Proving they’re still the team to beat in Class 2A, the two-time defending 2A State Champion Kemmerer High School wrestling team posted a 5-3 record over the weekend at the Thoman Soda Ash Memorial Duals in Green River, placing third in Pool D, and 10th out of the 24 teams that competed.

The Lady Rangers — enjoying a very productive Year Two of sanctioned girls’ wrestling in Wyoming — placed fourth overall, with four wrestlers — Rylie Meyer, Laynee Walker, Kaylie Julander and Lynsie Julander — winning titles in their respective weight classes.

“Our girls had a great weekend, with four out of the five winning it,” said KHS head coach Darrell Bullington. “They look tough, I’ll tell you what — I just wish we had a few more. Our boys wrestled well — we had some kids that were sick, but the kids that filled in wrestled well. Most of them were freshmen, except for Braxton Pope at 175 pounds. But they competed well.”

The Rangers opened the tournament Friday against a tough Rawlins squad, losing 44-31. Kemmerer bounced back to win back-to-back duals against Rifle (51-27) and Uintah 2 (42-36); the Rangers closed out the day with a 46-30 loss to Cheyenne East and and a 66-0 win over Lyman, a team unable to make the trip due to inclement weather.

The Rangers opened Saturday with a 36-30 dual win over Laramie, but fell to Meeker, 42-27. Kemmerer closed out the duals portion of the tournament with a 63-15 exhibition win over South.

“We hung with some of those teams that wrestled tough, like Cheyenne East,” Bullington said. “Meeker is a pretty tough team, and we hung in there. I was pleased with how we wrestled — we’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously, but we’re getting there. We’ve felt like we’ve made some strides.”

Ranger 157-pounder Gabe Emery went undefeated for the tournament, and won the Best of the Best title for his weight class, pinning Uintah’s Talon Stevenson in the second round for the overall championship.

“Gabe was sick last weekend — we’ve gone through this crud the last two weeks, a lot of the kids have been hit with it,” Bullington said. “So Gabe didn’t wrestle last week, and he’s still not quite 100% — you can tell. But he wrestled well. He’s wrestling tough.”

Graison Kelley at 165 pounds (7-1), Tanner Schramm at 190 pounds (7-1) and Owen Barton at 215 pounds (5-1) lost just one match each for the tournament, narrowly missing a chance to wrestle for Best of the Best honors.

Other Rangers with notable performances included Derek Hagler at 285 pounds (6-2), Hunter Batista at 120 pounds (5-2), Heston McMillan at 126 pounds (5-3), Braxton Pope at 175 pounds (4-3) and Bryce Brown at 132 pounds (4-4).

Abel Jiminez (106 pounds), Cole Rogers (138 pounds), Logan Emery (138 pounds) and Michael Symons (144 pounds) also contributed to the effort by winning matches.

Four Lady Rangers win titles

The Lady Rangers wrestling program had a fantastic weekend in Green River, placing fourth overall as a team, with four of the five wrestlers who competed winning championships in their respective weight classes.

Grantsville won the team title with 243 points, followed by Pinedale in second with 150 points and Campbell County with 117 points. Kemmerer and Green River rounded out the Top 5 in the 17-team field with 105 points and 94 points, respectively.

“The girls are working really hard,” Bullington said. “They’re wrestling a lot better on their feet, and they’re really getting after it. They’re wrestling a lot more methodical, scoring when they should. Their aggressiveness was a lot better in this tournament, overall. Watching those girls in the finals, they really put it on ‘em.”

Lady Ranger Rylie Meyer won the title at 100 pounds, posting a 4-0 record, with three wins by pin. Meyer pinned Grantsville’s Zivah Sires in the third round of the finals to claim the championship.

After receiving a first-round bye at 120 pounds, Laynee Walker pinned her next three opponents en route to the title, including a pin over Green River’s Lily Harris in the finals to win the championship.

At 140 pounds, Kaylie Julander Kaylie Julander received a bye in the opening round, then pinned Laramie’s Sherian Crabtree in the semifinals to advance to the finals. Julander won the championship with a pin of Campbell County’s Karlie Balfanz.

Lynsie Julander posted a 3-0 record at 145 pounds, pinning her first two opponents to advance to the finals against Grantsville’s Courtney Mecham. Julander won the championship with a 9-2 decision over Mecham.

Lady Ranger Fatima Gulalai wrestled hard, and finished with a 0-2 record.

The KHS wrestling teams will head to Lander this weekend for the Lander Invitational, featuring a solid mix of 2A and 3A schools from around the region.

“It’s a good tournament,” Bullington said. “The kids will get a lot of matches, so I hope it gives us a chance to get some of our kids healthy and back on track.”