Wrestlers compete in Colo., prepare for Vernal

Competing against some of the best teams in Colorado, the Green River High School wrestlers ended competition in Grand Junction, Colo., and Fruita, Colo., with a seventh-place finish for the varsity team and a sixth-place finish for the junior varsity squad.

Varsity wrestlers competed against 41 teams, while the JV team competed against 17.

Head coach Marshall Rhodes said the team continues to improve, though admits the wrestlers need to work harder.

“We have a few guys that are improving and wrestling hard like they should, but overall I am not really happy with our toughness or our execution of the little things,” Rhodes said. “I am proud of the six wrestlers that placed in the tournaments as they certainly earned what they received, but we have so much work to do.”

In varsity competition, Jordan Tucker took first, Cyro Montoya finished second and Gage Byers took sixth. In junior varsity, Garrett Harris finished in first place, while Jacob Weipert and Tanner Adam both finished third in their weight divisions.

Other wrestlers competing in Colorado were Kade Knezovich, Justin Flores, Kaycee Cochrane, Ira Dickinson, Zack Orr, Chance Anderson, Payton Tucker, Blake Waite and James McCarter in the varsity division. Junior varsity wrestlers were Trevor Scicluna, Bronson LaFontaine, Cody Price, Nathan Campos, Brian Beck, Levi Miller, Brett McKeehan, Seddon Sanders and Dallas Wadsworth.

The team will have a few weeks off from competition. Their next meet will take place Jan. 6 in Vernal, Utah. Rhodes said he’s excited for the next few weeks, as it will give the team a chance to get healthy and work on issues they need to fix. Rhodes expects the competition in Utah to be tough for the Wolves, but sees the next few weeks as a chance to work on the fundamentals.

“As a group we just weren’t in good position. Our stances are bad, we can’t get down and shoot and we don’t defend or scramble as well as I would like,” Rhodes said. “We have wrestlers that know more than enough to be successful, we just need to be able to get into positions that we can execute.”