Wolves dominant at regionals

It was an amazing weekend for the Green River High School wrestling team.

The Wolves had eight individual champions and 12 finalists on their way to a convincing first-place finish at the 4A West Regional Tournament in Rock Springs.

Green River finished with a total of 271 points, well ahead of second place Casper-Natrona, who had 185. Evanston was third with 174, Riverton was fourth with 111.5, Rock Springs was fifth with 100 and Kelly Walsh was sixth with 99 points.

"We wrestled with confidence and we wrestled hard, I am proud of all of them," head coach Marshall Rhodes said. "We competed well in most of the close matches and that is what it takes to win."

Cyro Montoya (106 pounds), Cole Verner (120), Chase O'Melia (126), Colton Hopkins (138), Shandon Welsh (145), Austin Waters (152), Brendan Hopkins (195), and Jordan Tucker (220) all won regional titles. Rhodes was named the 4A West Coach of the Year.

Nathan McCann (113), Gage Byers (126), Kole Case (152) and Hunter Hanks (182) all finished second for Green River.

Caleb Nathan (106) and Eric Clingenpeel (138) both finished in third place. Kaycee Cochrane (132), Zack Orr (145), Edgar Alatorre (160) and Blake Waite (170) all had fourth-place finishes.

Jared Flores, Derrik Erickson, James McCarter and Gabe Bunderman also competed at the regional tournament.

Rhodes said the teams consistent leaders did what they needed to do and many of our younger wrestlers stepped up and beat seeded kids, which is exciting for them and for the program.

"We are set up well for the state tournament next week and we will be ready to compete for a state title," he said.

The state tournament will take place Friday and Saturday at the Casper Events Center.