Panther wrestlers top Cowboys

RBC — Last Thursday, BMS wrestlers traveled to Rangely to face their intra-county rivals, the Rangely Panthers.
BMS seventh-grade standout, 70-pounder J.C. Henderson, got things started with a quick pin over a tough Blade Rose.
At 100 pounds, BMS’ Zach Williams continued the early roll with a pin over Lucas Heinle.
Rangely started gaining back ground at 120 pounds when Luke Noel pinned Willis Begay and Collen Coombs pinned Dylan Mobley to even the team scores at 12.
At 130 pounds, Rangely’s Dillon McTauge pinned Lathrop Hughes, and at 135 Chaz Byerly of Rangely pinned Junior Lujan.
An exciting 140-pound match saw Rangely’s Gabe Garcia decision Meeker’s Kevin Eli.
At 145, BMS’ Scott Smith turned things for Meeker with a pin over a tough Toby Gasper, before Rangely’s Alex Richen at 155 sealed the deal with a 12-5 decision over Meeker’s only girl wrestler, Ohana Mataia.
A pin at 165 for BMS eighth-grader J.R. Crawford over Rangely’s Bryson Palacios finalized the team score at 28-26 Rangely over Meeker.
In exhibition matches, Lucas Heinle (R) pinned Aaron Cochran (M), Ryan Wilzek (R) pinned Lathrop Hughes, Trevor Brown (R) dec. Kevin Eli (M) 7-5 and Scott Smith (M) dec. Walker Smutz 8-2.
Rangely coach Jeff LeBleu summed it up by saying, “It was a fun dual and we came out with no injuries. It was just fun and we’ll see them again next week.”
BMS coach Adam Hoatson said, “We hurt ourselves as a team this week. We’ll have to come together if we expect to do better next week.”
On Saturday, both teams traveled to Oak Creek for another tournament that ended with a fifth-place finish for the Panthers and a respectable sixth for the BMS Cowboys.
Rangely crowned one champion, Colton Coombs. Coombs cruised his way through the 125-pound bracket, while teammate Chaz Byerly at 135 finished a close second.
At 135 pounds Dillon McTauge and 165 pounds Bryson Palacios finished third. The fourth-place finishers for Rangely were 105 pounds Lucas Heinle, 145 pounds Toby Gasper and 155 pounds Alex Richens.
Also contributing for the Panthers but not placing were: 70 pounds Blade Rose, 135 pounds Trevor Brown, and 145 pounders Heath Peters, Shawn Hairston, Walker Smutz and Gabe Garcia.
The BMS Cowboys were led by the 80-pound champion J.C. Henderson. Henderson started his championship match with a quick takedown and back points in the first period only to have his West Park opponent turn things around and go ahead in the second.
Henderson struggled through the third to come from behind and turn his opponent with his signature tilt for back points and the win.
After his match, Henderson said, “My grandpa told me when you do something, do it right the first time.”
Henderson’s record for the year is now 9-2.
Heavyweight J.R. Crawford let one slip away in the finals to finish in second place and push his record to 11-2.
Finishing an impressive third for the Cowboys was Willis Begay at 115 pounds, who is now 5-4 for the season.
Other notable finishes saw Ohana Mataia get her first win at 155, while teammates Zach Williams, Scott Smith, Aaron Cochran, Dylan Mobley and Lathrop Hughes contributed to the team’s sixth-place finish.