Grapplers finish strong

Sonja Karpe
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
When the Dogies/Bobcats stepped on the mat back in November, no one was certain if there would be a season, and if there was, whether or not it would last to the end. On Friday, co-head coaches Lee McCoy and Jason Wheeler breathed a sigh of relief as nine of their team competed at the state tournament in Casper.
It looked a little different this year due to COVID-19, but McCoy admitted that he appreciated the one-day format and was incredibly proud of how all his young men performed on the day.
“The one-day format was great because it was all about the wrestling,” McCoy exclaimed. “The kids didn’t have time to get distracted or nervous, so it was awesome, and though we would have liked for our three placers to win their final matches, each and every one of the guys left it all on the mat!” 
Kale Corley began his senior season with his sights set on a third state title, but though he spent the year with the No. 1 ranking in the state, a knee injury he suffered last week at the regional tournament
made achieving his goal much more challenging. 
Corley toughed it out through the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals getting a pin, a 6-2 decision and a major decision 12-4, respectively, to advance to the finals for a shot at the title. It was in the deciding match where Corley’s run ended just short of his goal as he fell to the Northeast Quadrant Regional champ from Douglas in a 4-0 decision, earning him a State Runner Up title.
“I was especially proud of Kale and how he conducted himself in light of his injury. He wrestled hard and suffered through a lot of pain, and still made it to the championship match,” McCoy boasted. “But, it was tough to know all the sacrifices he has made, and then for him to get to that point and then come up short was hard on everyone.”
The Douglas wrestler was the same opponent Corley would have faced in the regional championship round had he not forfeited due to his injury, and though just a sophomore, McCoy noted that as the returning state champion at 132 pounds last season, he has a bright future ahead of him.
“Kale gave it everything he had and he wrestled extremely tough in all of his matches,” McCoy determined. “At that level and having a kid like that in the finals, if you have any chink in the armor, he was going to find it. I am disappointed for Kale though because I really wanted him to win his third state title.” 
Corley certainly has a great deal to be proud of regarding his varsity wrestling career. He brought home two state titles, a third-place finish and finally a second-place finish in his four years of Dogie wrestling, as well as earning his third All-State award, which he added to his 2018 and 2020 honors.
Josh Womack brought home state hardware with a fourth-place finish at 195 pounds. The junior had his work cut out for him, ultimately wrestling six matches by the end of the day.
Womack won his match quickly in the opening round, but ran into a formidable opponent in the quarter finals which sent him into the consolation bracket. From there, he won his way to the third-place match where he once again faced off against the guy who defeated him earlier in the day.
“Josh had a great tournament and he beat some really good competition, but the Riverton kid was a lot to handle,” McCoy admitted. “He was a big kid who made Josh look small, but Josh does some good things and is on the cusp of getting to that next level. He just needs to sharpen the tools a little more and then he should have a great senior season.”
Skylar Jenkins was the final Dogie to earn a place at the state tournament. The senior started out strong, pinning his opponent in the opening round and getting a win by technical fall with a score of 16-1 in the quarter finals. In the semifinals, Jenkins had his run for the title thwarted, however, and he lost again in the consolation semis which put him in the fifth-place match. 
“His fifth-place match was a nail-biter, and it was a kid he wrestled earlier in the year and at regionals. He got pinned then but this was definitely a close match ending at 1-0,” McCoy explained. “It was a defensive match, which was how we wanted it. We didn’t want to give the Buffalo wrestler any opportunities so we tried to keep it really defensive hoping to catch him in a bad position, but we just ran out of time.”
Blake Durfee (113), Johnny Carlson (126) and Aidan Coberly (138) all came within one match of bringing home hardware as all three made it to the blood round in the consolation bracket. 
According to McCoy, Durfee ran into some hammers in a weight class that was stacked with incredibly tough competitors.
“You don’t usually see that many really good wrestlers in one weight class, and the kid from Lyman who won the title is nationally ranked,” McCoy exclaimed. “He actually knocked out the three-time state champ from Green River, which is who Blake lost to in the blood round.”
In his final match of the day, Martinez (Green River) picked Durfee up and slammed him to the mat on his head. This was an illegal move after which Durfee had to take a mandatory five-minute break and, according to McCoy, when he went back at it he wasn’t the same. 
“We could have defaulted and won the match because it was an illegal slam, but that’s not how we want to win a match,” McCoy insisted. “He’s okay, but it did knock the wind out of him, and he battled hard, but it was a crazy, tough weight class.”
Carlson also lost a heart-breaker in the blood round with a 10-11 loss by decision. Like the 113 weight class, 126 was also filled with talented competitors, and every one of Carlson’s matches were close including his first round overtime win against Sage Lonn from Rawlins. 
“I was so proud of Johnny because every time he stepped out on the mat he just laid it out and wrestled as hard as he could,” McCoy beamed. “Every match was a nail-biter but he just came out a little short in the end.”
Aidan Coberly (138) probably had the biggest improvement McCoy saw in the tournament. 
“He was in every match against tough kids,” McCoy declared. “He ended up losing to a Lander Valley kid in the blood round, but he didn’t get pinned, so that was great.”
“I was proud of all of the kids. They wrestled so tough and stepped it up to what we’ve been seeing throughout the year,” he continued. “They took some tough kids deep into matches and most losses were by decision and not by pins. It is the state tournament so that’s exactly what we want to see, and it was a great way to end the season with everyone putting it all together to wrestle their best in their last competition of the year.”
The Dogies/Bobcats are losing some talented seniors who will be missed and who contributed greatly to the program over their four years. Durfee, Corley, Jenkins and Weston Simianer all wrestled their final matches as either Dogies or Bobcats on Friday.
“I’m really going to miss our seniors this year. They were a fun group to coach and were great leaders,” McCoy nodded. “I’m excited for what’s to come though because we have a lot of talent returning and some good ones coming up.”