Panthers finish second in Northwest League tourney

RANGELY — The Rangely wrestling team traveled to Kremmling last Saturday for the Northwest League tournament.
The Panthers advanced eight into the championship round and five into the consolation championships.
I thought we did not wrestle up to our ability in some matches. We lost several matches by two points or less, these close matches are the ones we need to find a way to win. But all in all we fared OK.
At 103 Chance Peters placed fourth, and Chad Petersen wrestled well but did not place. At 112, Ryan Petty won two very key matches over Meeker and Paonia and was crowned champion.
At 119 Blake Wanstedt took second place; Wanstedt was beaten by the No. 1 ranked kid in the state.
At 125 Devon Rose continues to bring home the brackets. Rose easily won the weight class.
At 130 JC Chumacero lost two key matches but also won some to place fourth.
At 135 Cole Barlow lost a heartbreaker to Doll of Meeker, but Cole came back strong and defeated a Paonia opponent for a third place finish.
At 140 Brandon Gray wrestled up a weight to fill a void in the Panther lineup. Gray wrestled very well and brought home a second place, as did Ryan Cramer at 145.
Also at 145, Logan Osborne won two very exciting matches to bring home a third place.
At 152 Christian Holcomb advanced to the finals but was defeated. Holcomb also placed second.
Also at 152, Jake Smith wrestled two hard fought matches but did not place.
At 171 Keane Raley advanced to the finals and also placed second.
Butterbean Dillon wrestled hard all day long and lost a close one, but he did manage to place third.
At heavyweight, converted basketball star Kindal Cushman won his second high school tournament of his career.
The Panthers were not at full strength for the tournament and hopefully we get can get healthy before regionals.