TORRINGTON – Nine matches highlighted the Torrington High School wrestling team’s Maroon and Silver Duals Tuesday evening at Willi Gym.
It was the first chance Blazers wrestling fans had to see their team under first-year coach Jared Hatley.
Hatley came away from the duals excited about where his team is heading into the opening weekend of the 2019-20 season.
“We did really well,” he said. “I was pretty excited that the kids came out and competed. They wrestled hard.”
Hatley added he saw some weakness which came out of the intersquad duals.
“Shape is always an issue this time of the year,” Hatley said.
However, he saw a lot of promise from the younger wrestlers.
“I was really happy. I’m impressed with the younger guys,” Hatley said. “We had a couple new guys that haven’t wrestled in the past, and they all showed up and did a really great job. Coach (Cody) Grant and I were both really excited.”
That was just one of the many positives which the new coaching staff saw.
“We had guys doing things we’ve been working on in the practice room. That’s always an exciting thing because it means they are listening,” Hatley said. “It’s a slow process. We have a lot of new guys. We are working on the foundational level and we’ll keep improving from here on out.”
Torrington opened the season on Thursday evening against the Class 4A Cheyenne South Bison, led by Torrington High School alum JoJo Ojeda, before traveling to Cheyenne for a Cheyenne East Tournament Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13-14.
Schedule change
This week, the Blazers made a change to their schedule, dropping out of the Northern Colorado Tournament which was scheduled to be on Dec. 20-21. The team replaced it with the Battle of the Big Horns, which will be held on the same weekend in Worland.
