At one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the region, it’s not uncommon to see the best wrestlers go down in defeat. To win at Ron Thon is to win state. It’s the only weekend all year that you can find every weight class, every school and every wrestler battling for one title. To win your weight class at Ron Thon is to declare you are the best wrestler, without doubt, in the state of Wyoming.

Both the Thunderbird varsity and JV wrestling teams travelled to Riverton for the annual all-state battle the weekend of February 4.

The Ron Thon is the biggest wrestling tournament in the state. More kids attend Ron Thon than they do state.

“It’s one of the bigger tournaments we go to,” said junior Jake Fogg. “And it’s a fun one to compete at.”

East senior Seth Green went 5-0 over the weekend and beat Koa Rodriguez, 2-0, of Riverton for the 160 lb. title.

“Winning the title was exciting,” said Seth. “Rodriguez wrestled tough and was tough to beat.”

East not only had Green grabbing first place but also Jake Fogg (195) and Gunner Bartlett (152) placing in the tournament, both taking 5th.
Central had two wrestlers, Decker Mattimoe (160) placing 4th and Levi Lopez 106) grabbing 5th, while South’s Hunter Deffenbaugh (220) ended with a 6th place finish.

“Ron Thon is a great tournament,” said Green, “The match was long. Roderiguez was the toughest opponent because I couldn’t pin him in the first round.”

As a team, East finished in 12th place with 92.5 points, followed by Central at 17th (76 pts) and South in 26th (33 pts).

Ron Thon Final Team Scores
Star Valley 169.5; 2. Green River 139; 3. Moorcroft 122; 4. Evanston 116.5; 5. Laramie 113.5; 6. Powell 112; 7. Casper Natrona County 109; 8. Casper Kelly Walsh 108.5; 9 Gillette 105.5; 10 Kemmerer 104.5; 11. Glenrock 101; 12 Cheyenne East 92.5; 17. Douglas 84; 14. Worland 83; 15. Sheridan 80; 16. Riverton 79; 17. Cheyenne Central 76; 18. Rock Springs 70; 19. Torrington 51.5; 20. Newcastle-Upton 50.5

Cheyenne East results
106 pounds: Hoskins 0-2; 113: Solano 1-2; 120: Smith 2-2; 132: B. Winchell 1-2; 138: Vossler 0-2; 145: Lopez 1-2; L. Eldridge 1-2; 152: G. Bartlett, fifth, 5-2; 160: Green, first, 5-0; Grube 0-2; 170: Neal 3-2; 182: Alexander 1-2; 195: Fogg, fifth, 5-2; 285: Gross 0-2.