Rocky Mountain wrestlers place several on the podium in season-opening meets

Rocky Mountain wrestlers opened their season at one of the largest meets they’ll have this year, splitting competition sites over the weekend with the girls competing in Cody and the JV and varsity boys wrestling in Powell.

The meet featured teams from all Wyoming classifications and even included five teams from Montana. The Grizzlies delivered several strong performances across both tournaments, highlighted by podium finishes and valuable early-season experience.

“This weekend was a huge success for our wrestlers,” said head coach Eddie Whiting. “The boys varsity placed ninth out of 19 schools, and the girls placed 20th out of 23.”

On the girls side, Rocky Mountain’s first Burlington female wrestler, Sky Olsen, picked up two wins during Friday’s pool wrestling before advancing to Saturday. Senior Emmilee Wambeke also won two matches on the opening day and continued to battle through a tough second day. Grace McAlhany received a forfeit on Friday and competed in four additional very strong matches over the weekend, while Charlee Anderson won two matches before an injury ended her tournament early.

Girls coach Travis Lytle said Wambeke’s performance stood out, especially after overcoming adversity.

“Emmilee Wambeke wrestled great this past weekend coming off a season-ending injury last year. She wrestled aggressively, scored a lot of points and won several tight matches,” Lytle said. “All of our girls wrestled with a lot of heart and energy this weekend. I saw a lot of good things, and we have plenty to build on moving forward.”

On the varsity boys side, Rocky Mountain had four wrestlers turn in strong matches across multiple weight classes.

“I had four varsity wrestlers with outstanding performances in different aspects, and they really set the tone for us by weight,” Whiting said.

At 120 pounds, Gabe Whiting placed fourth after entering the tournament with a target on his back following a top-two finish at Powell last season.

“Gabe Whiting set the tone for our men’s team with big wins, and you can see he’s starting to feel at home with this group,” Whiting said.

Freshman Benson Jolley wrestled varsity at 138 pounds and cracked the top eight in one of the tournament’s largest brackets.

“Bensen showed tremendous strength and energy as a freshman, and a lot of fight,” Whiting said.

At 165 pounds, senior Triffen Jolley finished fifth in a deep weight class.

“Triffen showed great leadership and toughness in a very competitive bracket,” Whiting said.

Masen Twomey led the way at 215 pounds, placing second overall.

“Masen Twomey was a beast out there,” Whiting said. “He showed great athleticism and skill.”

Several other varsity wrestlers competed in pool wrestling but did not advance to championship rounds. Sam Loyning wrestled at 138 pounds, Colten Bitton at 144 and Zach Unruh at 150, gaining experience against fields that included state placers and returning champions.

The JV boys also gained valuable mat time. Nathan Undem won two matches at 138 pounds, Lucas Undem added a win at the same weight, Michael Broederlow won two matches at 190 pounds and Austin Weller competed at 157 pounds.

Assistant coach Kyler Marchant emphasized effort across the JV lineup.

“Even though some fell short in their matches, I saw nothing but effort and zero quit from all of the junior varsity wrestlers,” Marchant said.

Dalan Wambeke, Lyle Montanez and Alex Walker were sidelined by injuries and did not compete.

“As a team, placing ninth out of 19 varsity teams to start the season is a huge accomplishment,” Whiting said. “We set a mark this weekend, and now we go back to the drawing board and keep climbing our mountain together.”