Posted by: Camel Fan on February 18, 2008 12:18PM EST Looks to be an exciting state tournament. The second round should see a few Star Valley and Gillette matchups. the way the camels are wrestling right now I think they will be tough to beat but anything can happen at this time of the year. good luck to all.

Posted by: jimmy castillo on February 18, 2008 6:06PM EST Interesting to see Jessica Brenton (119) get drawn in to wrestle Seth Harris. The 103 won't wrestle a girl. Him and Mark Harris don't wrestle girls. It will be interesting to see what the defending state champ will do.

Posted by: HS Sports Fan on February 19, 2008 1:12AM EST Jimmy - What do you mean by "The 103 won't wrestle a girl"? Did Jessica wrestle 119 at Regionals? If she did, it doesn't matter, she can't wrestle down, am I right? Chances are I don't understand what you are talking about, but I would like to. I am not a big fan of girls wrestling, but you have to give her credit if she is able to hang with the guys.

Posted by: Anonymous on February 19, 2008 9:44AM EST Patrick, how about you give us your picks? let see how you think things will shake out this weekend. sports fan i think he is saying his brother wrestling @ 119 may not.

Posted by: Big Richard on February 19, 2008 12:05PM EST That Montgomery kid from Southeast at 135 is going to come up big at state this year. the only challenge hes going to have is doug jordan first round, lance Hladky, and Kasey Garnhart. other than these 3, no one there is going to be a problem for the montgomery beast.

Posted by: 1afan on February 19, 2008 2:43PM EST Yes Patrick i'm curious also as to who your picks are also,especialy in 1a/2a Big Richard mentioned Souteast's fine 135 pounder how about Mr Easton at 189 his record is remarkable this year.And will morcroft be able to pull off an other upset like they did at reginals

Posted by: gtown on February 19, 2008 4:02PM EST Is the Montgomery kid better then Garnhart though?

Posted by: Patrick Schmiedt on February 19, 2008 5:35PM EST Picks? Give me some time to mull it over. I'll probably make some by Thursday.... I know 4A will be fun, 3A won't be as cut-and-dry as it seems and 2A will be closer than you think. --patrick

Posted by: Ted 2A fan on February 19, 2008 8:24PM EST Big Richard you forgot Teichert at 135. My picks are in 4A Gillette, Natrona and Star Valley. Star Valley's win last weekend will be watered down with Gillette in the race. Natrona's champions will still be champions with the addition Gillette. I don't know if Natrona has enough to catch Gillette. In 3A Powell will win big. Nobody is as deep as they are. In 2A it will be as close as 4A. Moorecroft could win a team title without a state champion. Cokeville had 4 champions last week 2 got forfits. If those were wrestled they would of had a hard time winning both. Easton has the record but Pope is battle tested. I watched the match Pope had with Jones from Powell at the Ron Thon. Mac Jones is the best 189 pounder in the state and Pope gave him all he wanted.

Posted by: 2a Fan on February 19, 2008 8:57PM EST I've got a question for you Patrick, have there ever been 2, 4 time state finalists from the same school in the same year? Such as Garnhart and Zier, Garnhart going for his 4th title and Zier going for his 3rd with a 2nd place his freshman year

Posted by: wrestlingfan167 on February 19, 2008 10:57PM EST I know that Garnhart and Hatley are going for 4 time state champ. Are there any others? Also in 3A, Powell will have to contend with Douglas.

Posted by: BIKR on February 19, 2008 11:03PM EST patrick, here is my picks, 4A - 103- harris over vye 112- cox over bertagnoli 119- fairbanks over hillhouse 125- mcafee over stenhaug 130- madsen over henderson 135- juby over young 140-brenton over walker 145-storbeck over brown 152- brown over hokanson 160- burgess over owens 171- nixon over henderson 189-anderson over poulos 215-booth over mc calla 285-boylan over nield 3A 103-utter over carr 112-schindler over brooks 119-osbon over paulson 125-rodriguez over cortez 130-donarski over gillett 135-hogan over hale 140-carter over heron 145- stevenson over kalberer 152- hatley over miller 160- klopp over wilmoth 171- boner over whitaker 189- jones over marshall 215- wilson over lopez 285- brunty over powers 2A 103- vichi over collins 112- collins over gossens 119- larson over whiting 125- verzain over teichert 130- camis over child 135- garnhart over teichert 140- pounds over horton 145- zier over peterson 152- hoopes over dowdy 160- lampert over moody 171- albert over habelman 189- pope over easton 215- pfeifer over anderson 285- risley over thompson 4A gillette star valley natrona 3A powell douglas wheatland 2A cokeville moorcroft lusk

Posted by: wrestlingfans on February 19, 2008 11:38PM EST You are forgetting that Douglas beat Powell at Thermop Tourney. I think the 3-A race will come down to one or two points. I think some of your picks are off, I think Mueller in 125 will be in the championships, and Etchemendy at 152. Should be a great weekend.

