RANGELY | This weekend the Rangely Panther wrestling team competed in their first tournament of the year. Friday they dualed the Soroco Rams coming away with 54-6 victory.
“The Rams gave up a lot of weights,” commented head coach JC Chumacero, “but we out-wrestled them, which is what we look for in a dual like this.”
Kobey Chism at 132 pounds, Zane Varner (152), Alex Black (160), and Braxton Moore (145) all came away with wins by pin. Colton Stevens (132) won a close match winning 4-3. Brent Cantrell (182) and Izaiah Moody (132) came up short of wins.
“The next morning the Panthers wrestled in their first bracketed tournament in which Chumacero commented that “the young men performed very well.”
Moody and Cantrell came up short of wins in the tournament.
“These guys are wrestling hard and with a lot of heart,” said Chumacero. “They just have a few small adjustments to make in order to close out those close matches.”
Landon Carlson and Moore both ended their day with a 2-2 record and 4th place finishes.
Landon Carlson | GAYLE ZIMMERMAN PHOTO
“Landon really turned a switch on this weekend,” commented Chumacero, “I think he discovered how much fun it is to get his hand raised, and I know he will continue to work at making that happen more often. Braxton also had a good day and is starting to turn it on.”
Aydan Christian finished his day 1-1.
“He got ill early in the morning and just wasn’t performing to his full potential,” said Chumacero, “We decided it was best for him to get home and get some rest. His win still got him to end the day with a 4th place finish.”
Chism finished with a 2-1 record and a 3rd place finish.
Kobey Chism | GAYLE ZIMMERMAN PHOTO
“This young man sat for about 4 hours before his first match,” commented Chumacero. “This is hard on the body as it just doesn’t stay ready to go. I think we learned from a close semi finals loss though. He dominated the rest of the day.”
Kasen LeBleu went 1-2 and also finished with a 3rd.
“He improved a lot from last weekend,” said Chumacero of LeBleu.
Kasen LeBleu | GAYLE ZIMMERMAN PHOTO
Stevens wrestled his best tournament of his high school career so far, finishing the day 2-1 and a second place.
“He wrestled smart all day and couldn’t be more proud to see his work pay off,” commented Chumacero.
Seniors Varner, Black, and Byron Mackay all came away with first place finishes.
“Zane dominated all day going 3-0 and pinned his way through the tournament,” continuing with the top finishers Chumacero says, “Alex impressed once again going 3-0 winning smart technical matches, and Mackay had only one kid in his respective weight class this weekend. This means the best 2 out of three rule, comes into play. Byron didn’t leave any question as he defeated his opponent twice by pin,”
Wrapping up, Chumacero says, “I am extremely impressed by the Panther Wrestling Team this weekend. Everyone wrestled with a lot of heart and desire to win. Their hard work is paying off.”
As a team the Panthers finished in third place in the tournament behind Hayden and Steamboat. Next weekend the Panthers will compete in West Grand Duals Friday at 5 P.M. and in the West Grand tournament the next day starting at 9 A.M.
Special to the Herald Times
