State Champs!

State Champs!

By BRENDAN BURNETT-KURIE

Some stood, some crouched, some leapt. Some screamed, some smiled, some wept. Some hugged teammates, some hugged family, some hugged coach. Some couldn’t believe it, some always believed it, some still didn’t believe it.

Yet they were united in a common belief: Hard work will pay off in incredible ways. And they were united by their new title: State Champions.

The Douglas wrestling team had a motto this season, a simple idiom which they recited before every meet and practice.

“Train to Win.”

Before the 3A State Wrestling Championships started, they gathered together. For the last match, the final mountain, the home stretch, there was a new maxim.

“We’ve trained all year. Now let’s win.”

Win they did.

***

The Bearcats claimed their first state wrestling championship since 1999, clinching in thrilling, breath-taking, nail-biting fashion as they scratched back from 26.5-points down with six weights to go to beat Powell 275.5-274.5 in Casper Feb. 27. Worland finished third with a score of 207.5.

“This is the most amazing feeling ever,” Trent Boner said. “I’m speechless. I’ve never felt something like this, ever.”

“Amazing, incredible, the best ever,” Colter McNare described his feeling of elation. “For me, this is better (than football). (Coach Bob) Bath is such a great guy and a great coach. I think he deserves it.”

The Bearcats earned pins in four of the final six weights – and wins in five of them – as no Bearcat could lose down the stretch if they wanted to see their dream of a state title burst to fruition.

“It just couldn’t have been a better ending,” Bath said. “To come back like that and have all those kids contribute, it’s just like when we won it last time in 1999. We had to pin in the finals to win it.”

Douglas had five wrestlers crowned individual champions, tying a school record set in 1975. Seniors Houston Falkenburg (152 lbs.), Pierre Etchemendy (171 lbs.) and McNare (189 lbs.) won, with Etchemendy and McNare winning their second straight state titles and Falkenburg in the finals for the third straight season. They were joined by juniors Boner (215 lbs.) and Joe Lake (HWT). Boner reached the finals last year while Lake spent most of this season wrestling on JV behind Boner.

“It was just special for Houson, for Colter, for Pierre,” Bath said. “They’re just an amazing group of kids. I just loved working with them. They worked hard. It paid off.”

Sophomores Reed Burgener (130 lbs.) and Lane Read (140 lbs.) both finished second, losing to Powell wrestlers in the finals. Douglas tied a school record (set last year) with seven in the finals. The Bearcats had finished second at state the last three years, the last two behind Powell.

“We’ve been right there for a number of years,” Bath said. “That makes it nice. I’m just speechless. I’m so happy for these kids because they’re such a good group of kids and they work so hard. They all contributed. That’s what’s special about it. All of them did their part.”

Freshman Raymond Geho (103 lbs.) and senior Kevin Baker (119 lbs.) finished third while sophomore Tanner Miller (145 lbs.) was fourth. Sophomores Cody Estes (112 lbs.) and Zac Owens (160 lbs.) and freshman Jake Lake (171 lbs.) finished sixth.

Mighty Joe Lake

In the end, it all came down to Lake at heavyweight. With Douglas trailing by five, he needed a major decision (worth 5.5 points) or a pin (6 points) to give Douglas the win.

On days he has to weigh-in, Lake awakes hoping to weight 186 lbs. From there, he can drink enough water to reach the 190 lb. benchmark he needs in order to qualify as a heavyweight.

As he took the mat with an air of confidence, he found himself in the shadow of 280-lb. Ryley Dawson of Rawlins. As Falkenburg would later point out, it was a modern-day version of David and Goliath.

Lake quickly went up 4-0 in the first 1:20, then took a 6-0 lead 28 seconds into the second round. A minute later, Lake flipped Dawson onto his back and shimmied his shoulders to the ground 3:36 into the match.

Chaos ensued. Bath and his coaching staff leapt in the air in pure joy, as the rest of the Bearcat team started hugging as tears flowed freely. Bath had Gatorade cascade over his head as he kept walking around the mat with his hands on his head, apparently in disbelief at the inspirational comeback his team had just completed.

“I told the coaches before the match, ‘Joe’s gonna pin him. Don’t worry. Joe’s gonna pin him. I told my wife that before this ever started,’” Bath said, then paused for a moment as his voice cracked. “I said it was going to come down to the last match and Joe’s going to go out there and pin him. I guess I willed that.”

“I was just so excited and happy,” Lake said of the moment the referee slapped the mat, signaling his pin. “I was so tired, but it was so amazing. Right now it just feels like another win, but I’m sure it will kick in.”

“I knew I had to wrestle my match first and let the pin come later,” Lake went on to say. “I was trying to wear him out in the first period. I knew he’d get tired, and he did.”

“He’s got a lot of heart, that’s all I can say,” Etchemendy said of Lake.

Finals frenzy

Headed into the final round, Douglas trailed Powell by 11.5 points. Powell had eight in the finals and Douglas had seven.

Burgener was the first Bearcat to take the mat, facing off against Powell’s Colt Nix. Burgener –  who finished third last year – fell behind 7-0 in the first round. He eventually lost 19-4.