Posted by: Ryley Dawson on February 20, 2008 12:02AM EST Pierre Ethcemendy is good but honestly I can't possibly fathom him beating jared hatley.

Posted by: bearcat on February 20, 2008 10:13AM EST Ryley, I think wrestling fans saying that etchemendy is going to be in the finals at 152 instead of miller, not necesarrily beating hatley there

Posted by: football fan on February 20, 2008 11:07AM EST I think it's going to be the most exciting state tournament, in every class, that Wyoming has seen for awhile. I don't look for any team to run away with anything. I think that Douglas is as deep as Powell, but Powell has the potiental for more champions. (I think Kalberer will beat Stevenson) I agree with Ted2AFan and that Star Valley's wins will be watered down with Gillette in the mix, and Natrona will still have some champios, but all three of those teams will battle it out. Good luck to Garnhart and Hatley - two more 4timers in Wyoming would be awesome!

Posted by: JA on February 20, 2008 12:43PM EST My upset of the weekend is Patrick Hartford at 189 in 4A...

Posted by: wrestlingfans on February 20, 2008 1:09PM EST Yeah, I am saying that Etchemendy will be in the finals. And I would like to see two more 4-timers. But at State anyone can be beat. The senior class this year is amazing, most of these kids have been wrestling each other since they were 5.

Posted by: Nc Alumni on February 20, 2008 2:37PM EST Will someone explain to me why certain wrestlers are matched up against others from the their own schools? Doesnt this hurt them in "team points" Its understandable if teammates meet along the way, but in the first round is a joke!

Posted by: Fred Wiener on February 20, 2008 3:54PM EST um. BIKR. your predictions suck. 4A at the 130 pound match isnt even close. Henderson wont even make it passed second round. He will lose to McCulley cause he is tough. Not to mention McCulley beat Madsen by major at the Ron Thon. JA, Patrick Hartford got hurt at regionals, separated cartilage in his ribs. hes going to try to wrestle but dont be suprised if he injury defaults. other thought. Montgomery wont touch Garnhart. Garnhart is also a 3x champ. he will pin his way through.

Posted by: state champ on February 20, 2008 4:33PM EST Does Gillette have 2 schools yet or do they still have one school and 2 campuses. Just curious what they paid to have the old Green River coach run their monopoly.

Posted by: Patrick Schmiedt on February 20, 2008 5:26PM EST Hey everyone, I like a lot of the analysis on here so far. And if any of you think you are experts, we're looking for your help. We're looking for some "expert analysis" for the Wyoming State High School Wrestling Championships. We're looking for a little analysis, a little bracketology, a little opinion. You can focus on one class or all classes; just don't focus on one team. If you're interested, e-mail sam.barrett@trib.com. He can fill you in on the details. Thanks. --patrick

Posted by: BIKR on February 20, 2008 5:44PM EST hey wiener, lets see yours? henderson is tougher than u think. mc cully is tough!, but strange things happen @ state. henderson got knocked out early last year, & looking 4 redemption. thats my pick & im sticking with it! state champ, word on the street is it's somewhere around 750,000 plus revenues from tv & radio shows. heard he inked a deal with aasics last week,puts him around sixs figuers. seems a little low to me! but i guess he really likes gillette.

Posted by: Wrestling Fan on February 20, 2008 5:57PM EST What about SE's Steven Bullington? This kid is supposedly going to win it this year. Patrick, you are picking Pope over Stephen Easton????? Can't wait to see that match!!

Posted by: bowhunter on February 20, 2008 6:02PM EST Let me just say, that you are absolutely correct, McCulley did beat Madsen by a major decision. On the other hand alot of things played into that win for McCully, (not superior wrestling) I won't name them off, but if anyone was there and didn't have a stake in this match they would have seen the same thing. What happened during that match does not make McCully the superior wrestler. With all due respect I wish Henderson all the luck in the world, but if by some chance McCully gets by Henderson what a great re-match Madsen is going to have with McCully, GUARANTEED!

