(Riverton, WY) – Parking might be hard to find at Riverton High School this weekend as 43 teams come to town to compete in the annual Ron Thon Memorial Wrestling Tournament.
This tournament is considered better than the all-class state tournament in Casper since every division wrestles against each other.
It’s exciting to see a great wrestler from a small town like Kemmerer or Cokeville meet another from Cheyenne East or Thunder Basin in the finals. Small school wrestlers generally do very well at this event.
The Ron Thon Tournament, named in honor of the late head wrestling coach at Riverton High School and earlier at Wind River High School, will bring 44 teams to the mats this year.
Thon graduated from Lusk High School in 1964 and wrestled varsity for four years at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. He was a beloved educator and coach at Riverton.
The tournament opens on Thursday, with 353 girls entered.
On Friday the boys’ varsity and junior varsity tournaments begin with 386 boys wrestling in the varsity division.
Teams attending are: Big Piney, Buffalo, Burns/Pine Bluffs, Campbell County, Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Cody, Douglas, Dubois, Evanston, Glenrock, Green River, Greybull/Riverside, Jackson, Kelly Walsh, Kemmerer, Lander, Laramie, Lingle-Ft. Laramie/Southeast, Lovell, Lyman, Moorcroft, Mountain View, Natrona County, Newcastle, Pinedale, Powell, Rawlins, Riverton, Rock Springs, Rocky Mountain, Saratoga, Sheridan, Shoshoni, Star Valley, Thermopolis, Thunder Basin, Torrington, Wind River, Worland, Wyoming Indian
All varsity matches, both boys and girls, will be held on the five mats at Riverton High School. Junior varsity competition is at the Riverton Middle School.
Ron-Thon Start Times for Wrestling:
Thursday: (Girls ONLY) – 1:00 p.m.
Friday: (Boys & Girls) – 9:00 a.m.
Saturday: (Boys ONLY) – 9:00 a.m.
Varsity Boys & Girls wrestling will be held at Riverton High School
Junior Varsity wrestling will be held at Riverton Middle School