Carrell wins first girl state championship for Worland

Making history at the state girls wrestling tournament last week in Casper, Worland's Rivers Carrell became the first-ever girl state champion for the Worland High School wrestling program.

"It's the best feeling I've ever had," said Carrell after winning the 125-pound weight class state championship.

On her way to becoming a state champion, Carrell pinned Star Valley's Malia Allred in the first round. In the quarterfinals, she won a 6-2 decision over Jordan Nielsen of Lander Valley. Advancing to the semifinals, she pinned Eliza Clegg of Lyman in the second period.

With a state championship on the line, Carrell faced Lily Harris of Green River. From the opening whistle, Carrell controlled the match, and in the final seconds of the second period. She flipped Harris on her back and pinned her with four seconds remaining in the period.

"What an exciting match. She wrestled a great state tournament, and you couldn't have asked for better," said WHS wrestling coach Josh Garcia. "She was lights out in the semifinals and dominated that championship match from start to finish. She's a great leader. It says a lot for the program as a whole to bring home a state champion, especially the first-ever girl state champion."

Garcia was also impressed with how Carrell stayed in good position throughout that championship match.

"We talk about staying in good position and dominating from start to finish every day in our room. Rivers did a nice job on her feet and never let Harris get in good position. Then Rivers took her from her feet to her back, and she definitely wasn't expecting that. When Rivers did it, it was just perfect.

"For us and our staff, it's a one-of-a-kind. It's such a good thing to bring home a state champ, especially on our female side. Rivers doing that is going to set the tone for our program because you can come into our program and achieve any goal you want," said Garcia.

Last season, Carrell was on the first-ever girls wrestling team for the inaugural girls wrestling season. Carrell also made history when she became one of the first all-stater wrestlers for Worland girls wrestling, along with teammate Lecsi Ramirez.

Losing in the championship match last season was an added boost of motivation for Carrell this season.

Wrestling at 130 for most of this season, Carrell dropped to 125 for the postseason, which paid off well.

"Two weeks before regionals, I decided to switch weight classes. It was super challenging, and I had to cut pretty hard. I felt really weak at regionals and was questioning myself. But this was my last year, that was my last match. I gave it my all, and it paid off," said Carrell.

Throughout her championship run at state and in the waiting moments before the championship match, Carrell kept her dad's words, Dalyn Carrell, who was also her coach and volunteer coach for Worland this season, rooted to her mindset.

"My dad is a huge part of my mindset. I get really stressed out, and his saying for this tournament was 'calm and confident.' I just tried to live by that. I was pretty nervous because it was a long face-off, but I just tried to stay calm and confident," said Carrell.

Becoming the first-ever girl state champion for Worland and what that meant, Carrell's response was short and full of joy, "Badass!" she said.

Along with Carrell, the Lady Warriors had two other wrestlers place at state.

At 125 pounds Rylee Anderson finished sixth. A senior, Anderson closed out her Worland wrestling career as a state placer. She's also the only wrestler to have wrestled with the boys, before there was a girls division, and the girls division, once that was created last year.

"I'm really proud of Rylee. State didn't go like she wanted but she did well. She's the only wrestler to have wrestled on the boys side and jump into the girls side. I got to give her kudos for that. When there wasn't a girls side, she was still a part of our program and team. She's a state placer and can walk off with no regrets," said Garcia.

Freshman Cerenity Quintana finished fifth in the 100-pound weight class for Worland, pinning Bree Padilla of Cheyenne East in the fifth-place match.

"Cerenity, for a freshman at 100 pounds, did not care who she wrestled. She had a you're-not-going-to-stop-me mentality. Two of those matches stick out to me because she was down and came out of those with wins. She left it all out there, and I couldn't be more proud of what she accomplished. She's going to be one that girls will look up to in the girls program. One year of wrestling, and she's a state placer," said Garcia.

For the Warriors, Kade Garcia was the team's only placer at state. Garcia pinned Garrett Redden of Mountain View to take fifth in the 3A 106-pound weight class.

As a coach and father, seeing his son become a state placer in his freshman season was a rewarding moment for Coach Garcia.

"It's tough to talk about your own son, but as his coach, I was proud of what he accomplished. He cut hard. I felt that too, living with him because we're all down a few pounds," said Garcia. "I'm super excited for him. He should be proud of what he's accomplished, making the quarterfinals and becoming a state placer. He wrestled well in the state tournament, and sometimes, that's all you need. He's going to be able to build off of that and also not have any regrets about wrestling at that weight class."

See next week's edition of the Northern Wyoming News for the season wrap-up on the Worland wrestling.