Lifting the Herd: Arnold takes first at Shatto Invite, Glenrock earns top 2A placing

With a large fan base on hand to take in the annual Shane Shatto Memorial Tournament last weekend in Douglas, senior Ian Arnold helped lift the Glenrock Herders to a seventh place finish and the top overall placing among 2A schools.
After taking fifth at last year’s tournament at 170 pounds, Arnold returned this year at 182 eager to simply go out and enjoy himself on the mat. With a spotless day of wrestling on Saturday and a win in the championship match over Kyle Thurin of Burns by fall, he did exactly that.
“I came in sort of wishing for it,” Arnold said of taking first at the Shatto Memorial. “There’s always a lot of good kids from out-of-state and I think the bigger fan base helped fuel me.
“It was a lot of fun.”
The Herders finished seventh out of 24 teams with 94.5 points at the annual tournament that has long remembered the life of Shane Shatto and over the years become one of the largest and longest running tournaments in the state. Along with Arnold, a number of other wrestlers placed for Glenrock, including Tate Stoddard (second) and Brysen Collier (second).
Following a win by technical fall over Dayton Porter of Thunder Basin in the opening round of Saturday’s matches, Arnold returned in the quarterfinals and defeated Bradley Whitright of Cheyenne East by a fall at the 5:46 mark. His two wins to begin the day set him up for his most challenging match of the weekend in the semifinals.
“I was more worried about facing the guy from Chadron than anyone else,” Arnold admitted. “He was my toughest competition . . . he thumped the two guys before me.”
Giving credit to head coach Nic Dillon for Glenrock’s high level of conditioning, Arnold (18-3) picked up his third win of the day by fall over Clark Riesen of Chadron and earned a spot in the title match.
“He’s having a lot more fun this year,” Dillon said of Arnold. “He’s more relaxed and it’s definitely helping him.
At 120 pounds, three-time state champion Tate Stoddard began Saturday with a win by fall over Jake Hicks of Wheatland. In the quarterfinals, he handled Adam Roberts of Central with ease, winning 12-2.
Stoddard went on to advance to the championship match, but not before facing one of his toughest opponents of the season in the semifinals. In a back and forth affair, Stoddard used his elusiveness on the mat to overcome Adrian Marquez of Castle View (Colorado) for a win by a 5-4 decision.
“Tate knew he wasn’t going to be able to go in there and just roll over that guy,” Dillon said. “To beat a top-25 wrestler the way he did, it was huge for him.”
Facing Amos Solano of Cheyenne East in the first place match, Stoddard (21-2) found himself up against a similar style of wrestler and was outdone by a 5-3 decision for his second loss of the season.
At 138 pounds, Brysen Collier (20-6) fought his way to the championship match after two wins by major decision in the quarterfinals and semifinals. He ultimately fell to Nathan Redman of Lander in the title match by a 3-1 decision, but in the process, turned a corner.
“He wrestled out of his mind,” Dillon said of Collier. “I can’t say enough about how well he did.”
Through the first month of action, Glenrock has shown flashes of greatness and continues to remind schools from around the state why they’ve cemented themselves as a powerhouse program.
The Herders will travel to Torrington on Saturday for a day of duels, looking to continue their strong season.