The Gering wrestling team captured its final home dual of the season in fine fashion Thursday, powering past Torrington, Wyo., 53-15 at Gering High School.

"I think the kids looked pretty good," Gering assistant coach Ryan Barrett said. "We still have some things to work on, but overall they're really coming around and putting things together."

The Bulldogs' Damian Hort started things off at 120 pounds with a pin over Torrington's Shane Brown.

The Trailblazers, however, bounced back at 126 when freshman Justin Polkowski overcame a quick takedown by Gering's Kyle Hemphill to pick up the first-period pin and knot the team score at 6-6.

However, Gering steamrolled from there.

A first-period pin by Jose Anaya over Torrington's Anthonie Conner and a forfeit at 138 vaulted the Bulldogs out to an 18-6 advantage. Francisco Garcia then earned a technical fall over Torrington's Isidro Cortez, 24-9, at 145 to extend the lead to 23-6.

Gering's Bryce Burkhardt was given all he could handle against Torrington's Benjamin Loya. Burkhardt, though, pulled out a 7-5 decision.

Loya scored a late takedown in the first period to take a 3-2 advantage into the second. However, after Loya scored on an escape early in the second period, Burkhardt evened things up at 4-4 after four minutes and opted to take down to start the third period.

Burkhardt took advantage of an escape early in the third and scored a takedown midway through the period to seal the win.

Cruising 26-9 at that point, Gering's Avery Petit needed only one minute to record a pin over Torrington's Michael Newman, putting the Bulldogs up 32-9 with four matches to go.

Barrett lauded Petit's improvement over the past few weeks.

"Avery Petit has really turned things up over the past few weeks," Barrett said. "His conditioning is really starting to show, and he goes after whatever move he can get right away."

Torrington's Evan Ponce picked up six more points for his team with a Gering forfeit at 182, and 195 was open on both sides.

Thomas Jacobs kept the momentum going for Gering at 220 with another first-period pin in 1:16 over Torrington's Jose Martinez.

"Tom Jacobs is another one that's really tough," Barrett said. "He's stronger than an ox, and it really wears on a lot of kids. He really puts things together and has gotten better over the last year."

Baily Hort added another forfeit win to the team score, giving the Bulldogs a 50-15 advantage with one match to go.

Gering's Joe Ybarra got things going in the second period scoring two takedowns to extend his lead on Patrick Carr to 6-2. A takedown in the final period sealed Ybarra's 8-2 victory.

Torrington assistant coach Dean Sims, who was filling in for an absent Doyle Meyer, said that despite the loss, he likes where the Blazers are at right now.

"We're fortunate to have the kids we do have," Sims said. "They seem to fit each and every one of those slots. It's not like we have 20 kids that only fit into five slots. [It's] a blessing."

Sims went on to praise Gering.

"Gering is a really sweet team. I think they really looked sharp," Sims said. "I wouldn't take anything away from our kids, but Gering looked really good. I think some of our kids didn't look as good as they should have, but it's all part of the game."

Gering 53, Torrington 15

120 - Damian Hort, Gering, pinned Shane Brown, Torrington, 3:00

126 - Justin Polkowski, Torrington, pinned Kyle Hemphill, Gering, 1:05

132 - Jose Anaya, Gering, pinned Anthonie Connor, Torrington, 1:43

138 - Quentin Timblin, Gering, won by forfeit.

145 - Francisco Garcia, Gering, won by technical fall over Isidro Cortez, Torrington, 24-9

152 - Bryce Burkhardt, Gering, dec. Benjamin Loya, Torrington, 7-5

160 - Andrew Jarvis, Torrington, dec. Jessy Richard, Gering, 14-8

170 - Avery Petit, Gering, pinned Michael Newman, Torrington, 1:00

182 - Evan Ponce, Torrington, won by forfeit.

195 - Open.

220 - Thomas Jacobs, Gering, pinned Jose Martinez, Torrington, 1:16

285 - Alex Closson, Gering, won by forfeit.

106 - Baily Hort, Gering, won by forfeit.

113 - Joe Ybarra, Gering, dec. Patrick Carr, Torrington, 8-2