G-R among 2A’s most seasoned squads as new season begins

Greybull-Riverside wrestlers will see their first action of the season later this week, with the girls doing battle at in a tournament in Cody and the boys debuting at their traditional opener in Powell.

There’s been a change at the top since last season ended.  Mark Sanford is back as the head coach, replacing Rob Nuttall who left the post when he was hired as the elementary school principal.

“I feel a little like Gene Autry — old, riding my horse and singing ‘Back in the Saddle’ again,” said Sanford, who led the program for 20 years before his retirement in March 2019.

He’ll begin his 32nd year as a head coach with a roster of 27 which includes 17 boys and 10 girls. 

The boys team is coming off its best state tournament finish in nearly a decade. Led by individual champs Loomis Alexander, at 144, and Curtis Strohschein, at heavyweight, G-R captured fifth place, trailing only Cokeville, Moorcroft, Kemmerer and Thermopolis.

While Strohschein graduated, Alexander is back to lead this year’s squad, along with Zack Kuntz, fourth at 198; Bennett Sanford, fifth at 132, and Caiden Sorenson, sixth at 157.

“Loomis has a good perspective on things after last year and learning what it takes,” Sanford said. “His ability to compete at a high level will be good in the room, good for us and good for his partners.”

Sorenson “is coming off a good year in football and is a hardworking kid,” Sanford said. “He hasn’t finished like we like to at State so we’re looking forward to him putting a stamp on his high school career.”

Sanford said he believes Kuntz should have finished in the top three at the state tournament. “We’re really looking forward to seeing what he can do,” he said.

Bennett Sanford “could have finished one place higher too (at the state tournament).  There are so many juniors (around his weight) ... it’s a tough group of kids he grown up with and battled against over the years.”

The rest of this year’s roster features Ben Mendenhall, Camden Schriner, Garrett Wiggins, Corbin Godfrey, Jayden Jensen, Phillip Thomas, Nakoah Sorensen, Livi Cochrane, Elijah Rice, Carlin Milley, Riley Wiggins, Braxten Link and Kobe Fox.

Sanford said they aren’t spread out very well across the 14 weight classes. The team is likely to begin the season with openings at 106, 113, 126 and 132, but with an excess who could fit in the middle ranges of 144, 150 and 157 and the upper ranges of 175, 190 and 215.

G-R ranks fourth among all 2A teams in returning state placers.  Sanford said this year’s team has the potential to finish as well as last years, but it’ll require strong campaigns by the top four returnees along with the emergence of others including some who got a taste last year.

Girls

The girls roster features four returnees with state experience: Rhianna Gayton, Ellie Holloway, Tawny Bertolini and Kaluha Woolsey. Gaytan, at 125, and Bertolini, at 140, each went 2-2 in Casper last spring. 

They’re joined on the roster by Monse Gallegos, Kadence Powell, Ashlyn Chacon, Adeline Kunkel, Melanie Perez-Cabrera and Emily Foote.

Sanford said Gallegos, Chacon and Kunkel “are all new to wrestling” and “learning as they go.”  Perez-Cabrera and Foote have limited backgrounds in the sport.

With more girls choosing to wrestle, not only in his program but across the state, Sanford said, “It’ll be interesting to see what happens with numbers ... at some point, will (the girls division) need to be split into two classes?”

Right now, everyone wrestles in a single classification.

“It makes a difference when you have more kids and more practice partners available. Schools like Star Valley and Sheridan, those are big programs. They have a lot more competition in the room, which helps them from a development standpoint.”

Sanford’s assistant coaches this season will be Brant Ogg, Nate Hetzel and Ira Mickelson.  They’ll be busy this weekend with grapplers wrestlers at three different gyms in Park County.