Warriors falter on final day of regional tournament

WHEATLAND - Starting the final day of the 3A East regional tournament in Wheatland, the Worland Warriors were sitting in first place and within reach of checking off their goal of a regional championship.

Having 10 wrestlers in the semifinals, the Warriors were in excellent position but things would not break their way as Worland would finish fourth. To make matters worse, and what might have been a bad omen, the Warriors also lost 113-pound freshman Daniel Weyrich to injury during warmups.

"We didn't wrestle our best on Saturday," said WHS wrestling coach Josh Garcia. "We started our morning with Daniel (Weyrich) breaking his leg. So that's not how you'd like to start your morning but we ended up getting 4 of our 10 in the finals. It's one of those deals and it's tough with it being at the regional tournament. The great thing about it is that our kids can work hard for another week and hopefully turn things around for the state tournament."

Winning a regional championship was Morgan Tigner at 220 pounds. Tigner beat Rawlins' Cutter Foster by a 10-0 major decision.

"We had him at the heavyweight to start the year. We anticipated getting Nathan Kern back at some point in the season so Morgan cut weight and got to 220 weight class. By doing so it has given him a whole another chance at winning a title and he's worked really hard at it. He's progressed real nicely and we're looking for big things out of him this coming weekend," said Garcia about Tigner's season to this point.

Also making the finals for Worland were 106 pounds, Domanic Hartley, who was pinned by Wheatland's Wyatt Guty; 195 pounds, Alex Beck, who lost by pin to Buffalo's Tanner Verplancke; and 285 pounds, Nathan Kern, who was pinned by Newcastle/Upton's Bryce Womack.

Having the regional title in sight, the Warriors as a team were frustrated that they allowed for the opportunity to escape.

"They were disappointed in their performance as well. It just goes to show that in our sport, or any sport, you can have a good performance one week then come the next week have a letdown. Coming off the big win vs. Powell I think we got a little complacent. Now we're looking to put in some good days of practice and wrestle hard at the state tournament," said Garcia.

Wrestling for the Warriors at the 3A state tournament at the Casper events will be, 106 pounds Domanic Hartley (second at regionals), 113 pounds Paysen Curtis (sixth at regionals), 120 pounds Vance Curtis (seventh at regionals), 126 pounds Buck Butterfield (eighth at regionals), 132 pounds Hayden Johnston (fifth at regionals), 138 pounds Christian Beccaria (sixth at regionals), 145 pounds Milo Vega (seventh at regionals), 145 pounds Talon Lloyd (fifth at regionals), 160 pounds Peyton Woffinden (sixth at regionals), 170 pounds JR Hofmann (fourth at regionals), 170 pounds Trae Burgess (sixth at regionals), 182 pounds Quentin McBee (eighth at regionals), 182 pounds Gabe Cardenas (fifth at regionals), 195 pounds Alex Beck (second at regionals), 195 pounds Cameron Caberett (fifth at regionals), 220 pounds Morgan Tigner (first at regionals) and 285 pounds Nathan Kern (second at regionals).

As far as the Warriors approach for the state tournament, Garcia wants his wrestlers to forget what's happened to this point, good or bad. He wants them to focus on wrestling their best and take it one match at a time.

"Anything can happen at the state tournament. Everyone's record at state is 0-0, so to speak, that's how we're going to approach the tournament. It doesn't matter if you're the No. 1-seed or aren't even seeded. In years past I've seen No. 1-seeds get upset or a No. 5-seed make the finals. So that's what we're going to tell our kids all week long, you have to make the most of it because there is no tomorrow. We have to wrestle tough all weekend long and if we do that we'll be OK," said Garcia.

The goal for the Warriors at state is to aim for a state title or at the very least crack the top 3 of teams.

"We always want to be in the hunt for a state title or at the least be in the top three. It's a goal of ours and if we wrestle well, hopefully, we can achieve that goal," said Garcia.

The state tournament will being Friday at 9 a.m. at the Casper Events Center.