by nathan oster
Greybull-Riverside put three wrestlers through to the finals, including eventual 160-pound champ Chayce Goton, en route to its best finish since 2003 at last weekend’s State 2A Wrestling Championships in Casper.
With contributions from virtually every wrestler on the roster, the Buffs finished in third place (143 points), just 4.5 points behind second-place Hulett (147.5). Cokeville continued its mastery of the 2A ranks, winning the state title with 201.5 points.
For Coach Mark Sanford, it was a gratifying ending to the season.
“The kids did a good job, they worked hard, they believed what we were telling them,” he said. He refused to call the third-place finish a surprise, saying, “Honestly, I thought we could do just about what we did. I really believed we could put guys into the championship round — and the three that got there, I knew they could do it.”
The one who did the best was Goton. He burst on the scene as a freshman, finishing fourth in his weight class. An arm injury prevented him from competing last year — but the rust did not show up in Casper, as he dominated the 160-pound weight class.
Goton won his first three matches by fall to make the final, where he faced Brock Hladky, the top seed coming out of the East.  Goton scored a big takedown in the first period to go up 2-0, and added a reveral later to go up 4-1.  He rode out the third period, winning by that score.
“I wasn’t going to lose,” said the junior after the match. “They were the last six minutes of the year — and I was going to give it my all.”
While Goton had won tournaments before, state titles had eluded him at every level until this year.
“He did a really workmanlike job of taking care of what he needed to do,” said Sanford, adding that he things Goton would have contended for a state title last season, too, had it not been for the injury. “Throughout the tournament, really, he had that workmanlike mindset.
“I could tell (Hladky) was hurting for air (in the third period). Chayce had that stone face, kept working him over. He just did an outstanding job.”
If the coach faulted him for anything, it was his celebration.
“The buzzer slows, he’s won a state title, he’s in the middle of the mat, he stands up and doesn’t point or scream or hoot or holler. He just shakes the other coaches’ hands. I told him, ‘Chayce, you can show a little emotion now.’ He laughed. But really, that’s the way he wrestled all weekend — really focused on what he had to do.”
Goton finished 31-7.
Two other Buffs, Nathen Gossens at 125 and Wes Ridgway at 215, also made finals. Neither won, both losing tight decisions to cap successful sophomore campaigns with second-place finishes.
Gossens needed two wins to make the final — and the second of them nearly didn’t happen. Gossens was up big on J.R. Collins of Wright when he got taken to his back and nearly pinned, said Sanford. He survived, ultimately winning 13-5.
That put him into the final against Chance Maddock, the Cokeville wrestler who beat him 8-4 at regionals the week before. Gossens was able to keep the state final even closer, but could never come up with the takedown he needed and lost 3-2.
Gossens finished 25-9.
Ridgway was well positioned going in, having won the West, and thumped his first two opponents, pinning the first in 46 seconds, the second in 11, to advance to a semifinal showdown with C.J. Risley of Lusk.  In that one, Ridgway built a big lead, only to see Risley storm back and nearly pin him in the third period. Ridgway had enough left in the tank, though, to hold on, 18-12.
That put him in the final against Leland Pfeifer, the Hulett standout who had won the high-powered  Ron Thon tournament earlier this spring. “He doesn’t get out of position, he comes at you ha rd and tough, and at first, he came at us like a ton of bricks,” said Sanford.
Ridgway’s best moment of the match came in the second period, when he surprised Pfeifer with a takedown. The unfortunate part was that it occurred near the out-of-bounds line. When the action returned to the center of the mat, Pfeifer regain control, and proceeded from there to win 13-9, capping a 36-2 season.
In the case of both sophomores, Sanford said he was “very proud” of the way they wrestled.
Ridgeway’s finishing mark was 31-10.
In addition to the three finalists, the Buffs had five other placers, as Ben Anson (140) and  Nathan Hetzel (130) claimed thirds, Clay Cundall (171) finished fourth; Levi Kelly (103) was fifth and Blaine Gossens (135) was sixth.
Each of them had reasons to be proud following the two days of competition, Sanford said.
Anson, a sophomore, made semifinals for the first time and scored a big 10-9 win over Hulett’s Curtis Clark in which he rallied in the final seconds to pull it out. His only loss of the tournament was to the eventual champion, Sullivan Teichert of Cokeville.
Hetzel, a freshman, also made semifinals, and while the freshman couldn’t match the firepower of the elites at 130 (Rocky Mountain’s J.R. Vezain and Kyle Studie of Moorcroft, who pinned him in 1:20), he proved to be the best of the rest as he won his final two matches to finish at 25-15.  “Great job for a freshman,” said Sanford.
Cundall, a sophomore, showed great resiliency after a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals to Jesse Haberman of Hulett. Cundall, who entered as the No. 1 seed from the West, took his frustration over not making semifinals out on a string of opponents in the wrestlebacks, winning three straight to earn a spot in the third-place match, where he was pitted, once again, against Haberman. The Hulett senior again prevailed, winning 6-2 to drop Cundall into fourth place.
Levi Kelly and Matt Grovenstein were both entered at 103. “We needed one of those two to come through,” said Sanford. It was Kelly who did, as he, too, shrugged off an opening-round loss by winning three straight to make it into the placing round.  One of his wins was over Thermopolis’ Colter Brown, a wrestler he hadn’t beaten all season.
