  He won five matches, walking away with a mark of 26-10.

“He wrestled great ... in fact, it might have been the best tournament I’ve ever seen him put together,” said Nuttall. 

Caiden Sorenson, the team’s fourth varsity wrestler, went 0-2 at 157. “That might have been the toughest weight. top to bottom, that I’ve ever seen,” said Nuttall.  “There were kids who placed at Ron Thon last year who didn’t even make it to the second day, but (for Sorenson) to go in there and scrap it out, even if you don’t place, still counts for something.”

Jesse Brown (144), Carter Peasley (144), Ben Mendenhall (157), Nikoah Sorensen (165), Zack Kuntz (190) and Camden Schriner (215) competed on the JV side. “Even though we didn’t have an placers, everyone won some matches and did good things,” said Nuttall.

G-R is home until the regional tournament.  First up is dual competition Friday night at Buff Gym, followed by the tournament on Saturday.  As of Monday, Nuttall wasn’t sure what the duals would look like, just that Moorcroft, Thermopolis, Dubois, Wyoming Indian and Saratoga are planning to join his squad.

Saturday’s tournament starts at 10 a.m.