Strong start for wrestlers

There was a lot to like about Greybull-Riverside’s performance at the season-opening Powell Invitational.
Varsity wins by a freshman girl, Ellizabeth Holloway, and a sophomore boy, Loomis Alexander, along with several strong finishes on the JV side by a promising group of up-and-comers provided encouragement to everyone associated with the weekend.
“I think it’s the best we’ve wrestled, collectively, at this tournament since I’ve been here,” said Coach Rob Nuttall.
For an opening weekend, he said it was “as good as we could have hoped for.”
The tournament is a challenging one, attracting 2A, 3A and 4A teams from Wyoming as well as wrestlers from Montana, where the season’s already in its third week.
G-R made a very strong impression in the girls division, placing sixth with 55 points, all of which were scored by just three wrestlers.  Holloway took first at 140 pounds, going undefeated in six matches on Friday and Saturday.  All were by pin or major decision.
Gabby Dowling, who wrestled at the same weight, went 3-2 with one of losses being to Holloway.
Tawny Bertolini, a freshman, placed third at 135 pounds, going 4-2.
“It was a great tournament for all three of them,” said Nuttall.
On the boys side, G-R entered just three wrestlers:  138-pounder Loomis Alexander, 144-pounder Reece Whisenant and 285-pounder Curtis Strohschein.   Ty Strohschein would have made four, had he not been held out due to an injury.
Alexander’s weekend included six wins, including two over Mason Christianson of Lovell. The two met for the regional title last season.  Alexander pinned him twice in Powell, though Christiansen was more competitive the second time.
“Every time those kids met up, it’s a good match because they’re both great wrestlers,” said Nuttall.
For the title, Alexander topped Edward Garduno of Gillette by an 8-2 score.
“We knew with Loomis the ceiling was high because he wrestled so well as a freshman, placing fourth at state. Plus he put in a ton of work over the summer. So it wasn’t a surprise to see him go out and wrestle great.”
Whisenant didn’t have much to show for his efforts, going 0-4 on Friday and not making the bracketed tournament.  “Sometimes it just isn’t your weekend,” said Nuttall.  “But he did a lot of good things” — just didn’t get rewarded due to the quality of the weight class.
Strohschien opened in fine form, showing tremendous improvement since last season.  He won all four of his pool matches, with three of them coming via pin, then added a quarterfinal win before dropping his final two to place fourth.  Rosendo Garcia of Lovell beat him in the semis, Spencer Higareda of Huntley Project in the third-place match.  “He did a great job of generating offense on his feet and staying active on the bottom,” said Nuttall.
For the rest of the team, the focus was development.  G-R entered 14 wrestlers in the JV division: Chris Dalin at 120, Bennett Sanford, Sy Schlattmann and Jesse Brown at 132, Carter Peasley, Braxdon Patterson and Ben Mendenhall at 138, Ethan Preetorius and Garrett Wiggins at 144, Caiden Sorenson at 150, Payton Hoffman at 175, Camden Schriner at 190 and Kevin Rosales and Eric Rosales at 215.  Everyone got at least three pool matches.  Nearly all won at least one match.
Sanford was the only individual champion, going 3-0 in the pools and 3-0 in the tournament.
Sorenson placed second, losing just one of his six matches. It was in the final to a grappler from Cody.
Nuttall said he and his assistant coaches contemplated entering those two — and a couple others — in the varsity. “In the end, we prioritized mat time,” he said. “We knew in the JV, they could get five to eight matches, whereas in the varsity, potentially only three if they make it out of the pool.”
Other JV placers for the team included Chris Dalin, eighth at 120; Patterson, third at 138; Garrett Wiggins, eighth at 144, Erik Rosales, second at 215, and Kevin Rosales, eighth at 215.
G-R is entering a busy stretch, with a home meet against Thermopolis today (Thursday, Dec. 14) at 4 p.m., followed by competition at the Battle in the Big Horns dual tournament that will be held Friday and Saturday in Worland.  Next Tuesday, G-R will head to Powell for a 6 p.m. dual with the Panthers.
While the team’s numbers are solid, Nuttall said he won’t be able to field a full lineup.  At least three slots will be open for the upcoming duals.