TORRINGTON – A year after finishing fourth at the Blazer Duals, the Torrington wrestlers captured the top spot at the event Saturday, posting a 5-0 record in team duals on their way to the title.
“It’s been over 14 years since we have won this tournament since we have been hosting it,” coach Doyle Meyer said. “This team just keeps getting better and better each week and taking a tournament is pretty huge.”
Torrington 56, Newcastle 18
The Blazers opened the day against Newcastle, with Tristen Kingsley (138) kicking off the dual, pinning Gavin Durfee in the second period. At 145 pounds, Jacob Polkowske won by a 7-1 decision over Alan Baker, before 152-pounder Casey Britton was pinned in the first by Wyatt Corley.
At 160 pounds, Chase Dominguez, like teammates Brandon Bennick (220) Quentin Meyer (120) and Nicholas Sherbeyn (126) all picked up wins via forfeit. Saturday marked the first time this winter that the Blazers had a wrestler competing at every weight.
“When you get a whole team filled from top to bottom, it makes you feel like, ‘Okay, now we can step forward from here,’” Meyer said.
Back to the action, Josh Kigsley wrestled teammate Gabe Mitchell, who was an honorary member with the Dogies, and won by a 5-1 decision. Jakob Brott (182) pinned Jeff Langlois (Burns) at the 2:23 mark. Torrington’s Riley Grubbs stepped into the varsity lineup at 195 pounds, falling to Teigan Marchant by pin in the second.
Heavyweight Jacob Wamboldt flexed his might, pinning Joe Guse in 14 seconds. At 106 pounds, Nycholas Melchor picked up the win over Reid Holmes by a 3-2 decision. Riley Duffield (113) was pinned in the first period by Trayton Dawson. Austin Fox (132) closed out the dual with a 19-3 technical fall over Paden Hulet (Buffalo).
Torrington 59, Lusk 18
Continuing on with pool play, Polkowske kicked off the dual against Lusk with a pin over teammate Brett Posten at the 3:10 mark. Britton continued the winning for the Blazers, pinning Jace Skovgard (Buffalo in the first, before Dominguez lost by a 4-3 decision against Cole Mellott.
Josh Kingsley picked up a 15-0 technical fall win at 170 pounds over Damien Molzahn, before Brott was pinned in the third period by Pacen Gifford. At 195 pounds, Grubbs earned his stripes in a varsity dual with a pin over Andrew Hernandez (Laramie). Rounding out the upper weights, Bennick pinned fellow teammate Sebastian Doucette in the first period, with Wamboldt snagging another pin in less than a minute over Jesper Caldera.
Melchor continued his hot start to the day with a pin over James Cushman in 43 seconds, while Duffield recorded a win via forfeit. Meyer went the distance against William Fish, but was defeated by a 9-4 decision. Sherbeyn was pinned in the first period against Dustin Simmons (Glenrock).
“Nycholas Melchor did a great job at the 106-pound weight,” Meyer said. “He really stepped up.”
Fox and Tristen Kingsley closed out the dual in convincing fashion, with Fox pinning Adrian Mass (Glenrock) in the first period and Kingsley pinning Ethan Read (Wheatland) in the second.
Torrington 60, Laramie 22
To close out pool action, the Blazers secured a convincing win over 4A’s Laramie. Torrington picked up pins early and often, with Britton starting off the dual with a pin over Ethan Short in the third period. In the second period, Dominguez pinned Marshall Mickelson in the second period, before Josh Kingsley pinned Jamen Livingston late in the second period. Brott continued the winning streak with a pin over Ben Martinez at the 2:46 mark.
“I believe we started out very strong today,” Dominguez said. “In practice, we have been working our butts off to just work harder and stay in the match. I believe we had more heart today.”
Grubbs took on Calvin Webb, falling by pin late in the first period. Bennick suffered the same fate against Zech Aguilar. Wamboldt got the Blazers back on the winning path with a pin in 14 seconds over Greg Bechel (Newcastle). Melchor continued the winning with a pin in the second over Brody Demello.
Duffield was pinned late in the first period against Isaac Sell, before Meyer snagged a pin in the first minute against Jose Rodriguez. Sherbeyn picked up a forfeit win at 126 pounds. Fox lost by a 17-4 major decision against Arsenio Lemus.
