Despite three individual champions, two runners-up and seven overall placers, the Kemmerer High School boys’ wrestling team fell just short in their bid for a third consecutive 2A State Wrestling Championship in Casper over the weekend, as Moorcroft won the team team title by a 33-point margin over the defending champs.
“I thought we wrestled well,” said head coach Darrell Bullington. “I thought we’d need to place probably 10 wrestlers to win it – we ended up with seven. We had a really bad blood round, where we lost all five matches, most of the freshmen. If we had gotten two or three in there, we might have had a shot at it. But I’m happy with how the kids wrestled.”
On the girls’ side, the Lady Rangers finished one spot higher than last season in the second iteration of the WHSAA Girls State Wrestling Championships, placing fourth out of 42 teams, with four of the five wrestlers competing earning a spot on the podium, including one champion in Kaylie Julander, a pair of runners-up in Laynee Walker and Lynsie Julander and a third-place finisher in Riley Meyer.
“The girls, man – their goal was to bring home a trophy, and they almost did it,” Bullington said. “I was really happy with the way they wrestled.”
Rangers
Seven Rangers total earned a trip to the podium, with five advancing to the championship match in their respective weight classes. When it was all said and done, Roany Proffit (126 pounds), Gabe Emery (157 pounds) and Owen Barton (215 pounds) were crowned champions, while Graison Kelley (165 pounds) and Braxton Pope (175 pounds) finished as runners-up.
Graison had a really close, disappointing loss in the finals,” Bullington said. “We were ahead, it came down to the last few seconds. But you gotta wrestle the whole match. I was really pleased with Braxton Pope, coming in and getting into the finals, wrestling a close match.”
It was the third state title for Proffit, first for Emery – a 3-time State runner-up – and Barton.
Other Rangers that made the podium included Abel Jimenez (4th, 106 pounds) and Tanner Schramm (3rd, 190 pounds).
“I was really happy for Abel, who didn’t even place last week in our region, to come back and score 18 points for us,” Bullington said. “A lot of our freshmen scored points for us, and were just one match away from making a good run at it.”
As a team, Kemmerer finished runner-up with a score of 203; Moorcroft took the top spot with a score of 236. Lingle-Ft. Laramie/Southeast was third with 174 points, while Big Piney (160) narrowly edged out Thermopolis (159 points) for fourth.
Proffit squared off with Upton’s Jackson East in the 126-pound championship final, pinning East in the second round to claim his third consecutive state title.
“It feels amazing to know I’m one step closer to leveling with all of the outstanding four-timers,” he said. “This one was a lot more challenging mentally, because I had to stay focused, and I knew that people had their sights set on beating me.”
Profitt posted pins over Jesse Brown (Greybull/Riverside), Trey Breen (Tongue River) and Tucker Carricato (Saratoga) to advance to the 126-pound title match.
“Overall, the tournament went fairly smoothly, and helped me gain steam as the rounds progressed,” Proffit explained. “As the tournament went on, I was able to witness several upsets, which drove me to go out and attack every second I was on the mat to keep my opponents from getting time to think, or gain momentum on the scoreboard.”
At 157 pounds, Emery – the perennial runner-up – had everything working for him to win his first state title in impressive fashion, pinning Thermopolis’ Samuel Skelton in the second round to claim the championship.
“I feel a strong feeling of gratitude for what I have accomplished,” Emery said. “Finally achieving my greatest goal has felt surreal. I felt proud of myself for believing that I was a state champion, and that it would happen someday. It took four times, but it was well worth all the good and hard times throughout my career.”
Like Proffit, Emery won all four of his state matches by pin, his toughest match coming against longtime rival Micah Petersen, from Cokeville. Emery lost to Petersen in the 145-pound Championship Final last year, and the two have gone back and forth this season. Emery and Petersen squared off for a final time in the semifinals Friday, with Emery winning the match by pin in the final seconds of the third round.
“I believe my motivation to win was fed by Petersen, and that he made me push myself beyond my limits,” Emery said of his rival. “He’s a great wrestler, and I respect him. As far as beating him in the semis goes, I had proven to myself what I was capable of, and that was my greatest feeling of the tournament.”
