The annual All-Class Ron Thon wrestling tournament in Riverton once again had some all-star, compelling matches.

So we’ll start at 106 pounds as Thomas Dalton of Green River met Landon Wood from Sheridan. This was a battle between 2 freshmen and it wasn’t decided until the 3rd period. Dalton rallied from 2 down to win by 2, 8-6 to get to 27-5 on the year. Wood is 22-17 and there’s a bright future for both of those guys.

Over at 113 pounds, of the bright young stars in Wyoming wrestling is Lyman’s Sefton Douglass. He was a state champion last season as a freshman and has only wrestled 9 times this season. His opponent was another super wrestler in Dominic Martinez of Green River who is also a defending state champion. Douglass wins this one 9-4 and is 9-0 on the year. Martinez, a junior, has a great chance to repeat as 4A state champion and is 22-9.

At 120, it was a duel of Sweetwater County schools as Green River's Clayson Mele met Tim Henry of Rock Springs. Mele won a state title last season at 106 and certainly is energetic on the mat. He was in control of this match and finished with a pin to improve to 23-5 on the season. Henry, a sophomore, drops to 23-7.

Cody Phelps of Pinedale is a defending state champion at 113, now moving up to 126 and looks just as sharp. He had his hands full with Sheridan’s Hunter Goodwin who was a 2nd place finisher at the 4A state championships last year. This was highly competitive with Phelps winning 6-4. He is 28-2 on the year. Goodwin is now 26-14

At 132 pounds, defending state champion Jace Palmer of Kelly Walsh took on Reese Osborne of Sheridan. It took a while but Palmer put the match away in the 3rd period to win 9-4 but it wasn’t an easy endeavor for him or Osborne for that matter. Palmer is a solid, technical wrestler who is 39-6 on the season. Osborne has been solid too with a mark of 32-7.

Over at 138 points. Cyruss Meeks of Natrona was a 2nd place finished last season at state. He took on Noah Hone from Kelly Walsh in the Ron Thon final. Here’s another match that was very close with Meeks winning 6-4 to up his record to 34-6. Hone is a sophomore and is 32-10.

At 145, it was a match-up of two defending state champions. Kelly Walsh’s Analu Benebise won it all last season in 4A at this weight. His opponent was Ridge Briggs of Riverton who was the 3A state champion at this weight. Neither guy gave an inch in this match with Briggs getting an escape in the 3rd period to win 3-2. Matches like this are what the Ron Thon is all about. Briggs is 40-2 on the year. Benebise is 37-5.

Let's move over to 152 pounds and Warren Carr of Thunder Basin is looking to make the next step after finishing 2nd last season at state. He got off to a quick start in his match with Seth Horton of Powell and prevailed 9-1 in a major decision. There’s no shortage of motivation for Carr who is 30-1 on the year. Horton has been excellent this year too at 27-3.

Defending 3A state champion Luke Goncalves of Worland hasn’t missed a beat since last season. He looked sound in his 7-4 win over Seth Dewitt of Wheatland in a matchup of 2 guys that have won 60 matches combined this season. It was a good match and they may see each other again later this season

At 170 pounds, this match featured Blaise Ronnau of Cheyenne Eat taking on Bo Dearcorn of Powell.  At the outset, it was Ronnau with all the momentum getting some quick points in the first period, but things changed, as Dearcorn came up with a pin to win the Ron Thon belt. He goes to 27-3. Ronnau drops to 37-6.

There was another star match at 182 pounds as defending 4A state champion Payton Tucker took on Rowdy Pfeil of Moorcroft. Look at the spin move by Pfeil for 2 and everybody in the crowd made note of that. But Tucker is a tough customer. We saw it last year and we saw it on Saturday as he prevails 5-3 to get to 26-2 on the season. Pfeil is now 31-3 and was a 2nd place finisher at this weight in 2A last year.

Another big-time match was at 195 pounds with defending 3A state champion Trent Clark of Star Valley meeting Ben Banville of Burns-Pine Bluffs. Clark led the whole way but could never really close the door on Banville. Clark gets to the narrow win, 5-4, and improves to 30-4. Branville is now 22-5.

At 220, two defending state champions went at it, as Cody Pinkerton of Douglas met Logan Cole from Thermopolis. Pinkerton is very skilled and that’s an understatement, as he won this match 15-3. Pinkerton has competed in 43 matches this season and remains undefeated. Cole has a ton of talent. The young man from Thermop is now 21-4.

Parker Merritt of Star Valley is another guy who is undefeated this year after a pin of Coy Trainer of Lovell, who took 3rd in 2A at this weight last year at state. Merritt is good at everything he does and improves to 28-0. Trainor in limited action this year is 9-3.

In the team standings at the Ron Thon. Green River finished first with 203.5 points. Kelly Walsh 2nd with 172.5 and Powell was 3rd with 133.

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