The Lovell Bulldogs are enjoying increased numbers this season, and with several wrestlers placing at the Powell Invitational Wrestling Tournament Friday and Saturday, the varsity team finished in sixth place.
JV wrestlers also did well, taking second place in the JV B team bracket. Nathan Grant received the outstanding JV wrestler award.
“It is pretty cool to see a freshman receive that honor,” coach Dane Mickelson said.
In individual varsity results, Jesse Bassett went 3-1 in pool play. He was pinned in his first match, then beat his next three opponents, two by pin and one by points. He advanced through the 112-pound tournament bracket to the championship match, losing to Jay Stine of Worland for a second-place finish.
Jackson Bassett took fourth place in the 125-pound weight class. He started off 3-1 in pool play and after wrestling through the bracket, he beat Laith Wilson of Livingston, Mont., for third place.
Ethan Croft wrestled his way to place third at 145 pounds. In pool play, Croft was 2-1. He beat David Russell of Wheatland for the third-place finish. Mickelson said Croft’s match against the returning state champ from Kelly Walsh was a good effort, though Croft lost the match.
Dino Collins went undefeated in pool wrestling, pinning his four opponents. In the bracket, he lost to Jake Homer of Natrona County for fourth place.
Jared Asay, at 215 pounds, was 3-1 after pool matches. He lost to Andrew Marcelli of Natrona County to place fourth.
Darren Ballard went 2-2 and Ryan Croft went 1-3 in pool wrestling.
The varsity team finished in sixth place with 130.5 points, beating Rocky Mountain by just a half of a point. Powell won the tournament with 327 points, followed by Natrona County (259.5), Greybull (186.5), Worland (176.5), Wheatland (166) and Lovell.
JV results:
In pool wrestling, Nathan Grant went 3-1, Chris Wedde went 2-2, Adam Beck went 4-0, pinning all of his opponents, Jacob Beck pinned three opponents to go 3-0, Dimas Patina was 1-2, Nathan Ballard 1-3, Eli Moody 1-3, Jacob Asay 0-4 and Mark Grant 4-0 with four pins.
“I was surprised with the JV kids,” Mickelson said. “They went after it. Some of them were tougher than some of the varsity kids.”
Mickelson said the team did fine in pool play, but they met some tough competition during bracket wrestling. He said he was happy with the number of Bulldogs who placed in the top four for JV, and in the top six for varsity.
One good thing Mickelson noted from a lot of his wrestlers was that they were shooting off the whistle, instead of locking up with their opponent right away. He said the Bulldogs had some success with that technique not because they took great shots, but because they were aggressive right off the whistle.
During practice Monday, Mickelson and his assistant coaches talked to the team about finishing the moves they start, wrestling on their toes and positioning while trying to control their opponent in a half nelson.

The Lovell Bulldogs will head to the Shoshoni Duals this weekend where they will face many smaller schools including Shoshoni, Rocky Mountain and Greybull, Mickelson said.