Inconsistency costs Bulldog wrestlers
Winning duals is a trademark of Moffat County wrestling. During the weekend, the Bulldogs lost an unprecedented three duals.
“That’s usually the number we lose in a couple of years,” coach Roman Gutierrez said. “I thought there were some kids who wrestled well last weekend that didn’t wrestle well this weekend.”
On Friday in Vernal, Utah, Moffat County lost duals to Northridge High School of Layton, Utah, and Bear River of Garland, Utah.
Saturday in Rock Springs, Wyo., the Bulldogs lost the championship dual against Ogden, Utah.
Wrestlers said that they struggled through a tiring weekend. Thursday was a long practice, and the team didn’t arrive in Rock Springs until 2:30 a.m. Friday.
“They wrestled tired,” Gutierrez said. “If they are using Thursday’s practice or the late trip as an excuse, they are selling themselves short.”
Positives for the Bulldogs were performances by seniors Korey Kostur (145 pounds) and Daniel Cramblett (152 pounds), juniors Brice Boling (112 pounds) and Nick Navratil (189) and sophomore Matt Kincheloe (125 pounds).
Kostur was undefeated in all nine of his matches for the weekend. The other wrestlers either finished 8-1 or 7-2.
Boling was awarded for the most pins in the least amount of time in Rock Springs. Kincheloe received the Outstanding Wrestler award for the lower-weight classes.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs wrestled with two empty weights because of injuries to juniors Levi Weber (135) and Chris McAlexander (130). Both wrestlers were hurt in Friday’s duals in Vernal.
Those wrestlers could have made the difference in the 10-point loss to Ogden. But without those two, Gutierrez focused more on the performances of those who did wrestle.
“Some of our younger guys are doing good things in the wrestling room, but when they’re in front of a crowd, it doesn’t happen,” he said. “We need more consistency. We need to be ready to wrestle every match.”
On Friday, the Bulldogs head to Grand Junction for the most competitive tournament they’ll have during the regular season. The two-day Warrior Classic includes some of the best wrestlers from the region. Nationally ranked Uintah High School (Vernal, Utah) and three of the five of last year’s Colorado state championship teams will be there.
Wrestling at begins 10 a.m. Friday.
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