Panther Wrestling finishes strong at state

The state wrestling finals were the culmination of many struggles, triumphs and memories for the Saratoga Panthers last weekend when the Panthers overcame a tough first day and wrestled back to ultimately place six of the nine wrestlers that qualified for the state tournament according to head coach Jared Mason. The Panthers realized their goal of placing in the top 10 with a ninth place finish overall.

Leading the way were senior Hunter Mason and junior Thatcher Spiering with third place medals. They were also recognized by WyoWrestling.com as Academic All-State. The Academic All-State honor was given to only 14 of the 252 all-class medalists. Mason and Spiering were chosen for the honor by placing at state and maintaining a 4.0 grade point average, making them, "not only studs on the mat, but studs in the classroom," Mason said.

On Friday, H. Mason, in the 152 weight class, won his first match against Anthony Petersen, of Cokeville, but suffered a tough loss to Hunter Angel, of Sundance. Spiering began with two convincing pins over Cole Mellot, of Niobrara County and Michael Bowman, of Rocky Mountain earning him a spot in the 145 weight class semi-finals against three-time state champion James Teichert where Spiering was set on delivering an upset for the ages for the thousands in attendance at the Casper Events Center. Spiering wasn't able to fulfill his dream, but nonetheless showed an impressive effort in his 5-3 loss to Teichert. Teichert would go on to win an impressive fourth state title becoming the 17th wrestler in Wyoming history to achieve the feat.

Wyatt Carricato in the 113 weight class lost by fall to Kole Schell, of Moorcroft, at 3:05; Kyle Bartlett fell to Adolfo Hernandez from Shoshoni at 5:48 in the 138 weight class, and Marshal Hill lost by fall to Devin Fenus, of Lyman at 1:17 in the 152 weight class.

All three lost their consolation rounds as well, but wrestled hard to the bitter end and never gave up.

The Panthers held their heads high like true champions on Saturday and wrestled back hard. H. Mason was not to be denied and won by pin over Jacob Cushman, of Southeast, and Justin Smith, of Rocky Mountain, before clashing in an epic battle of will and determination against Austin Guyman, of Lyman, in the consolation semi-finals match. Neither wrestler was able to score a takedown in the first period and Mason lost the flip in the second period and was forced to take the bottom position, but with amazing quickness and resolve fought for and won a one-point escape then managed to ride out Guyman for the entire two-minute period to win 1-0. Mason then faced off with Rowdy Cranston, of Moorcroft, in the third place match and won at 1:39 with a strong arm bar and tight half nelson to take the third place medal and "end his senior year and wrestling career in style," coach Mason said.

Spiering also came out strong on Saturday winning by major decision 13-1 over Orion Smith, of Wright, and dominated Ruger Lewis, of Burns, with a speedy takedown and several nearfall points to chalk up a 13-0 lead before pinning Lewis at 2:50 to claim his third place medal.

Daynon Mowry finished his very successful junior season with a fourth place medal in the 126 weight class after wrestling his way up to the third place match versus his nemesis, Jayson Bowen, of Cokeville, where Mowry came up just short with a final score of 4-5. "[Mowry] had a heck of a season and I'm excited to have him come back next year," Mason said.

Chaze Wiant, took fifth place in the 138 weight class after several highs and lows in the tournament that started with a quick pin on Riley Ross, of Niobrara County, and a 6-2 lead against Tyler Lindquist, of Rocky Mountain, that lasted late into the third period where Wiant was caught and pinned in the final seconds. Saturday, Wiant was on a mission with wins over Levi McAdams, of Big Piney, and Shay Bond, of Rocky Mountain, before being stopped by Wyatt Rising, of Moorcroft, to put Wiant into the fifth place match.

Thomas Ingraham fought through a severely painful knee injury to place fifth with a win by fall over C.J. Hamilton of Big Piney and a 7-0 decision over Justin Smith, of Rocky Mountain, before being stopped in the semi-finals match against Hunter Angel where he aggravated his knee injury. Ingraham pushed through the pain on Saturday in his consolation semi-final loss to Rowdy Cranston but wrestled back with a will to win attitude in his 8-5 victory over Austin Guyman, of Lyman, and took home a much-deserved win to finish his season with the fifth place medal in the 138 weight class.

"Talk about toughness, holy smokes, he just dug in and had to battle every match ... It might be a fifth place medal, but what a medal to win in a very tough weight class," Mason said.

Saratoga freshman Jaxon King, finished on the podium in fifth place for the 126 class after a tough 3-2 victory over Greybull's Luis Burgos. Placing at the state tournament is very difficult and something very few freshman get to experience. "Only eight of the 84 medals won this year were won by freshman," said coach Mason of King's stellar freshman season.

"It's such a tough sport," Mason said about his admiration for this year's wrestlers, "these kids worked their tails off to have a chance to excel in front of thousands of people here at state. Hopefully they built some character along the way, but I've got some classy kids here and it's been a great season working with them and it's icing on the cake to have such a great second day here."

Editor's note: Jared Mason contributed to this article.