I was really proud of how our kids competed at state. We started rough and had some matches that didn’t go our way. However, we have a saying with our team – ‘Go get the next best thing’ – and our kids stepped up and were able to wrestle back.”

Coach Brandon Gifford

CASPER – An intense weekend of wrestling culminated in a sixth-place finish for the combined Lingle-Fort Laramie/Southeast (LFL/SE) boys wrestling team at the 2A state championships in Casper on Saturday, March 1.

LFL/SE moved up to sixth place on the team leaderboard in a field of 20 schools with 123.5 team points.

Senior Nathan Fish rewrote history when he clinched his fourth state championship, claiming the 120-pound title on Saturday (see story on page B1).

“There are not enough words to describe the elation and joy I have for Nathan and his incredible accomplishment of being the 30th athlete ever to win four state titles,” coach Brandon Gifford said. “Nathan does things the right way on and off the mat and it is a testament to his commitment to excellence that he has accomplished this goal. I was honored to be a part of that history and blessed to get to work with an incredible young man.”

Senior Louden Bremer captured bronze in the 165-pound bracket after battling his way back through the consolation semis.

Three LFL/SE wrestlers advanced to fourth place – freshman Kaiden Hill at 113-pounds, senior Emmett Coxbill at 215 pounds and junior Colter McFarlin at 285.

Senior Alec DeMarce clinched fifth place at 190 pounds. Sixth-place finishes included senior Carter Blevins at 175 pounds and freshman DeAngelo Gann in the 215-pound classification.

“I was really proud of how our kids competed at state,” Gifford added. “We started rough and had some matches that didn’t go our way. However, we have a saying with our team – ‘Go get the next best thing’ – and our kids stepped up and were able to wrestle back. That is a testament to our kids’ work ethic and commitment to their goals. Things won’t always go our way and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity is an important skill that our athletes have.”

Match by match

In the 165-pound quarterfinals, Bremer fought Rocky Mountain’s Triffen Jolley through three periods to win by a 9-1 major decision.

After falling in the semis, Bremer blasted back to pin Jacob Anderson of Moorcroft at 55 seconds in the consolation semifinals.

The third-place match found Bremer stepping onto the mats against Moorcroft’s Brady Garoutte, a rival Bremer came up short against at regionals the previous week. Bremer battled Garoutte through three close periods before triumphing by a 3-0 decision to bag bronze.

Hill commenced the tournament by pinning Tryan Rieder of Wind River at 2:26 in the 113-pound quarterfinals.

Hill fell in the semifinals but dug deep to rally in the consolation semifinals and take down Moorcroft’s Marcus Reynolds by a 15-9 decision.

Advancing to the quarterfinals at 215 pounds, Coxbill took down Haeden Blair of Thermopolis at 1:35.

Coxbill fell in the semifinals but turned the tables in the consolation semifinals with a pin against DeAngelo Gann. 

McFarlin scrapped his way through the consolation rounds at 285 pounds with a pin, a win by a 5-0 decision and a bye after coming up short in the opening round.

Moving up to the consolation semifinals, McFarlin pinned Wyoming Indian High School’s Roland Burton at 2:00.

The third-place match between McFarlin and Wind River’s Anthony Musalem came down to the wire with McFarlin falling by a narrow 5-1 decision.

DeMarce made a comeback in the consolation bracket for 190 pounds with two pins after coming up short in the quarterfinals.

In the fifth-place match, DeMarce defeated Wright’s Keon Norris by pin with 1:09 remaining on the clock.

Blevins won the second consolation round in the 175-pound bracket by pinning Wind River’s Logan Jensen six seconds into the second period.

The third consolation match between Blevins and Justen Foster of Hulett was close with Blevins winning by ultimate tie breaker, 6-3.

At 215 pounds, Gann beat Big Piney’s Cache Hall by a 4-0 decision in the second consolation round before pinning William Torres of Rocky Mountain at 31 seconds in the third period of the third consolation match.

Freshman Rico Ramirez collected three team points for LFL/SE at 106 pounds while fellow freshman Garrett Henderson tallied two points at 126-pounds.