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You walk in, the gym is packed, but you find a seat; maybe your son or daughter has stretched out a section in the stands. You get a few disapproving looks, but who cares? You’re there to watch your grandson or granddaughter wrestle at the biggest athletic event in Wyoming.
It’s the annual Ron Thon Memorial Wrestling Tournament, featuring the best the state can offer from all three classifications. There aren’t any classes in this tournament. A girl from Dubois might wrestle one from Thunder Basin in the finals. In the early rounds you can guarantee a rangy kid from Cokeville taking the mat against a seasoned, two-time state champion from Cheyenne Central. It’s as good as athletics can get in the Cowboy State.
Before we get into the dynamics of what it takes to hold an event of this magnitude, I’m going to take a few lines to tell the story of the man the tournament is dedicated to, my late friend Ron Thon.
Ron was a Tiger, a Niobrara County High School Tiger, but he always said he was from Lusk (hopefully nobody in Manville reads this). Ron was an outstanding high school wrestler for the Tigers, earning a scholarship to the University of Nebraska where he had a stellar Division I career.
He came to Fremont County, first at Wind River, and then the Riverton Middle School where his infectious humor, captivating grin and deceptive toughness won over the hardest of all ages to teach and work with, the junior school kid.
No one questioned a tournament in Riverton in Ron’s name. He was the essence of wrestling, independent, confident, never cocky and always a smile. He was a genuinely great man, something you can’t say of everyone you meet.
This year’s Ron Thon is a testament to Ron. It will feature 45 teams from the far corners of the state, converging on Riverton for three days of action on the mats.
Recently, the tournament expanded from boys only to a girls’ division. Girl’s wrestling is the fastest growing sport in America.
If you have the opportunity, drop by Riverton High School on Thursday and watch the ladies go at it on the mat. For six minutes, or shorter in most matches, they’re not ladies, they are competitive and aggressive, often wrestling technically superior matches to the boys. No, they’re not as strong, but they may learn moves a little better than the boys on their team and how they interact after matches is definitely different than their male counterparts.
You can watch a pair of girls go at it in a hard-fought match, and then an hour later you’ll see them in the stands, talking and braiding each other’s hair. Don’t make any disparaging comments; the way boys and girls compete, and the way men and women differ in how they interact, is palpable. Yes, they’re kinder, gentler, and more concerned with their opponents’ feelings (thank God), but don’t question their toughness or competitive attitude.
First-year Riverton Activities Director Max Mills is about to orchestrate his first Ron Thon. He’s ready for it. A veteran from Newcastle, Goshen County, and Shoshoni, Max is well prepared for what’s about to happen.
“It takes an army of people to even plan it,” Mills aid. “Vanessa Wigginton, Derek Watson, the Thomans, and Mark Lenhardt are huge contributors. Lenhardt helps out with every aspect of it.”
There are myriad things that few people think about behind the scenes to make an event of this magnitude a success.
People manning the admission tables, vendors, the kids running the concession stand, the officials, the people building the brackets, they’re all important. Without any one of them, the tournament fails.
Last year, there were a few food trucks at the Ron Thon; this year, there will be five, and a coffee truck, thanks to the work of Cindy Roden and the Riverton Chamber of Commerce.
“We have two trucks from Fremont County, two from Powell, and one from Casper,” Roden said. “We’d like to use Fremont County food trucks but two of them went out of business over the last year, and the other one was already booked somewhere else. “
Mills appreciates the work of the community in helping with the tournament.
“Cindi has been awesome,” Mills said. ”We contract with a company to do the shirts and sweatshirts and other apparel. Mark (Lenhardt) designs and orders the awards belts.”
Fashion design is a side of the tough Riverton head football coach you don’t expect to see.
The Riverton High School FCCLA, under the guidance of teacher Kelly Gard, man’s the hospitality room.
That room will be much more popular thanks to the donation of 100 pounds of pulled pork by James Bunker.
How do you get 45 teams to commit to a tournament in Riverton in late January? You start early, that’s how.
“We sent out info in December,” Mills said. “We contact the wrestling coaches. There are some schools that decide not to come, our goal is to get everybody here.”
The tournament opens on Thursday at noon with the girls’ bracket. They should reach the semi-finals by 6 pm. How late the opening day goes depends on how long the kids wrestle in the preliminary and semi-final rounds.
Many boys’ teams come in late Thursday to practice in the gym.
The tournament continues all day Friday and Saturday until 3 or 4 pm.
A dozen mats will be in action. Five in Wolverine Gym, one in the wrestling room, three in the Riverton Middle School Gym, two in the multi-purpose room, and one in the choir room. The mats at Riverton High School are the Wolverines’ property. In the Middle School, you’ll see logos for Shoshoni, Lander, and Wind River on two of the six mats each.
Officials are a big factor.
There will be 18 officials working this year’s tournament.
“We have them coming from Evanston, Lyman, Green River, Cheyenne, Laramie, Moorcroft, Powell, Lander, Worland, and Lovell,” Mills aid. “They’re coming from all across the state.”
“We have a number of vendors, it’s incredible,” Mills said. “We have a new one this year, “Bleachers Bliss. They rent bleacher seats, soft foam padded seats for the weekend.”
The varsity portion of the tournament will be broadcast live on Flowrestling.com.
“Monica Schommer from Hired Intel does all the scoring,” Mills said. “They bring the computers, cameras, everything. She runs the entire meet on the main computer.”
You have 45 teams, some with undefeated wrestlers, how do you seed a bracket with this many quality competitors?
You do it by having a select group of officials and coaches meet on Thursday morning for the girls’ competition that begins at noon, and a Thursday evening session for the Friday and Saturday boys’ tournament.
“It’s a selected group of officials and coaches,” Mills said. “If you get 45 coaches in a room, you’ll be there until 2 am seeding that thing.”
Three full days of the best wrestling Wyoming can offer. If you have the time, drop by Wolverine Gym, you won’t be sad that you did.