Star Valley continued to dominate 3A wrestling by clinching another state title, which has made it 6 years in a row since they returned home with the equipment. The Braves had guys in the final all over the place and three of them won the gold medal. At 120 pounds, Waylon Nelson beat his teammate Raf Greene 5-1, so Nelson rose through the wrestling ranks to the top. A year ago he was 2nd at 120, and in 2019 he was 3rd at 113. Nelson was solid on the mat with 23 wins in 25 matches.
At 126, Jacob Guild finished a superb season at 27-2 with an 8-3 victory over Charles Snyder of Lander. Guild has honed his skills in a number of ways and he’s also worked his way up the ranks in his prep career. In 2020 he was 2nd at 113 pounds, and in 2019 Guild ranked 3rd at 106.
Haze Child has been a stellar performer for this Brave program, starting with a state championship in sophomore at 120 pounds and another in 2021 at 152. The kid faced reigning state champion Seth Horton of Powell and posted a 7-0 win and it wasn’t. not very easy to do. The kid has gone 27-2 this season with three pins in the state tournament.
We caught up with Child and Nelson after the 3A State Tournament in Casper for their thoughts on another sensational Star Valley season.