East's Charlie Green feels at home on a wrestling mat

Dec. 13—CHEYENNE — Charlie Green was ready to quit wrestling after his sophomore year.

The Cheyenne East senior didn't enjoy the sport and didn't think he was particularly good at it, so he was going to finish the season and bury his wrestling shoes deep in his closet. Those plans changed when he finished fifth at the Class 4A state tournament. "That felt pretty good, and let me know I could do a lot better," Green said.

However, there came a point last winter when Green again found wins hard to come by and started to consider moving on from wrestling at the end of the season.

Green closed the year with a flourish, winning six of his last eight bouts to finish the season with a 40-12 record and as state runner-up in the 285-pound weight class.

The only two losses down the stretch were to Thunder Basin senior Lane Catlin, who now wrestles for the University of Wyoming.

Getting one step from the top of the podium showed Green he belonged on a wrestling mat. It deepened his passion for the sport, which is why he decided to wrestle through the pain of a left shoulder injury when East opened its season with a pair of home tournaments.

Green posted a 6-0 record across the dual and bracketed portions of the Charlie Lake Invitational. He won three of those bouts by pin, which earned him Prep Athlete of the Week honors from WyoSports' Cheyenne staff.

Green pinned senior Landon Hanes of Sidney, Nebraska, in 1 minute, 9 seconds during the Charlie Lake championship late Saturday night. He notched a takedown on a scramble midway through the first period and then caught Hanes in a bad position that allowed Green to pull Hanes directly to his back and into position for the pin.

"That's a move I had done countless times to me by (former East assistant coach Riley) Stringer," Green said. "He taught me that move, and I was finally able to use it."

Green's initial takedown came when he used his quickness to circle behind Hanes. Heavyweights aren't known for being nimble. Green is an exception to the rule, and uses it to his advantage.

"I did a lot of ladder drills and other footwork drills to improve my quickness and agility," Green said. "At the end of my sophomore year, I started to notice that stuff paying off, so I kept doing it."

Getting quicker has helped Green finish off more shots and become a more offensive wrestler.

"He doesn't look like he'd be able to move all that fast, but he's explosive when he attacks legs," East coach Thad Trujillo said. "He's really cleaned up his finishes. There were times last year he was quick to get in and then kind of hung out and had a lot of weight put on him.

"He did a great job this weekend of coming right up into his finish after taking his shot."

Trujillo wasn't surprised to hear that Green considered quitting wrestling during his sophomore year. Green's freshman year was spent wrestling under protocols designed to curb the spread of COVID-19. He also was forced to frequently practice with Gavyn Aumiller, who finished fourth in the state as a junior in 2021 and second as a senior in 2022.

"He took his lumps and wasn't really enjoying practice because he wasn't having success," Trujillo said. "Aumiller really got after him in practice and didn't take it easy on him. It's hard to find the joy in getting beaten up in practice every night.

"Getting that state medal really boosted (Green's) confidence."

Trujillo has seen a lot of athletes say they're skipping football season because they want to focus on wrestling. Many of those athletes don't see the inside of the wrestling room much more than they would have if they'd kept playing football.

Green was an exception when he hung up his football cleats prior to his junior season. He was a fixture at open mat time in the wrestling room and wrestled in several open tournaments in the area. That commitment sparked the leap Green made during his junior campaign.

This summer, Green traveled to tournaments in California, Colorado, Idaho and Iowa. Each stop showed him something new.

"There are different styles of wrestling in different areas of the country," Green said. "The people I wrestled taught me how to do throws better or learn to sprawl better. I either perfected something or learned something new at almost every tournament."

Green no longer questions whether he should be spending his weekends pulling the straps of a singlet over his shoulders. His results have proven to him he's meant to be on a wrestling mat.

"It has validated my reasons for staying with wrestling," he said.

Others recognized for their efforts include:

n Jordynn Brennan, girls basketball, Cheyenne South: The senior averaged 12.3 points to help the Lady Bison go 1-2 at the Oil City Tip-off in Casper.

n Caleb Brewer, boys swimming, South: The senior placed second at the Gillette Pentathlon by winning the 100-yard freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly and placing second in the 50 freestyle.

n Liam Fox, Colby Olson and Kozad Porter, boys wrestling, Cheyenne East: Fox, a junior, went 7-2 on the week and capped it with a 4-0 mark at the Charlie Lake Invitational. He won the 157-pound title with a pin, a major decision and a technical fall.

Olson, a senior 190-pounder, went 6-1 with four pins on the week. He was second at Charlie Lake.

Porter, a freshman 132-pounder, was 7-1 with six points and a major decision. That included a 3-0 record and championship at Charlie Lake.

n Kaiana Garlough and Meadow King, girls wrestling, Central: Garlough a senior 120-pounder, was 2-1 and placed second at the Charlie Lake Invitational.

King, a senior 145-pounder, was 3-1 with three pins during her second-place finish at Charlie Lake.

n Gracin Goff, Halley House, Bree Padilla, Kaelyn Ronnau and Azlyn Silva, girls wrestling, East: Goff, a senior, went 2-1 with two pins to place second in the 235-pound bracket at the Charlie Lake Invitational.

House, a freshman, was 4-1 with four pins to finish third at 135 pounds at Charlie Lake.

Padilla, a junior 100-pounder, was 3-1 with three pins to take third at Charlie Lake.

Ronnau, a sophomore, was 3-1 with three pins to place second in the 155-pound bracket at Charlie Lake.

Silva, a freshman 115-pounder, went 4-1 with four pins to take third at Charlie Lake.

n Drew Jackson, boys basketball, East: The senior averaged 23.3 points to help the Thunderbirds go 3-0 at the Strannigan Classic in Riverton.

n Izzy Kelly and Karson Tempel, girls basketball, Central: Kelly, a junior, averaged 12.5 points to help the Lady Indians go 3-1 at the Strannigan Classic in Riverton.

Tempel, also a junior, averaged 17.8 points in those contests.

n Mason Medley, boys basketball, Burns: The junior averaged 21.5 points to help the Broncs go 1-3 at the Burns Winter Classic.

n Bradie Schlabs, girls basketball, East: The senior guard averaged 15 points to help the Lady Thunderbirds go 4-0 at the Strannigan Classic in Riverton.

n Trinity Warner, girls wrestling, South: The junior 100-pounder went 4-0 with three pins to win the Charlie Lake Invitational.

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.