The Meeker Cowboys went four out of six in the dual tournament last weekend in Green River, Wyoming.
“Overall it was a good weekend,” began head coach JC Watt, “the tournament was competitive and that is how you get better.”
At 215 pounds Judd Harvey was the Cowboys’ top performer. Pinning his way through the weekend, he was one of two Cowboys chosen to wrestle in the Best of the Best, where he pinned again.
“Judd is just stronger than everyone he met,” commented Watt, “he showed us at the TOC [Tournament of Champions] that he can move and you can see in his decisions that he thinks about what he is going to do, sets it up and then muscles everyone around.”
Clay Crawford was the other Cowboy who was selected to wrestle in the Best of the Best. Crawford pinned all but one opponent in the regular duals.
“Clay wrestled smart and lost on the Best of the Best,” said Watt, “going 7-1 on the weekend with some good competition was fun to watch. We have a new strategy with Clay and it seems to be paying off.”
Crawford wrestled in a championship match for the first time in his high school career, saying “I thought it was pretty cool to be chosen for it and was excited to wrestle in it.” Harvey and Crawford were seeded into to the Best of the Best based on type of win at the Thoman tournament, state seeding and other factors that placed them ahead of the other 20 kids in their weight class.
Cade Blunt wrestled a Uintah kid he had previously lost to in the finals of the TOC. The match looked much different and Blunt, who only lost by one, showed he is able to adjust to different wrestling styles and adversity. Blunt won the rest of his matches in Green River.
“Cade, Buzz, and Noah all had good weeks and wrestled really smart,” said Watt.
Brendan Clatterbaugh went undefeated on the weekend but was not chosen to wrestle in Best of the Best, despite the fact he had beaten a kid that was the previous weekend by pin.
Noah LeBlanc lost one match to the heavyweight from Uintah. The match was a tight one until the end. The Uintah wrestler had pinned the rest of his opponents.
“Dawson Richardson was able to secure a pin but then got hurt and he hopefully will be back,” commented Watt.
At 106 pounds Holton Harvey wrestled his first weekend on varsity.
“We are glad he is back and he had some really good wins last weekend,” said Watt, “each win will help his confidence and I feel he will peak at the right time.”
Koy Weber continues his road of success, wrestling good matches and improving weekly. Wyatt Powers won his first ever varsity match, and Jake Blazon went 4-7.
Meeker’s JV wrestled a normal tournament that unfortunately due to weather they were unable to finish. Johnny Rust won all of his matches, Wesley Hubbard got his first win, and the team continues to grow.
This weekend the entire team travels to the Fight at the Fork in Hotchkiss, a one day tournament with 22 teams.
We missed reporting last week that Aiden Buckler won the JV tournament at the TOC.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK | Special to the Herald
