Bulldog grapplers open season with strong performances

The Lovell Bulldog boys wrestling team opened the season at the Powell Invitational in Powell Friday and Saturday while the girls competed at the Cody Girls Invitational. The tournaments included competition from Class 2A, 3A, 4A and out-of-state schools. Matches began Friday with pool wrestling, a round-robin format used to seed the championship brackets for Saturday.

The junior varsity boys wrestled only on Friday, competing in a round-robin format. Each wrestler faced every opponent in their pool, with final placings determined by overall record.

“The JV wrestled tremendous, picking up a lot of wins,” head coach Ty Hecker said.

Jaxen Baxendale (138) led the JV group by going undefeated in his pool, winning all five of his matches.

“Jaxen is making his case to move up to varsity,” Hecker said.

Taevyn Gruell (285) also placed first, going 4-0. Second-place finishers included Oscar Garcia (138) going 4-1, Zander Stahl (144) going 3-1, Evan Rusch (113) going 2-1 and Zavier Heater (113) going 2-1. Third place went to Issac Blau (157), winning one out of four, and fourth place went to Brayden Harris (132) at 0-4.

The varsity boys competed Friday in pool play, with wins determining who would advance to Saturday’s championship bracket. Owen Hill (165) placed first in his pool, winning all three of his matches. Second-place finishers included Hudsen Mickelson (132) going 2-1, Zayden Stahl (150) going 3-1 and Mason Christenson (144) going 2-2. Tyler Wilkerson (138) earned third place overall, going 1-2. Fourth-place finishers included Hunter Krei (157) going 0-3, Porter Blau (157) going 0-3 and Travis Asay (150) going 0-3. The pool results determined which wrestlers would move on to compete in Saturday’s bracket.

There were four varsity wrestlers who advanced to Saturday’s bracket. Mickelson, Zayden Stahl, Wilkerson and Hill all earned spots based on their pool performances. Mickelson finished as Lovell’s top placer, taking fourth. Coach Hecker credited his success to hard work and technique, saying, “Hudsen has worked hard to become a good wrestler. He won some big matches mainly because he is able to put a far-side cradle on anyone. Hudsen came up short in his last match. It came down to the wire and just slipped through our fingers.”

Zayden Stahl placed sixth in the stacked 150-pound weight class.

“Zayden did some of the best wrestling I have seen him do,” Hecker said. “He was great at hand fighting and had great instincts in the bottom position, scoring a lot of points in scramble situations.”

Hill went undefeated during Friday’s pool matches but was limited on Saturday. Coach Hecker explained, “Owen wrestled awesome going undefeated on Friday, but he injured his shoulder, and I could tell it affected him on Saturday.” Hill and Wilkerson did not place.

Girls tournament

The Lovell girls competed Friday and Saturday at the Cody Girls Invitational. Vada Schmidt, a freshman competing at 125 pounds, earned a second-place finish. 

“Vada is a very tough freshman looking to make a splash this year,” Hecker noted. “She dominated her way into the finals, only falling short to the second-ranked girl from Cody.”

Harley Tillett also finished second, competing at 105 pounds.

“Harley was battling a knee injury but toughed it out and pinned her way to the finals,” Hecker said. “She is very strong and aggressive.” Tillett fell short against the returning state champion from Rock Springs.

The wrestling team will next compete at the Battle in the Big Horns in Worland this weekend, with matches starting at 1 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday.