CASPER – Rock Springs Tiger John Nowland will lead the charge on Saturday at the Wyoming 4A State Wrestling Championships.
Behind Nowland’s run to the finals on Friday and five Tigers wrestling in the semifinals, Rock Springs finished in the sixth position overall. A late charge Friday night moved the Tigers up.
Rock Springs finished with a day one total of 85 points. They are currently 11 points behind Sheridan and 13 points behind fourth-place Laramie. Campbell County and Green River will battle for the team title on Saturday.
Nowland will be the only Tigers who will battle for a state championship on Saturday. Nowland made quick work of his first two opponents to start his run. In the semifinals, Nowland was able to hold on in a tough 1-0 win over Campbell County’s Terren Swartz.
All year, Nowland and Green River’s Brendan Hopkins have been on a collision course and on Saturday that will happen as the two will meet for the 2016 state title.
At 106, Cameron Metcalf won his first two matches by fall but lost to Gillette’s Austin Cunningham in a close 5-1 decision. He sits in the consolation semifinals. Ashton Dupape (113) also won both his two opening matches. In the semifinals, Dupape lost in a 7-1 decision to Green River’s Caleb Nathan. Dupape will start wrestling in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
Cole Seymour was able to make it to the 120 semifinals with his first two wins. He came up short in the semifinals as Laramie’s Arsenio Lemus scored a 10-0 win. Seymour starts in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
At 138, Patrick Debaun was able to roll into the semis with his first two wins. Gillette’s Trevor Jeffries, who has only lost four times this season, was able to beat Debaun to move on. Debaun will start in the consolation semifinals. Wyatt Yenney made a run at the 152 finals with two opening wins. In the semifinals, he would fall to Gunner Bartlett of Cheyenne East. Yenney starts in the consolation semifinals.
Tigers RJ Stassinos, Joe Walker, Sean Zediker, Andrew Kettering and Jason Jorgensen are still alive in the consolation brackets.
Team Scores
1 Campbell County 162.5
2 Green River 161.5
3 Cheyenne East 120.5
4 Laramie 98.0
5 Sheridan 96.5
6 Rock Springs 85.0
7 Natrona County 79.5
8 Cheyenne Central 76.0
9 Evanston 75.0
10 Riverton 70.0
11 Cheyenne South 57.0
12 Kelly Walsh 56.0
