Miner grapplers make headway

Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) wrestling went to the Saratoga Quad on Friday and Rawlins Rumble on Saturday. Head coach Lyle Richardson was happy with his wrestlers' efforts this weekend.

"We had two kids out with injuries this weekend, Seth Blakeman and David Cruz," Richardson said. "As I continue to say, we can't measure this team's success on wins or losses."

He said Charlee Solaas continues to impress him as a girl high school wrestler.

"She made it down to wrestle at 126 on Saturday," Richardson said. "She is trying new things that we have worked on and is getting better each week for her efforts."

He said similar things about Adrian King who was wrestling in the 138 weight class.

"Adrian continues to grow as a wrestler and is not as timid as he once was and is starting to believe in the weight room and the results that can be made from that work," Richardson said. "He competed the best he has all season."

Josh Curtis and Dade Thackston both wrestled up a weight class to make a more complete squad Richardson said.

"Dade had a good weekend as he continues to wrestle a somewhat unorthodox style," Richardson said. "Dade is crazy athletic and explosive, but he is still learning to put together consistency. He got his first win on Friday night and put together some exciting moments over the weekend."

Thackston wrestled in the 152 weight class, as did Curtis.

"Josh wrestled up and is consistently our most determined wrestler," Richardson said. "But, like the others, he is still gaining confidence."

Joseph Borah saw his first action in Rawlins for the first time in weeks. He wrestles in the 182 weight class.

"Joe was competitive but somewhat out of shape," Richardson said. "He won a match against Rawlins in our dual, but lost a couple close matches due to conditioning, but that is something we can fix. Joseph is a competitor."

He said Nathan Roberts continues to try his best wrestling at the 132 weight class.

Richardson hopes to have his injured wrestlers back in the near future.

"All in all, I'm still seeing good things as this is a fairly inexperienced team," Richardson concluded.

The next scheduled tournament is the Carbon Invite on Feb. 8-9 in Saratoga.