Thomas Ingraham wrestles an opponent at the Powell invitational last weekend. Ingraham took home third in his weight class.
The Saratoga Panthers Boys Wrestling team fought hard, tense matches last weekend at Powell, with two Saratoga wrestlers placing. Thomas Ingraham and Thatcher Spiering, both at 152 lbs., each placed in third and second place, respectively.
"Nothing to hang our heads about," said head coach Jared Mason, adding that Saratoga finished third as a team after Natrona and Powell, top 3A and 4A schools. "Hopefully our kids are excited and want to build on that."
Thatcher Spiering took on a returning state champ Nic Urbach. "There's five mats going on at the time and I don't think anybody was watching a different match in that whole gym," Mason said. Spiering lost 7-4 after a long tie of 4-4 when he was put in a cradle hold. His opponent was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
Jaxon King, the 120 lb. grappler, lost in the first match to a wrestler from Cody in the finals, 10-4. 126 lb. Daynon Mowry ended up getting pinned right at the end of the second period by the defending state champion from Lander.
"We had our chances. We had him taken down, on his back, had a pretty good lead but then we get caught ourselves and couldn't get off our backs," said Mason, noting that the loss, disappointing for Mowry, was the culmination of a well-wrestled match with a very tough opponent.
Bradley Bifano, 145 lb., lost against Chance Karst from Powell, a strong wrestler with two state championships. "He beat Bradley 16-6, which may not sound like much, but against a multi-state champ, we frustrated him. He was upset at the end of the match because he couldn't pin Bradley," Mason said.
Trezdon Martinez and Tristan Gray, the two freshmen on the team, both picked up wins at the weekend tournament, which was their first. They make up the junior varsity team.
Moving forward, Mason said getting in shape and staying in shape despite the holidays is a focus as well as conditioning and drilling. This week, the team heads off to Hanna to face the Miners, North Park and Rawlins on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. and the Kremmling Invitation on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.
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