Posted by: 167 wrestler on February 20, 2008 6:51PM EST 4A picks, I ran through all the 4A brackets and noted results from Ron Thon, Regional’s, and any Duals that were posted and these are my predictions. As for the team title I ended up with a virtual tie for 1st place between Gillette and Star valley with Natrona County only 10-15 points behind. Close enough that any of these three could win. I will give it to Gillette because they are the 4A champs and have earned the title until someone takes it away! Teams, 1- Gillette 2- Star Valley 3- Natrona 4- Green River 103# 1- Harris GR 2- Vye CC 3- Heap SV 4- Child CE 112# 1- Cox Gil 2- Bertagnolli RS 3- Gardner SV 4- Best CE 119# 1- Fairbanks SV 2- Hillhouse KW 3- Harris GR 4- Arias CC 125# 1- McAfee KW 2- Stenhaug NC 3- Schumacher GR 4- Shelton EV 130# 1- McCully RS 2- Madsen Gil 3- Rasmussen NC 4- Dana SV (There are at least 8 kids at 130 that have the ability to make the finals, should be a fun weight to watch) 135# 1- Juby Gil 2- Young NC 3- Platt EV 4- Slaugh RS 140# 1- Brenton NC 2- Walker SV 3- Adame RS 4- Olson Gil 145# 1- Storbeck Gil 2- Rodriguez Riv 3- Brown NC 4- Sowers EV (This is another # that has 6-7 kids that could make the finals on the right day!) 152# 1- Brown NC 2- Hokanson SV 3- Jones CC 4- Burgess Gil 160# 1- Burgess Gil 2- Owens NC 3- Kennington SV 4- Parkhill NC 171# 1- Nixon EV 2- Henderson KW 3- Schultz Gil 4- Ramsey CC 189# 1- Anderson GR 2- Poulos Lar 3- Miller Riv 4- Woodie SV 215# 1- Booth SV 2- McCalla She 3- Simmer CE 4- Howell KW 285# 1- Boylan Gil 2- Nield SV 3- Lynch KW 4- Eliott NC These are my best guesses based on bracket placement and past results, should be fun to see how I did come next week!! Good luck and good health to all involved, wrestling is a brutal sport and any kid that is willing to put in the effort, sacrifice and courage that it takes to step on the mat and compete at this level deserves a great deal of respect.

Posted by: Ted 2A fan on February 20, 2008 7:09PM EST Bikr: I'm impressed with your knowledge of all the wieght classes and classes. I have 1 or 2 different but pretty close.

Posted by: kene on February 20, 2008 8:18PM EST Just a note of congratulations to some great kids wrestling for Rocky Mountain High School but who actually go to Burlington. Ben Cook, Ethan Alexander, and Hayden Ott. GOHUSKIES/GRIZZ

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 20, 2008 8:40PM EST okay BIKR. well dont be preaching to me like you know everything. being a wrestler myself and with whats happened to me. i know wierd things happen at state okay. it happend to me last year. so your preaching to the choir. and if you were matside at that match you would know that McCulley was a superior wrestler. thats why he won. he physically beat madsen. you should have seen the look on his face at the end of the 1st period. like dam, whered this sophomore come from. and please "On the other hand alot of things played into that win for McCully, (not superior wrestling) I won't name them off,". i take it youve never wrestled. because where i come from, we wrestle on the mat and thats where the matches are decided. and the superior always wins. because if you train hard and put the hard work in, wins arent a mistake. and knowing personally how hard this kid works in a wrestling room, that win wasnt a mistake and definitely was not a fluke. so ha, in your face. and Mr. Gillette, please could you tell me these unforseen mythological events that made it possible for Andy to smoke Madsen? P.S. He beat Henderson by major decision earlier this year too. before henderson missed out half the season and regressed to the point he is at now.

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 20, 2008 8:48PM EST oh and maybe some of that was directed towards "bowhunter". but still, both of your are ignorant and biased. BIKR. how do you know hes looking for redemption? he lost out at regionals. and from what ive heard, the kid doesnt even want to wrestle. I have strong "insider" info that tells me he didnt even want to finish this season, and is furthermore not happy with it because his father is making him cut so much weight. from what i hear, he doesnt even want to wrestle, hes just looking to end this season, no for redemption.

