The Evanston High School wrestling team hosted 3A powerhouse Star Valley last week in the team’s regular-season finale, winning five matches and taking time before the event to honor its seniors.

The Red Devils now have their sights set on the 4A West Regional Tournament at Natrona County High School in Casper this weekend, with the 4A State Tournament looming on the horizon. The state meet is held at the Casper Events Center, which will mark the second trip to Casper in as many weeks for the Red Devil wrestlers who qualify.

“It is what it is,” EHS head coach Larry Wagstaff said about back-to-back trips across the state. “No use complaining about it, it’s not gonna change. The kids just have to be ready to go, and they’re used to being on the road.”

Wagstaff added that his wrestlers, many of whom have a legitimate chance at making the podium at state,  are looking forward to the regional tournament; the top eight wrestlers in each weight class at regionals qualify for the state meet.

“A lot of our kids are excited [for regionals],” he said. “They want to perform and place, so they can continue to go on to state. This group of kids have worked extremely hard.”

At last week’s dual against Star Valley, senior wrestlers Rigden Wagstaff, Eric Orozco and Bryson Davis were honored before the start of the meet.

Also honored was team statistician Payton Woodward, who coach Wagstaff called “an invaluable asset to the wrestling program in her four years with the team.”

“Payton is a fun girl, has a great personality,” Wagstaff said. “She’s been one of those people that when you ask them to do something, they’re right there to get it done.”

Star Valley 42,

Red Devils 27

In last week’s regular-season finale, the Red Devils gave perennial 3A powerhouse Star Valley all they could handle, winning five of 13 matches and losing close decisions in two others.

“I thought our kids wrestled really well,” Wagstaff said. “As you look at Star Valley, they’re the top-ranked team in 3A, and a lot of those kids are ranked 1 or 2 in the state. We battled with them and beat some of them, and we were in three of those other matches. I thought they performed well in front of the home crowd.”

Senior Rigden Wagstaff, currently ranked sixth in the state in 4A at 170 pounds, got the first win of the night for Evanston, pinning Star Valley’s Carson Vandeburg in under a minute.

“Rigden is heading in the right direction,” coach Wagstaff said. “He definitely has some potential, and I think he has the desire, so we look for him to have a good regional tournament.”

At 285 pounds, Red Devil senior Eric Orozco, ranked third in the state in 4A, also made short work of his opponent, pinning Star Valley’s Carter White at 1:12 of the first round.

“Eric has really come a long way in the four years we’ve had him,” Wagstaff said. “He’s getting so he can handle those bigger guys.”

Walker Wilson, at 106 pounds, picked up Evanston’s third win of the night, winning a close 6-4 decision over Star Valley’s Boaz Simpson. Wilson is unranked heading into the regional tournament, though Wagstaff believes the freshman can make some noise.

“Walker wrestled a really good match, he won that one right at the end,” Wagstaff said. “He came back and reversed that kid — it was a good, close match all the way through. He’s a freshman for us, and he’s worked extremely hard. He’ll do well; he has a good future for us.”

The most exciting match of the night may have been at 132 pounds, between Evanston’s Quinton Elmer and Star Valley’s Joseph Thompson. Thompson seemed to have control of the match, nearly pinning Elmer on a couple of occasions, before Elmer flipped the script and pinned Thompson for the win.

“Quinton ended up pinning that kid [Thompson], and that kid was beating Quinton pretty good,” Wagstaff said. “He [Elmer] was able to get a reversal and catch him and put him away.

“Matches like that are pretty exciting, but on the other hand, for the kid who loses, it’s pretty disheartening. But that’s why we play sports — you don’t know the outcome for certain, it’s not predetermined.”

Ranked third in the state at 138 pounds, Kendell Cummings was responsible for the Red Devils’ final win on the night, pinning Star Valley’s Brayden Andrews at the 4:53 mark.

Andrews is ranked No. 1 in the state in 3A at 132 pounds; he bumped up a weight to face Cummings.

“Kendell got pretty physical in that match, which is good,” Wagstaff said. “He [Cummings] is a pretty good technician. He wrestled a good, strong kid and dominated the match physically.”

Red Devils who came up just short against the visiting Braves included Brandon VanGieson, who lost a close 5-2 decision to Star Valley’s Jacob Guild at 113 pounds. Guild is ranked No. 2 in the state in 3A.

At 120 pounds, fourth-ranked Jaxin Moore lost a 6-3 decision to Star Valley’s Waylon Nelson, ranked third in the state in 3A.

The Red Devils are at Natrona County in Casper today (Friday) and Saturday for the 4A West Regional Tournament, with state the following week.