CASPER – Brock Blevins and Tate Carson came up short in their bids for individual state championships on Saturday evening at the Casper Events Center for the Southeast High School wrestling team.
“We just got beat in these (championship) matches, but we had some matches in the tournament that we won in the last seconds and some we lost,” Cyclone coach Mark Bullington said. “That’s just the way it is up here. It’s another beast.”
Blevins rolled through the first three rounds of action with a trio of pins.
He knocked off Glenrock’s Josie Bruno, Lovell’s Cardon Mickelson and Thermopolis’ Austin Ireland.
In the championship match, Blevins squared off with Glenrock’s Tate Stoddard.
Stoddard made quick work of Blevins, pinning him in a minute and 10 seconds into the bout. The win capped off Stoddard’s career with his fourth individual state championship.
Meanwhile Carson, was pinned in the second period. He was down 11-1 when Cokeville’s Brayden Johnson finished off Carson with 52 seconds left in the period.
Carson reached the title bout following a first round bye and a pin of Lovell’s Kelly Powell and a 6-3 decision over Big Piney’s Justin Seeman.
Will Baker, Brady Tosh and Kaden Brothwell also placed for the Cyclones.
Baker capped his weekend off with a third-place finish in the 285-pound bracket with a pin over Hulett’s Sheldon Jolley.
Baker also had wins over Rocky Mountain’s Colter Thormahlen and Wind River’s Cole Barrett – both by pins.
Tosh also finished third with a 3-2 record.
Tosh reached the semifinal round with an opening round fall over Wright’s Ethan Mack and an 8-4 decision over Thermopolis’ Chance Watt.
After the semifinal round loss, he rebounded with an 11-7 decision over Niobrara County’s Pacen Gifford and a pin over Wind River’s Own McAdams.
In the 106-pound bracket, Kaden Brothwell ended his weekend with a win in the fifth-place match.
He topped Rocky Mountains’s Ethan Crawford with a pin in the second period.
Greg Logsdon (132 pounds), and Ryan Clapper (126) also picked up wins for Southeast but didn’t place.
“We have to get stronger. That’s the bottom line,” Bullington said. “That’s something you can control. You can’t control the other guy, but you can control your own. That’s something we have to work on.”
The Cyclones finished eighth with 102 points. Moorcroft won the team championship with 185, while Kemmerer was second with 181. Glenrock was third with 155.
“We have all but one coming back. You can’t rest on your Laurels here,” Bullington said. “You have to come back and work hard. No one gives you anything up here.”
