Wrestlers make strong impression

Several members of the Greybull-Riverside wrestling team made strong impressions at last weekend’s Battle in the Bighorns, a dual tournament hosted by Worland High School.
Curtis Strohschein and Bennett Sanford, who went undefeated, and Ty Strohschein, Eric Rosales and Loomis Alexander, all of whom lost just a single time, were in the discussion for the Best of the Best matches, according to Coach Rob Nuttall.
As a team, G-R wrestled in seven duals Friday and Saturday, winning four and losing three to claim third place in the Silver bracket, behind only Buffalo and Worland.   
Rock Springs won the A bracket, which was made up entirely of 3A and 4A schools.
G-R’s weekend actually began on Thursday night at Buff Gym.  The opponent was Thermopolis, “a top-five team in the state,” according to Nuttall.  “I thought we competed well in the matches we should have — although I thought one could have gone the other way.
“Duals are about matchups more than anything else and it’s hard when you’re sitting on five or six open weights.  But I thought we wrestled pretty well.”
Thermopolis emerged with the 57-21 win.  Forfeit wins accounted for 30 of the Bobcats’ points and 12 of G-R’s total.  Alexander, who pinned his opponent, and Sorenson, who prevailed 7-5, were G-R’s only victors in contested matches.  
The next day in Worland, Nuttall didn’t like the way his team came out, wrestling “a little flat” and losing duals to Powell, 36-27, and Torrington, 39-21.  It led to a team meeting. “We had to iron a few things out,” he said. “Flat isn’t us and it isn’t how we expect to compete.”
The team responded, winning its next dual over Glenrock, 41-30. “We gave them six forfeits and won every other match,” said Nuttall.
Next up was Pinedale. One of the strongest teams in attendance, the Wranglers would go on to place second in the Gold bracket.  But G-R was competitive when the two clubs matched up in the pools, losing 42-27.
“Typically they’re pretty dang tough and always seem to have some studs,” Nuttall said of the Wranglers, who began the season as the No. 3-ranked team in 3A. “Talking afterwards, their coach was really complimentary of how our guys performed.”
G-R carried the momentum into Saturday’s bracketed team tournament, beating Douglas in the opening round 51-30 and losing to Buffalo in the semis 41-31 before capping the weekend with a 39-24 defeat of Lander in the third-place dual.
“The best part of it all — true across the boys, the girls and the JV competitions  — was watching all the kids be involved and excited.  Watching them come together and cheer for one another, crunch the numbers on their own to figure out what we needed to win each dual was very fun.
“If we can keep that going, it’s really going to help us.”
Sanford and Curtis Strohschein were the only G-R wrestlers with perfect records at the Battle.  Ty Strohschein lost just once — to a 3A state finalist from Buffalo — as did Eric Rosales.  Sorenson lost two times.
The G-R girls turned in another great effort, too.  Elizabeth Holloway, at 140, and Gabby Dowling, at 145, captured first place in their weight classes.  Tawny Bertolini, at 135, took third.
Holloway and Dowling “won tough rematches with a couple girls from Shoshoni (Laconda Kiser and Abrianna Kiser, respectively)” and “did a great job.”
G-R will return to action after the holiday break.