“Gabe had a tough road to get that championship, but he came through,” Bullington said. “I was really happy for him.”
At 215 pounds, Barton pinned Saratoga’s Atom Lindsey in less than 30 seconds to open the tournament, then advanced to the semifinals courtesy of a forfeit. The talented junior then squared off against a pair of Lovell wrestlers en route to the title, pinning Kalell Gruell in 34 seconds, and winning a 3-1 decision over Rosendo Garcia for the championship. The match with Garcia was tied 1-1 with just seconds left in regulation – and appeared to be headed to overtime – before Barton scored a last-second takedown for the win.
“In the match against Garcia, I focused on wrestling smart, and staying in a good position,” Barton said. “He’s made it to the finals the last three years, so I knew he was going to come out with everything he had. I was prepared to go into overtime, because I knew my conditioning was better than his. But he ended up taking a shot, and I was able to capitalize and score in the last few seconds.”
Though losing the team title was a bit of a disappointment, Proffit said he was happy to see his two teammates have their moment in the spotlight.
“Of course it came as a disappointment that we couldn’t get a third team title, but it was great to watch Gabe, who was much deserving, get his first state title,” he said. “I’ve always been a big believer in Owen, because he is a close friend of mine, and had some bad luck throughout the years. It was exciting to watch two great wrestlers leave it all out there and ride to the top.”
Barton agreed.
“While winning an individual title was a great experience, I wanted to be able to get another team title for Coach Bullington,” he said. “Although we didn’t accomplish the goal of state champions, we had a great season, and have great relationships between teammates, coaches and everyone else who supports the team.”
Other Ranger wrestlers who competed at state included Brace Vickrey (150 pounds), Hunter Batista (120 pounds), Heston McMillan (126 pounds), Logan Emery (132 pounds), Noah Parks (138 pounds), Cole Rogers (138 pounds), Michael Symons (144 pounds), Bridger Anderson (175 pounds) and Aaron Despain (285 pounds).
Lady Rangers
Year two of sanctioned girls’ wrestling in the state of Wyoming proved to be just as popular as year one, and with the WHSAA Girls State Wrestling Championships integrated with the boys’ event this year, the Ford Wyoming Center was at near-capacity for all three days of competition.
Much like the Ron Thon Tournament in Riverton, the state tournament featured an all-class bracket, featuring 42 teams from around the state. The Kemmerer High School girls’ wrestling team had an outstanding tournament, placing fourth overall as a team, with four of its five wrestlers earning a spot on the podium.
Placing four with just five girls – one who’s a foreign exchange student, who’s never wrestled before – that was pretty impressive,” Bullington said. “And they work just as hard as the boys – they’re doing the same stuff we do in practice. They really worked hard for it.”
Star Valley won the team title with 163 points, followed by Pinedale with 107 points and Sheridan with 106 points. Kemmerer was fourth with 96 points, while Wind River rounded out the Top 5 with 95 points.
Kaylie Julander became the Lady Rangers’ first State Champion in program history, posting a 4-0 record, and winning her first three matches by pin. Against Wind River’s Maggie Jensen in the finals, Julander won a 13-1 major decision to claim the championship.
Lady Rangers Laynee Walker at 120 pounds and Lynsie Julander at 145 pounds also advanced to the championship match in their respective weight classes.
Walker pinned three straight opponents – including Star Valley’s Keston Johnson in the semifinals – setting up a rematch of last week’s regional title match with Jackson’s Tai McBride. Walker battled but couldn’t find an answer for the undefeated McBride, losing by pin in the third round.
At 145 pounds, Lynsie Julander won a 7-3 decision over Kelly Walsh’s Skylee Gangwish in the semifinals to earn her spot in the title match. Against Star Valley’s Cara Andrews, Julander also battled hard until the third round, before losing by pin.
Riley Meyer rounded out the Lady Rangers’ placers, taking third at 100 pounds. After losing a heartbreaker to Upton’s Caden Simianer in the semifinals, Meyer battled back in the consolation round, pinning Worland’s Cerenity Quintana in the consolation semis and dominating South’s Trinity Warner to finish third.
Fatima Gulalai lost a pair of tough decisions at 120 pounds to finish 0-2 for the tournament.
