Six place for G-R in Lander

By: 
Nathan Oster

Strohschein tops heavyweight class, Bertolini notches girls’ highest finish

Greybull-Riverside saw six of its 10 varsity wrestlers place at last weekend’s Lander Valley Invitational.

Heavyweight Curtis Strohschein secured the team’s only individual title, going 4-0 with four pins, but the boys team also got a second from Loomis Alexander at 144 and a sixth from Michael Bassett at 132 on its way to an 11th place finish.  The only 2A team that finished higher was Kemmerer, which was seventh.

On the girls side, Tawny Bertolini captured fourth at 145 and Rhianna Gaytan and Gabby Dowling placed fifth at 130 and 135, respectively, to lift the team to a 16th-place finish.

“It was a tough weekend, but we knew it would be because we go to it every year,” said Coach Rob Nuttall. “It’s good for us on several different levels.  For those boys and girls ready to compete there, it’s big because they get head to heads with kids we don’t normally see, which in turn helps us with seeding criteria for (the upcoming) Ron Thon (tournament).

“The other key thing is, it gets us away from people we see every week. We’ve been doing such a good job recently ... it’s good to hit tougher matches this time of the year. The season’s starting to come to an end and (matches like the ones we experienced) help us stay focused and on the path to where we want to be at the end.”

Strohschein turned in a dominant performance, beating the No. 2 ranked 4A wrestler (Laramie’s James Bade) in the semis and the No. 1 ranked 3A wrestler (Powell’s Doug Bettger) in the final. With the wins, he improved to 24-2.

“The way he’s wrestling on his feet has been the biggest difference maker compared to last year, when he also had a heck of a year,” Nuttall said. “It’s been fun to watch the way he’s transitioning and putting things together -- like a chess match.”

Alexander made a similar run at 144, winning his first four before dropping a “great, scrappy matchup” in the final to Onyx Kunsaitis of Thunder Ridge, Idaho. The final was 6-3. It only the second loss of the season for Alexander.  “He put himself in a good spot for Ron Thon ... and I’ve been excited about what he’s been doing.”

Bassett went 3-3 with three pins.  “High motor, really competitive, just ran into some of the best talent the state has to offer,” said Nuttall. “Same with Reece (Whisenant) who got caught on the wrestleback side, a match out of placing” and finished the weekend at 2-2.

Caiden Sorenson won his first two matches, but then lost in the quarters and in the first round of wrestlebacks a “really tough” 157-pound  class, Nuttall said.

Zack Kuntz, the sixth varsity wrestler, went 1-2 at 190.

Girls

In the girls division, Bertolini had a breakthrough, going 2-2 and placing fourth at 145. Nuttall credited her for wrestling “a darn good tournament,” adding, “She got in scrappy matchups with wrestlers from Idaho and other parts of the state ... and did a good job of bringing physicality, never getting rattled and being who she is as a wrestler.”

Dowling, meanwhile, lost her first two matches of the season. She won her first match, but lost to a wrestler from Thunder Ridge, Idaho, in the semis, then to Pinedale’s Malari Craig in the first round of wrestlebacks before prevailing over Lylah Geis of Worland in the fifth-place match. She’s 25-2.

“(The girl from Thunder Ridge) was tough and got the better of us in that one, but in our next match, we were wrestling good but just got caught.  I always say, punchers always have a chance, and in that match, the other girl threw a haymaker,” Nuttall said. “We beat her earlier in the year, though.  I’m not all that concerned about it. It happens from time to time.”

Gaytan went 3-2 in her weight class, winning two by pin and the third by decision.  The first year wrestler continues to impress, improving to 8-2. 

Kaluha Woolsey also wrestled in Lander, going 0-2 at 125.

JV

All five JV wrestlers won at least one match. 

Nikoah Sorensen, at 165, and Camden Schriner, at 215B, were second-place finishers, each going 3-1.

Ben Mendenhall took fourth at 157B, winning two and losing two.

And though they didn’t place, Carter Peasley went 2-2 at 150 and Payton Hoffman went 1-2 at 175A.

“All of them did good things,” Nuttall said. “That’s part of why we love going to that Lander tournament.  It gives us an opportunity really work and focus on cleaning things up.  No one remembers how you finish in Lander. They remember how you finish at state. The bigger prize is down the line.”

This week

Both teams will be in action later this week at the Ron Thon Invitational in Fremont County.  The girls start today (Thursday, Jan. 31) and the boys join them Friday.  

The tournament, which wraps up Saturday, is easily the most difficult tournament of the season, attracting the state’s best across the three classifications.

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