Miners progressing

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School wrestling team went to two events last week where the team tested itself against many teams.

The first event was on January 9 at the North Park Tri in Colorado.

The HEM wrestlers who went to this were Howard Bame, Thomas Wagner, Charlee Solaas, Andrew Scott, and David Cruz.

HEM head wrestling coach Robert Riddle was happy with his grapplers in general.

“As a team they wrestled well,” Riddle said. “None gave up and wrestled hard.”

Riddle acknowledged some wrestlers had a hard time.

“Howard had two tough matches wrestling out of his weight class,” Riddle said. “He scored points in both but came up short in both.”

Wagner did well in his coach’s eyes.

“Thomas looked good in both of his matches,” Riddle said. “He held his own against North Park’s senior. He lasted into the third period. Tom’s second went as the first but he never gave up and fought hard.”

Riddle said his lone female wrestler was improving.

“Charlee made it to the third period of her match, fighting off her back several times,” Riddle said. “Her second match was a bit shorter, getting pinned in the first period.”

Riddle was happy about Scott getting more experience on the mat.

“Andrew looked good in both his matches. He finished both but came up short on points,” Riddle said. “He has a nagging injury but has kept fighting through it. More mat time will help Andrew down the road.”

Cruz did fine, but Riddle knows his senior can be stronger in matches.

“David split his two matches” Riddle said. “David still needs to work on conditioning to get him through matches that are back to back.”

On January 10 and 11, HEM went to the Shane Shatto Tournament in Douglas.

Bame, Solaas, Scott and Cruz went to this tournament.

Riddle said there was a surprise for the wrestlers when they got there.

“JV tourney changed the format from round robins to bracketed tourney,” Riddle said. “The kids wrestled well with a lot of heart.”

Again, Riddle was pleased with the progress the team was making.

“Howard moved on to the consolation bracket, coming out with a win,” Riddle said. “David moved on in the consolation bracket winning several matches.”

The other two wrestlers had a tougher time.

“Charlee and Andrew drew rough and did not advance in the tournament,” Riddle said. “Both matches were well fought but the outcomes were not as hoped.”

The next scheduled event is the Don Runner in Pavillion on January 17 and 18.