SARATOGA — This week was good practice for us in having to wrestle 3 days in a row and make weight for three days. The Puncher started off the week with a duel in Kemmerer.  The Punchers were victorious winning the dual 46-30.  It is the first time in program history we have defeated Kemmerer. The dual started off with a huge win by fall by Ben Ampahani. He did a great job of attacking his opponent. He controlled the ties and the action and started the scoring for the team with a huge 6 points. The team then went on to compete very well on Thursday to secure the victory.

Then on Friday we were off to Saratoga for a tournament.  We have been on such a strong roll in wrestling very well for over a month.  On Friday we could tell right away the team was a little flat and it was not our best performance. But it is better to have a day like that this week than the next two weeks.  We had a talk after the day that we needed something like that to get us to refocus our efforts. Even though we struggled on Friday we had great matches. The best match of the day was Kristine Young who went into double overtime in one of her matches and she ended up winning the match with a fall.  It was true grit and determination that earned her that victory. Kristine went on to place 2nd in her division. Kamia Runyan also had a great meet placing 2nd and earning a huge fall in her second match. Kamia is that one athlete who works harder than anyone else in the room.  It was great to see that come to pass on the mat. Kaydance Guest was able to place 3rd. I love how much she has grown over the season and the improvement is huge.

Saturday the boys finished up their meet and our discussion on the bus paid off.  The team came out on Saturday with a new focus to details and went 11-2 on the day.  Caleb Brown was the champion of the tournament this week defeating the 3rd ranked opponent in the finals. Caleb just keeps getting better each and every week. Dominic Sanchez was in the deepest weight class this week with 4 of the top 5 ranked opponents in the bracket. Dominic went 3-1 and placed 3rd. His medal match for 3rd was an outstanding performance and we hope to build from there this week. Jackie Meador was the champion at 120 going 2-0 on the week. He also defeated a top ranked opponent in the finals. Judah Farrington dropped down a weight and it paid off for him.  He went 3-1 placing 3rd. He showed huge improvement this week and we are excited to see what he will have at regions. Zavier Clifford placed 2nd in the tournament defeating a state placer from last year in the semi's and losing to the 2nd ranked 126 pounder. Caden Clifford went 4-1 this week earning a 3rd place finish.  Caden just keeps getting better and gaining confidence each week. David Farrington had a huge week of wrestling going 4-0 to win the 150 pound class.  David was dominant in his finals match. He is so composed on the mat and it is fun to watch his craft. Rodger Young went 4-2 placing 5th.  The neat thing about Rodger is that he is only a 2nd year wrestler and it is impressive how well he is doing.  Zach Murphy also placed 3rd this week. We love how well Zach helps lead this team and we will rely on him these next two weeks.  The team ended up placing 2nd losing to Moorecroft. 

There were a lot of learning opportunities this week and I felt we moved in a positive direction.  It was key to come out and do well on Saturday after a less than expected performance on Friday.  We will work on improving our mental state this week and continue to work on the key points we need to improve on. 

This week is Regional week and the Lady Punchers will be in Riverton Friday and Saturday, while the men will be in Shoshoni on Saturday.  To qualify for state the athletes need to be top 8 in their weight class.  That usually means they will need to win 2 matches to advance to state.  It is a difficult task because we have a large number of wrestlers on our half of the state. there are several bracket that have more than 12 and making it to state will be a challenge and we are looking forward to that challenge.

Thanks for your support of Puncher Wrestling.