Glenrock’s junior high wrestling squad handily defeated Burns 36-17 Nov. 20, in a day of duals against a handful of other Wyoming competitors including Lingle and Lusk. The Herders, however, lost 49-39 against Lingle and were barely defeated by Lusk, with a score of 44-39.
To guarantee all wrestlers had the proper number of matches, some of Glenrock’s athletes went up against wrestlers above their weight class, which led to some losses for the team.
Lucy Tichnor and Brody Allen both lost to opponents who were 8-10 pounds heavier than their weight classes.
Coach Heath Hayes said they’d hoped to put Tichnor against a 75-pounder from Burns, but didn’t want him to have three matches in such a short time frame.
“One thing our kids are doing right now is wrestling hard and competing at a high level,” Hayes said.
Glenrock’s junior high wrestlers need to learn to control a match when they are winning by 1-10 points, and Glenrock ultimately lost some matches in that way during the competition.
The team was also missing three wrestlers from its lineup that would have given the Herders more opportunities for wins.
Still, Hayes highlighted the efforts by Owen Partridge, Braxton Browner, Manny Coulter, Gage Courtright and Grady Longwell, among others.
Longwell’s score was 0-1, but he wrestled one of the toughest opponents Glenrock has faced, Hayes said.
“When Grady doesn’t wrestle timid, good things happen,” he said.
Members of the team had a good attitude about their matches, even when they weren’t successful.
“I fought hard, and I will work harder next time,” said Gene Hershley, after his second match against Lingle.
Herder Preston Loyd said he was happy after his successful match against Lingle, won by pin.
“It was a pretty good match. I’m glad I got to wrestle him – he tries really hard,” Loyd said.