Gossens “drew tough,” hitting Juan Rodriguez of Wright in his opener. Rodriguez dominated that match, winning by pin. Gossens then won two  straight to make it to the placing round, but then dropped two in a row to finish sixth.
Sanford also credited non-placer Payton Vigil “for showing a bunch of heart” by wrestling — and even winning a match — on a bad knee. “I can’t say enough about what he did for  the team,” said Sanford of his 135-pounder.
Neither Nick  Kern nor Stephen Kerr placed, but both scored team valuable team points for the Buffs.
The only two G-R wrestlers who didn’t score were freshman Gabriel Villegas, who went two-and-out at 189, and Dan Grovenstein, who was unable to wrestle due to an injury.

Season review
Sanford is cautiously optimistic about next season. Everyone who wrestled at state can return — though as this year proved, it’s not a given that all of them will.  If they do, G-R figures to be among the top threats to ending Cokeville’s dominance of 2A.
“Let me put it in perspective,” said Sanford. “We have good young kids, yes.  But I have no idea what next year is going to bring. For one,  you don’t know what kind of injuries you’re going to get — this year, a guy like Randall (Johns) looked like a guy who could score some points for us, but then he goes down.  Two years ago, it was Chayce.
“Next year will be next year. What I told the boys was be happy with this year, but don’t be satisfied. Our work’s not done.”
Sanford also credited his team of volunteer assistants, including Brad DeWitt, former matmen Colton Zier, Kasey Garnhart and Zack Dalin, who spent time in the room working with his athletes, as well as first-year assistant Josh Heinemeyer.

STATE 2A WRESTLING
TEAM SCORES — Cokeville 201.5, Hulett 147.5, G-R 143, Lusk 132.5, Thermopolis 126.5, Wright 118, Lingle-Fort Laramie 99, Moorcroft 95, Rocky Mt. 76.5, Shoshoni 76, Saratoga 71, Big Piney 55, Dubois 50, Sundance 49, Wind River 34, Upton 31, Southeast 27, HEM 23, Burns 21.
103 — Matt Grovenstein lost by fall to Travis Gaukel (Lusk), 2:56; pinned Jeff Kokesh (Upton), 1:53; lost by major decision to Tom Stockwell (Sara), 13-4.
103 — Levi Kelly lost by major decision to Kalen Hill (Coke), 16-2; decisioned Jesse Bunner (Lusk) 5-2; decisioned Colter Brown (Thermop) 8-3; lost by fall to Travis Gaukel (Lusk), 2:40; decisioned Tom Stockwell (Sara) 9-5 to place fifth.
112 — Stephen Kerr lost by fall to Anthony Samson (Sara), 3:33; pinned Weston Silbaugh (Upton), 2:13; lost to Garrett Bietz (Moor), 10-4.
119 — Open
125 — Nathen Gossens had a first-round bye; pinned Corson Kerbs (Sara), 1:52; won by major decision over J.R. Collins (Wri), 13-5; lost to Chance Maddock (Coke), 3-2, in the final to place second.
130 — Nathan Hetzel pinned Alberto Soto (Sara), 1:30; pinned Jose Hernandez (Wri), 2:26; lost by fall to Kyle Studie (Moor), 1:50; pinned Colton Miller (Lusk), 0:51; decisioned Hernandez (Wright), 12-8, to place third.
135 — Blaine Gossens lost by fall to Juan Rodgriguez (Wri), 2:19; decisioned Jace Carver (Moor), 7-5; decisioned Payton Vigil (G-R), 7-2; lost by fall to Adam Hinz (Sara), 2:21;  lost by major decision to Garrett Traylor (Moor), 8-0, to place sixth.
135 — Payton Vigil pinned Ty Wambeke (Rocky), :52; lost by major decision to Garrett Traylor (Moor), 17-4; pinned Joe Brown (LFL), 2:46; lost to Blaine Gossens (G-R) 7-2.
140 — Ben Anson decisioned Ryan Huxtable (Sho) 6-4; pinned Weston Louth (LFL), 1:36; decisioned Curtis Clark (Hul) 10-9; decisioned Ian Humes (Moor), 8-2, to place third.
145 — Nick Kern lost by fall to Lance Hladky (Lusk), 1:52; pinned Josh O’Brien (Wind R.), 2:06; lost by fall to Trevor Wortman (Wri), 2:56.
152 — Dan Grovenstein defaulted due to an injury.
160 — Chayce Goton pinned Ryan Castle (BgP), :25; pinned Holden Fauber (Wri), :56; pinned Jesse Duncan (LFL), 2:50; decisioned Brock Hladky (Lusk) to win the title.
171 — Clay Cundall pinned Max Walbridge (Burns), 3:53; lost to Jesse Haberman (Hul) 13-11; pinned Cam Tarnes (Wind R), 2:25; won by major decision over Kacee Thompson (Rocky), 10-0; decisioned Chase Potter (LFL) 9-4; lost to Haberman, 6-2, to place fourth.
189 — Gabriel Villegas lost by fall to Brooks Bowthorpe (Sho), :58; lost by fall to Bob Cook (Coke), :48.
215 — Wes Ridgway pinned Paul Gonzalez (HEM), :46; pinned Adam Gandara (Burns), :11; decisioned C.J. Risley (Lusk), 18-12; lost to Leland Pfeifer (Hulett) 13-9 to place second.