“He got in on my legs and as soon as he got on top he put his legs in and I couldn’t get him off. He knew he shouldn’t let me on top because he knew I could turn him,” Burgener said. “I was just trying to throw him at the end, trying to get him on his back.”

Burgener was followed by Read at 140 lbs., who was matched up with Powell’s Randy Andrews. Read fell behind 4-0 in the first round and eventually lost 8-0, leaving Douglas trailing by 22.5 with five wrestlers left.

“I couldn’t really do much,” Read said. “I didn’t shoot so I fell behind. I tried a headlock and I slipped. I was down a lot and I just couldn’t get back up.”

Powell stretched its lead to 26.5 as Auston Carter won his fourth-straight state title, championing the 145 lb. weight class with a 3-2 come-from-behind-win over Wheatland’s Tyler Smart.

The Bearcats could still score 30 points with their five wrestlers, leaving a razor-thin margin of error. Douglas would also need Powell’s Cole Kary to lose at 160 lbs., and he obliged, falling in 4:21 to Wheatland’s Dustin Finnerty.

Falkenburg ignited the startling comeback with a 14-3 major decision over Powell’s Jimmy Seckman. If Falkenburg had lost, the Bearcats would have been eliminated.

“I had to win, so it was kind of a big burden on my shoulders to go out there and know that I have to win in order for the team to win,” Falkenburg said. “I just wanted to stay on (Seckman) and attack, attack, attack.”

Still, Douglas trailed by 21 with four wrestlers to go. Etchemendy came out at 171 lbs. and jumped out to a big lead, but he knew he needed a pin to earn the most possible points.

“My bracket wasn’t that tough,” Etchemendy said. “I had to get the pin and I stepped up and did that for the team.”

After building a 14-1 lead, he finally got his pin with 1:44 left in the third round over Thermopolis’ Kyle Larson.

“All we have to do is pin through these last three and we have it made,” Falkenburg said excitedly. “We can come out with five individual champions and a team championship.”

McNare took the mat against Powell’s Monte Nickles at 189 lbs. with Douglas down by 15. McNare had beaten Nickles 13-3 earlier in the year and was hoping for a pin this time around. But by going for a pin, McNare briefly took himself out of his comfort zone and fell behind 2-0 in the first roud.

“I just wanted to pin him so the team could win instead of just wrestling my match,” McNare said. “I was just going for one thing instead of just wrestling.”

Down 3-1 a minute into the second round, McNare snapped out of it, tying the match at 3-3 with a takedown. Nickles went up 4-3 with an escape, then McNare grabbed his first lead at 5-4 with a takedown. With merely 10 seconds left on the clock, Nickles burst out for a final escape to force overtime.

“My hands were just clawing at him, trying to hold him down,” McNare said.

The extra frame started slowly, but with six seconds left, McNare took Nickles down for the much-needed 7-5 win.

“Doing anything I could to win was all I could think,” McNare said.

“Colter and I are as close friends as you can have,” Etchemendy said with his voice faltering. “I was wanting it for him. He deserves it. He worked hard. I was worried, because he knew he could win.”

Douglas still trailed by 11 with two weights left, but it took Boner only 49 seconds to pin Newcastle’s Adam Himrich and pull the Bearcats within five.

“I knew what I had to do,” Boner said. “I had to get a pin. I went out there and I knew I was going to do that. I had to do it for the team.”

That’s when Lake stepped up and etched his name in Bearcat history, igniting one of the most emotional celebrations the Casper Events Center has ever seen.

“The weight that was on Joe’s shoulders? I can only imagine,” Falkenburg said. “This is so amazing. This is the Bearcat’s year.”

The thrill of victory

“It was so exciting, I almost blacked out in a way,” McNare said.

“It feels great,” Etchemendy said. “This is twice (as good) as football. It’s an amazing feeling. Each and every one of us had to go out there and do our part. There wasn’t one person carrying the whole team. It came down to Joe, but every single one of us who got third, who got sixth, everone of us helped us win by one point. Every single match counts. We all came out and worked hard and it’s amazing.”

It was that camraderie, so hard to find in a sport where each individual is on an island while competing, that helped rally the Bearcats in those final minutes.

“Everybody came together as a team,” Boner said. “Everyone cared about everyone and how they did. There’s no individuals. Everything was part of a team.”

The Bearcats also got wins along the way from Ryan Schneible (125 lbs.), Jordan Fenton (135 lbs.), Tim Harris (160 lbs.), Taylor Lisco (189 lbs.) and Cody Dulmus (HWT).

“Those kids, even the ones that didn’t place, but won matches, a Ryan Schneible, a Jordan Fenton, they made the difference,” Bath said. “I don’t know what else to say.”

After taking their spot on the medal stand, the Bearcats took a jubilant ride to Poor Boys Steakhouse, where they celebrated with thick cuts and big smiles.

It didn’t matter how well the steaks were cooked, each bite was perfect. After all, everything tastes better when you’re a champion.