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 20, 2008 9:01PM EST wrestlingfans good call on the Muller part making finals too. i heard he got screwed over againsts Baltazar and lost by 1 point. Mullers been wrestling the top 4a kids all year. lost to McAfee twice by 2 points only. on that note, i dont think Stenhaug will make finals either BIKR. Shumacher beat him way too convincingly at regionals. but ill agree with your one good point that anything can happen at state. Wrestling Fan, Pope should be Easton. Pope is probably one of the best pound for pound in 2a. He placed 2nd at the RonThon. He is not only supposed to win it, he has.

Posted by: bowhunter on February 20, 2008 9:38PM EST Being a 2x state champion and a wrestling coach I know that superior wrestling doesn't include getting lucky. McCully slammed Madsen with a standing cradle and luckily a possible mild concussion was the only injury Madsen sustained, but no excuses, your right matches are won on the mat, not with the mouth. This is one match I can't wait to see hopefully they make it to each other. May the best wrestler win, tomorrow is a new day.

Posted by: DSU Wrestler on February 20, 2008 9:49PM EST I have to say some of you have turned this thread into a joke. I am sick of reading some people bicker about how they are wrong and don't have a clue as to who will do what at state. It is predictions. Almost everyone in the United States thought the Patriots were going to win the Super Bowl yet they didn't. Predictions are just that they can be wrong. Yet on the other hand I am glad that most of you are making great post. State is only a few days away and anything can happen. For the record yes Gillette does still have only one high school running off of two campuses. Yet they have a plan almost ready to go ahead and build their second school. It isn't Gillette's school enrollment that gives them the upper hand in sports it is the kids work ethic from when they were little kids in the feeder programs. Finally Coach Seamans is a great coach no matter where he goes. After he left Green River he went back east to teach and coach yet he didn't feel at home. He came back to Wyoming and took the job in Gillette. It is not about the money that he is making because i can tell you this as a teacher you dont make great money. It is his love about the sport of wrestling. He has turned the Gillette program around and has 5 state titles. Great Job Coach Seamans. I am looking foraward to being at state this coming weekend and watching all the great wrestling. Good luck to all the wrestlers, coaches, and the fans.

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 20, 2008 9:51PM EST k nicely said about the matches being won on the mat. and i would easily put money on Andy making finals. so your saying McCulley(with an 'e') got lucky? and he is not a superior wrestler? im fairly certain Andy was winning by a marginal amount when the "concussion" occured. w/e. im running circles with myself. it will be settled on the mat. and let me guess? you're either his brother or his dad.

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 20, 2008 9:54PM EST Well nicely said about the predictions part and good luck. but isnt what blogs are made for is for people to debate the topic and basically made for argument? other wise they would be called newspapers.

Posted by: Micah Himmerich on February 20, 2008 10:59PM EST We all know there is going to be some great matches on the mat. Yes very exciting. There will also be another one in the stands. Where are all those Star Valley fans going to sit in the usually very crowded "4A side." That should be interesting. Anyone know what the closest margin was between first and second for the state title. Whatever it was, good chance to be broken this year.

Posted by: Ranea on February 20, 2008 11:16PM EST Micah, I was told that the 4A was moving over to another area so it would fit all of the fans. I guess we will find out Friday. I am so excited for State Wrestling!

Posted by: 167wrestler on February 20, 2008 11:28PM EST Yes I saw a seating chart somwhere (now I cant find it) but it showed that 4A was going to be on mats 4-6 down on the horseshoe end where 3A previously was.

Posted by: gtown on February 20, 2008 11:30PM EST DSU wrestler, very nicely put. Coach Seamens is a fantastic coach and loves to coach and win more than anyone. Word is that the 4A section did move to the horse shoe to accomidate Star Valley and all it's fans. Good luck to everyone at state.

Posted by: 167wrestler on February 20, 2008 11:31PM EST I don't know about 4A but in 1995 Star Valley and Torrington tied for the 3A championship and had to share the Title.

Posted by: Big Wrestler on February 20, 2008 11:49PM EST I'm a wrestler and the coach informed us today that they did move 4a into the horseshoe to accomodate the extra fans. should be interesting.

