The Lyman High School wrestling teams traveled to Casper over the weekend for the 3A State Wrestling Championships, with the Eagles scrapping their way to an eighth-place finish; the Lady Eagles finished 17th.

LHS senior Max Gregory won a state championship at 215 pounds to lead the Eagles; Treyson Henderson finished runner-up at 106 pounds. For the girls, Karly Sabey at 130 pounds and Peyton Hadden at 135 pounds earned spots on the podium, with Sabey finishing runner-up and Hadden placing sixth.

The two teams combined for seven placers —five on the boys’ side and two on the girls.

“State ran pretty smooth, for the most part,” said LHS head girls’ coach Damon Mele. “I know my girls enjoyed the opportunity to be there, and see what it’s like to be on the big stage; they all took it in gracefully.”

Eagles

LHS senior Max Gregory made the most of his final state tournament, posting a 4-0 record and winning three of his four matches by pin, en route to the 215-pound championship.

Gregory opened the tournament with a pin over Denton Wainscott (Powell), and followed that with a pin over Billy Velarde (Lander Valley) in the quarterfinals.

Gregory squared off against Moses Lopez (Torrington) in the semifinals, winning by technical fall, 16-0. Gregory met Jacob Eaton (Powell) in the championship match, winning the title with a third-round pin.

LHS freshman Treysen Henderson also earned a spot in the finals at 106 pounds, pinning Nick Ticknor (Glenrock) in the quarterfinals, and winning a 10-6 decision over Talon Nuss (Powell) in the semis to earn a shot at the title.

Squaring off against Ty McWilliams (Lander Valley) for the championship, the two wrestlers were still tied at the end of regulation, setting up overtime. McWilliams won the match – and the championship — in sudden victory; Henderson settled for runner-up, an impressive finish for the talented freshman.

Three other Eagles also finished on the podium, with Timber Van Gieson (144 pounds), Marshall Hatch (175 pounds) and Xakery Aleman (285 pounds) all placing fifth in their respective classes.

Van Gieson posted a 3-2 record for the tournament, opening with a 19-11 major decision over Porter Kemp (Pinedale), and pinning Kelton Stewart (Glenrock) in the quarterfinals to earn a spot in the semis.

Van Gieson came up short to Brayden Torstenbo (Rawlins) in the semifinals, then lost to Gabe Grant (Cody) in the consolation semis, dropping to the 5th-place match. Squaring off in a rematch of the quarterfinals against Kelton Stewart (Glenrock), Van Gieson beat Stewart for the second time, earning a tech fall to claim 5th place.

At 175 pounds, Hatch opened the tournament with back-to-back pins over Bennan Lopez (Douglas) and Taj Prine (Lander Valley) to earn a spot in the semifinals. A loss to Garrett Haley (Pinedale) in the semis dropped Hatch to the consolation semifinal; Preston Sorensen (Glenrock) beat Hatch 8-1 to send the sophomore to the 5th-place match.

Hatch ended the tournament on a strong note, pinning Rudy Hall (Lovell) in the first round to finish fifth.

Aleman wrestled a whopping six matches at 285 pounds, posting a 4-2 record for the tournament. After an opening-round loss to Bridger Valley rival Mason Tims (Mountain View), Aleman rattled off three straight pins – over Aaraon Chavez (Torrington), Kannen Walker (Mountain View) and Cash McCann (Pinedale) – to earn a spot in the consolation semifinals.

Aleman lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Lucas Peterson (Rawlins) in the consolation semis, but redeemed himself with 1-0 decision in a rematch against Mason Tims (Mountain View) to finish fifth.

Other Eagles scoring team points included Jasper Allen at 126 pounds (1-2), Jaxon Tillotson at 138 pounds (1-2), Cash Platts at 150 pounds (2-2) and Boston Busskohl at 190 pounds (1-2).

Lady Eagles

After finishing fourth in last week’s 4A West Regional Tournament, LHS senior Karly Sabey defied expectations to make it all the way to the championship match at 130 pounds.

Sabey opened the tournament with a pin over Abby Knopp (Cheyenne Central), then won a 7-2 decision against Lilyahna Hancock (Sheridan) to earn a spot in the semifinals.

Sabey pinned Paige Tongate (Rock Springs) in the first round of her semifinal match, setting up a championship showdown against Lily Harris (Green River) for the 130-pound title. Sabey wrestled hard, but was unable to find an answer for her opponent, losing by tech fall.

LHS head girls’ coach Damon Mele said Sabey more than accomplished what she set out to accomplish this season.

“Karly had a phenomenal weekend,” Mele said. “After Christmas, I had the girls all give me goals for the rest of the school year and season. One of Karly’s goals was to make it to state. We revised our goals a couple weeks ago, and it changed to place at state and she did exactly what she wanted, but better.”

At 135 pounds, sophomore Peyton Hadden also got off to a strong start, winning a 10-2 major decision over Kaiten Schilreff (Lingle-Ft. Laramie/Southeast), then pinning Halley House (Cheyenne East) in the quarterfinals.

Hadden struggled in her next two matches, with back-to-back losses — to Remington Aullman (Star Valley) in the semifinals and Brueklyn Truempler (Shoshoni) in the consolation semis — which dropped her to the 5th-place match. Hadden fell to Nalani Jordan (Powell) to close out the tournament, but still made it on the podium with a 6th-place finish.

Hadden dealt with injuries for most of the season, so for her to have even qualified for state at all was an accomplishment, according to Mele.

“I was happy with Peyton, especially for finishing out the season,” he said. “Her knee has been bugging her for a couple months now, and fighting through that can be hard. We will get her healed up and give her a long break, and hopefully, next year, she can come back stronger than ever.”

Though they didn’t earn a spot on the podium, three other Lady Eagles — Gracelynn Allen (125 pounds), April Sing (145 pounds) and Alicia Alemãn (190 pounds) — all recorded victories and scored team points at their respective weight classes. All three are also underclassmen, who have now gained a wealth of experience by competing at state, according to Mele.

“We actually had four underclassmen,” he said. “Peyton and Grace are both sophomores with April and Alicia as freshmen. Unfortunately, only three of those girls will be returning next year as Grace will be moving to Utah with her family. The experience alone that these girls receive from going to state and learning what it feels like to compete in a setting like that is instrumental to their progress. They learn so much in such a small amount of time.”

With the state tournament now in the books, Mele said the tournament was a positive experience, in more ways than one.

“I love going to state,” he said. “I help coach a lot of the girls that do Team Wyoming throughout the state, and almost all the girls in the finals have been on Team Wyoming at some point or another over the last three years. [As for the Lady Eagles], I was super-proud of my team this season for reaching goals and winning matches. Almost all of the girls that didn’t make it to state kept coming in to help the five that did continue to progress, and get ready to compete.”