East's Goff, Ronnau finish as state runners-up
Feb. 24—CASPER — Cheyenne East senior Gracin Goff wasn't sure she was going to be able to wrestle this season after suffering a knee injury during volleyball season.
The 190-pounder was elated when she was cleared late in the fall because it meant she was going to get the chance to improve upon her state runner-up finish. Goff didn't move up the podium, but she notched another second-place effort after being pinned by Sheridan junior Becca Oetken in 3 minutes, 45 seconds.
"I have nothing to hang my head about," Goff said. "I worked hard for the past two years. You never want to finish second, but I have nothing to hang my head about. I put my best out there on the mat in every match I had. She's a really tough opponent."
Oetken scored a single-leg takedown with 56 seconds remaining in the first period. She added a three-point near fall as time expired to take a 5-0 lead into the second period. Goff chose neutral to start the middle frame and gave up a single-leg takedown early in the second.
Shortly after that, Goff got her only point of the bout when Oetken was called for unnecessary roughness. Oetken turned Goff to her back shortly after the restart and tallied the pin.
"I didn't wrestle as loose as I needed to," Goff said. "I wasn't wrestling my match. I was looking for one thing I thought I needed instead of just wrestling."
Lingle-Fort Laramie/Southeast junior Josie Houk capped an undefeated season by pinning Cheyenne East sophomore Kaelyn Ronnau in 3:44 to repeat as the 155-pound champ. Houk held an 8-2 lead with two takedowns and a pair of two-point near falls in the first period. Ronnau trimmed that in half with a reversal right off the whistle in the second period.
"I knew her leg was right there and I switched," Ronnau said. "I got on top and knew it was time to get to work. I tried to turn her, tried to turn her and tried to turn her and couldn't get it. I was trying to keep her down and get some points."
Houk got a reversal of her own late in the second and turned that into a pin.
"I was in a bad position," Ronnau said. "That's happened all season. It's the same thing I need to work on."
Star Valley repeated as team champion with 163 points. East took sixth at 92, while Cheyenne Central was eighth (71.5 points).
East also had Joci Davis (235 pounds) place fourth and Bree Padilla (100) take sixth.
Central's Kaiana Garlough was third at 115 pounds, Trona Bates (105) was fourth, while Abby Vroman (110) and Carolina Rodriguez (130) were sixth.
Garlough went 5-1 with three four pins on the weekend. She capped her high school career with a technical fall victory over Wind River's Lily Hill.
"This is probably the best I've ever wrestled," Garlough said. "I came into this weekend wanting to leave it all on the mat. That's what got me through. I stopped putting pressure on how I did and just wrestled.
"I stayed aggressive, circled, used my shots and was patient with my pins. ... I accidentally teched her because I was getting a lot of back points and didn't even know it. I've never won that way before, so I'm really proud of myself."
Like Garlough, Bates went into the weekend looking to wrestle free and easy and leave the Wyoming Center with no regrets. She did that, going 4-2 with three pins.
"I was really emotional because this was my last tournament, but I tried to leave it all out there," the senior said. "It's a big tournament and a lot of pressure, but I wanted to relax and leave it all out there.
"There was no coming back for another tournament, so I didn't want to have any regrets. I didn't want to look back thinking about how I should have wrestled different in this tournament."
Burns-Pine Bluffs tied for 31st in the team standings. Freshman Nichole Sumare was the school's first girls state medalist, taking sixth at 145 points.
Junior Trinity Warner finished fourth at 100 pounds to help Cheyenne South take 36th in the 45-team field. Warner lost in the semifinals Friday night, but rebounded with a win Saturday morning before being pinned in the third-place bout.
"I tried to mentally prepare myself and remind myself that the tournament wasn't over after I lost," Warner said. "I knew I was going to place regardless, so I wanted to make it the highest place I could get."
Warner finished the season 26-8 and is the first South girl to medal at state.
"I'm really proud of how I did this year," Warner said. "I went 1-2 and was out early last season, and I wasn't happy about that. It really weighed on me. I'm glad about how I did, especially being one of only two girls here from South."
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Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.