Posted by: Bulldog Fan on February 21, 2008 9:23AM EST I have enjoyed reading this blog. I don't follow wrestling and don't know much about it, but found this post interesting. I do know that things happen at state and it can be a matter of frame of mind, illness, jitters, you name it. I would say that most of the kids are prepared, but anything can jump up and bite you. We see it all the time in all the sports from high school to the pros. We only have a few kids in our wrestling program, but I would like to say good luck to them and hopefully they can jump up and bite someone. Good Luck to all wrestlers. Fans, I know you will be having as much fun in Casper as I am in Douglas. Go Bulldogs.

Posted by: Spungos on February 21, 2008 6:11PM EST I see that there is a lot of interest in McCulley and Madsen at 4A 130. I personally hope both make it to the finals because it should be a good rematch. I watched Madsen come back from that ugly beating he received from McCulley at the Ron Thon, and he looked as though he was perfectly fine. Don't hand out excuses for those who have lost to a better wrestler. I'm sure he doesn't want to hear it and neither do I.

Posted by: Kevin Kessner on February 21, 2008 7:11PM EST Its been a while since I have been, but I was wondering what time the semis begin (still on Friday night right?) and when the finals start on Saturday. Or if there is a schedule posted somewhere, that would be helpful to, thanks.

Posted by: wrestlingfan167 on February 21, 2008 10:15PM EST Kevin www.whsaa.org has a schedule of events.

Posted by: Kevin Kessner on February 22, 2008 9:37AM EST Thanks for the info.

Posted by: Fred Weiner on February 22, 2008 10:36PM EST uh. hey BIKR how bout ya boy Madsen? finals? what about Henderson? finals? No, and no. boy you really did wiff on that. and i called it, McCulley in the finals. and he has Rasmussen too. the one who he beat at regionals last week. 4-2. but Rasmussen stalled the whole 2nd and 3rd. the reffing should be better here at State. Hopefully Anastos isnt callin the match. McCulley will win it all no matter what though, GURANTEED!

Posted by: 18-6 on February 24, 2008 1:53AM EST Hey Fred Weiner, How About that best pound for pound BS, Well i guess theres a new bad man in wyoming... It wasn't as close as anyone thought it was going to be....

Posted by: gtown on February 24, 2008 2:30PM EST hey Fred Weiner what happened with Pope having already won it? hmmm

Posted by: a1fan on February 24, 2008 11:47PM EST Hey gtown is't not nice to gloat especialy at the expense of a fine young man such as Mr Pope.I'm sure he feels bad enough with out having to hear from someone who was just making predictions for the fun of it.I watched the match and it was a great match and hard fought by both wreastlers.The hardest thing to be in any sport is 2nd,and the fans should show them the resect that they have earned

Posted by: gtown on February 25, 2008 7:58PM EST a1fan- I didnt mean to gloat and im sorry if I offended you or Pope. All I was doing was refering to a comment left up above saying about Pope "He is not only supposed to win it, he already has." Im not critisizing Pope at all I was trying to say is that you should never think that anything is locked up at state because nothing ever is. Hopefully there aren't any hard feelings

Posted by: 1afan on February 25, 2008 11:38PM EST gtown I accept your apoligee I realise that you weren't directing your comments to Mr Pope but the kids do read these comments and I feel sometimes we need to temper what we really want to say and consider those who might be hurt inadvertantly.

Posted by: anonymous on February 25, 2008 11:58PM EST gtown, I think when fred weiner said "He is not only supposed to win it, he already has," he was referring to the 2007 state finals 189 lbs. match when Pope defeated Easton. It was a rematch in 2008, and this time Easton came out on top.

Posted by: Anonymous on February 26, 2008 3:00PM EST Hey a1fan, the pope easton match wasn't even close if you call a 18-6 match close idk what a beating is. Easton came out and beat pope up, pope even was complaining because there was blood on the mat. Easton had pope on his back 4 times, and the one time pope had easton there was when easton was trying to move becuase pope wouldn't do anything

Posted by: LeRoy Smith on February 26, 2008 5:09PM EST both wrestllers in 2a 189lbs worked hard in their own region . but overall easton looked like the better wrestler at state,easton worked hard all year to get the state title.

Posted by: 1afan on February 26, 2008 11:52PM EST Did anybody watch the 2a 215 finals match after MR Eastons and Mt Popes i'd be interested to here any comments you may have.Mr Pfeifer is Hulett's first state champ in about six years or so.Nice job