Lovell Mustangs face out-of-state competition in Laurel

The Lovell Mustangs sprang into action at a tournament in Laurel, Montana, last Saturday.
“The meet went good with there being 27 teams and 400 kids from across Montana and Wyoming attending,” coach Joey Bassett said.
The team saw new opponents and fought hard to gain a place in their brackets. Bassett wanted to show appreciation for sixth grader Wyatt Blank for his good sportsmanship this weekend, which the referee highlighted him for.
Anthony Garcia stepped into the 124-127-pound weight bracket on Saturday aiming to win. After pinning two of his opponents to land him in the finals, Garcia pinned Trey Leuthold of Laurel Middle School in 42 seconds to land him in first place.
Hunter Krei grabbed the top spot in the 132-136 weight division, going 3-0. Pinning his first two opponents brought him into the finals, where he won by a 7-5 decision over Sullivan Booth of Sheridan Middle School.
“Krei and Anthony earned their wins this weekend,” Bassett said. “They had some hard matches and still dug deep to get the win.”
Bassett also wanted to acknowledge Vada Schmidt’s performance Saturday as she took second place in the 108-117 Women’s weight division. With the Laurel Invitational being a large tournament, Bassett noted, “Schmidt is a fast learner, especially with this being her first year.”
Other placers at the Laurel Invitational included:
Third Place: Joseph Durfee, Division 76 – 80, 3-1 record; Andrew Entrel, Division 133 – 139, 4-1 record.
Fourth Place: Wyatt Blank, Division 77 – 84, 2-2 record; Evan Rusch, Division 82 – 90, 2-2 record; Brayden Harris, Division 101 – 105, 3-2 record; Taevyn Gruell, Division 163 – 174, 2-2 record.
This Tuesday, the Lovell Mustangs will wrestle a triangular meet in Cowley against Greybull/Riverside and Rocky Moutain at 4 p.m. Bassett hopes this event will create some high morale for the team, stating, “Pulling some wins will hopefully create some good confidence heading into Conference.”