Sheridan picks up dual win at East
Feb. 4—CHEYENNE — Sammy Sanchez wasn't sure how well he'd wrestle when Cheyenne East hosted Sheridan on Friday night.
The 106-pounder had been sick all week, and wasn't able to practice as hard as he is accustomed to doing. That wasn't a problem.
Sanchez padded his lead over Sheridan's Cache Wood with a pair of third-period takedowns, and finished the match with a pin in 5 minutes, 49 seconds, during East's 46-27 dual loss.
"(Wood) was already tired, so I was trying to push the pace in the third and get some takedowns," Sanchez said. "I was sick for a couple days, so my cardio wasn't what it should have been. I still had enough to make it through."
Sanchez led 3-0 after the first period, thanks to a technical violation and a takedown. He pushed the advantage to 4-0 with an escape early in the second. However, Wood trimmed the lead to 5-2 after the second period. Wood notched an escape early in the third to cut Sanchez's advantage to 5-3.
Sanchez scored a takedown with 1:27 remaining in the bout. He added another takedown with 21 seconds left after Wood slipped while attempting a throw, giving him a 9-4 lead.
"I didn't expect to get a pin in that match, but (Wood) tried a head-and-arm, and I was able to take him to the mat and get the pin," Sanchez said.
Sanchez's win was one of just four for the Thunderbirds. Hayden Van Dell (195 pounds) scored a pin at the 5:55 mark, and Liam Fox (145) also notched a pin. Lance Davis (220) picked up a 5-0 victory. East also got six points from a forfeit.
East was short-handed at a handful of weights, coach Thad Trujillo said.
"We've had a little bit of a broken lineup for a couple weeks with kids hurt," Trujillo said. "Some of those guys would have gone if we were a little bit later in the season, but we need them to get healthy.
"We had some young guys who were always JV, but are figuring out how to be varsity wrestlers. The freshmen we have are trying hard and taking chances. We wrestled hard, but had some areas that showed our youth."
Complete results of the East girls' dual with Sheridan weren't available because those bouts were contested during the final few matches of the boys dual. Senior 120-pounder Emmaray Van Dell scored a pair of wins on the night.
Classmate Elizabeth Grube's 135-pound bout with Paityn Covolo was back-and-forth before Grube scored a pin at the 1:41 mark. Grube posted a takedown early in the first before Covolo evened the score 2-2 with a reversal.
Covolo pulled ahead 5-2 with a three-point near-fall. Grube scrambled out of that for a reversal to cut the lead to 5-4. Grube was able to turn that scramble into a pin.
"I freaked out when I was on my back and just tried to make the best of what I had," Grube said. "I just scrambled, and it worked out."
East hosts Campbell County at 9 a.m. today. It wrestles Thunder Basin at 11 a.m.
SHERIDAN 46, EAST 27
170 pounds: Grooms, Sheridan, major dec. Olson, 14-2; 182: Custis, Sheridan, pinned J. Zahm, 5:26; 195: H. Van Dell, East, pinned Vela, 5:55; 220: Davis, East, def. Justice, 5-0; 285: Green, East, forfeit; 106: Sanchez, East, pinned Wood, 5:49; 113: Osborne, Sheridan, pinned Gonzalez, 2:51; 120: Powers, Sheridan, forfeit; 126: Wood, Sheridan, pinned Be. Whitright, 3:12; 132: Rager, Sheridan, def. Mansur-Holaday, 7-0; 138: Goss, Sheridan, def. Sellnow, 6-0; 145: Fox, East, pinned Hansen, 5:46; 152: Crow, Sheridan, pinned Jonas, 2:15; 160: D. Steel, Sheridan, pinned Orellana, 1:47.
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
