The hype leading into this year’s wrestling season was massive after the hot streak the Cougars carried with them into the state wrestling tournament last year. With many key starters returning to wrestle on the 2010-2011 team, the team had high aspirations going into this year.

The team had high hopes going into the state tournament after many fellow wrestlers qualified for the state tournament with top finishes in the regional tournament.

“We did so great. We had expected only a few qualifiers and ended up qualifying eight.” Senior Cougar wrestler Matt Vanausdall had to say about the team’s finish.

Most of the wrestlers did not perform as expected at the tournaments as the highlight came when only two of the Cougar wrestlers finished with medals at the Class 6A wrestling state tournament in Park City. Senior Ross Whitmore ended his high school career with a third place finish. The bigger surprise came when senior Mark Sample rode a win streak all the way to the finals match. He was handed his first loss as Leavenworth’s Nathan Butler pinned him in the second period. Sample finished second in the state tournament after only a few years of wrestling experience.