At 138 pounds, Tristen Kingsley and Ryder Senior went to the third period, but Kingsley came away with a pin at the 4:49 mark. Polkowske put a button on the dual with a pin over Natnael Merrill in the second period.
Torrington 46, Buffalo 31
With a 3-0 record in pool play, the Blazers locked up the top seed from their pool, pitting them against Buffalo, who posted a 2-1 record in their pool.
“When you get into duals that are close, you can just feel the sense of urgency build and build,” Meyer said of the atmosphere.
Buffalo picked up the opening win with Ben Elmlinger recording a 16-3 major decision over Dominguez. Josh Kingsley snagged a major decision (11-1) of his own over Morgan Felbeck.
After Kingsley, Brott, Grubbs and Bennick went on a winning spree. The trio had pins, all within the first minute of the match, against Cade Griffitt (Glenrock), Morgan Tellock and Conner Polk (Burns). Wamboldt snagged a win via forfeit.
“I was very impressed with Brandon Bennick,” Meyer said. “He stepped down from a heavyweight to a 220 and I was concerned about how he would move and react to the quickness. I think he is as strong as all of them and as quick as all of them. He transitioned down to the 220-pound matches and did a very, very good job.”
Melchor won his match by a pin in the second period over Colton Briscoe. Duffield was pinned in the first by Dylan Fauber. Meyer was pinned in the second period by Dallas Lopez and Sherbeyn suffered the same fate in the first period against Robby Meyers.
Fox halted the Bison run with a pin in the first period over Tyerell Sickler. Tristen Kingsley went the distance in a back-and-forth match against Hunter Elmer, falling by a 13-10 decision. Polkowske righted the ship with a pin over Clay Reiner late in the third period. Britton closed out the dual, suffering a pin against Jake Waterson in the first period.
Torrington 42, Glenrock 32
With the win over Buffalo, Torrington advanced to the first-place match against 2A powerhouse Glenrock, snagging a close win.
“We’ve always been up there with Glenrock and Douglas and any time we can get a win over them in a dual, it’s great,” Dominguez said. “I don’t even know how to explain it right now. We are able to beat any team when we put our minds to it and that’s a great feeling.”
Josh Kingsley made quick work in his match to open the dual, pinning Noah Halsey in 17 seconds. Glenrock recorded back to back pins with Ian Arnold pinning Brott in the second period and Grubbs falling by pin to Josh Burrus.
Bennick got the Blazers back on track with a pin in the first period against Andrick Moreno, followed by another pin by Wamboldt in the first period against Elias Orozco. Melchor snagged a pin in less than a minute against Josie Bruno, followed by a forfeit win by Duffield.
Meyer took on Tate Stoddard at 120 pounds, falling by an 18-1 technical fall. T.J. Kraft and Joe Taylor kept the winning going for the Herders, with Kraft pinning Sherbeyn and Taylor pinning Fox, both in the first period.
Tristen Kingsley got Torrington back in the scoring column after an 8-3 decision win over Brysen Collier. Polkowske capped his 5-0 day with a pin in the first period over Syler Fleck. Polkowske earned outstanding wrestler of the tournament for Blazers. Britton went the distance in his match, losing by a 13-10 decision against Zane Moore. With the dual won, Dominguez went the distance against Isak Elisson, winning by an 11-8 decision.
“We’ve been working on starting out strong in practice because we used to start out weak,” Dominguez said. “With everyone right next to the person, we were there with each other in a family way. The atmosphere was very strong.”
With the win, Torrington took first, with Glenrock sliding into second. Buffalo was third, edging out Newcastle/Upton, who finished fourth. Last winter, Torrington took fourth at the tournament with Natrona County snagging first over Glenrock and Laramie finishing third.
“We take the team that was young last year with not very many seniors and they stepped up and the sophomores became juniors and the juniors became seniors,” Meyer said. “I knew we had a good, solid team and it’s a marathon. We are just slowly building on it and building on it.”
The Blazers competed in a quad Tuesday in Douglas against Douglas, Wheatland and Lusk. The action concluded after press time.
“We’re focused on Douglas on Tuesday,” Meyer said after Saturday’s action. “They’re ripe for the picking and it’s literally been 15 years since we have sniffed being close to them.”
Torrington’s next action comes this weekend when they hit the road to compete in the Lander Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
