Herd place 9th at Douglas Invite; Matthews, Jones lead A squad

Wrestlers grappled their opponents to the mat with aggression and parents yelled with excitement from the stands. A few feet off the mats, teammates and coaches shared words of encouragement as spectators filled the stands for the annual Douglas Middle School Invitational.
For the first time, the largest middle school tournament in the state featured over 500 wrestlers - 524 to be exact.
The annual invitational brought together 20 schools this year from all across the state and even Nebraska. Glenrock finished in ninth place with 69 points as Dayton Matthews and Logan Jones led the A squad.
Jones took third at the 115 pound weight class, winning by a 4-1 decision over Ezekial Yutzy of Rawlins in the third-place match. At 127 pounds, Matthews claimed the top spot with a defeat by 6-1 decision over Holden McConkey of Newcastle.
In the heavyweight class, Rylan Orozco took third with a win by fall over Alejandro O’Brien of Casper Classical Academy. The Herd also placed six wrestlers among the B squad. Adam Johnson took second at the 77-81 weight class, winning by fall over Jeremiah Sydow of CY in Casper. Alex Cerny took second at the 92-95 class with a defeat by fall over Mason Medina of Torrington.
At the 92-93 class, Gavin Zieger took second with a win by a 5-2 decision over Mason Igo of Douglas. Jacob Coziahr claimed fourth at 103-106, Charles Schowengerdt took fourth at 128-131 and Mas Coultrer rounded things out with a fourth place finish in the 160-167 class.
Glenrock returns home Saturday for the Herder Duals followed by Andy’s Mixer in Gillette Nov. 19.