WORLAND - So far, so good for the Worland Warriors wrestling team. On the first day of the 3A East regional tournament, the Warriors took care of business Friday night at Worland High School, advancing 11 wrestlers to the semifinals and ending the night in first place with 84 points.

"We had a pretty good day today, I'm excited where we are at and I'm proud of the kids for a job well done. It's fun and exciting and right now we want to make sure we don't have a letdown. We want to continue to build on that momentum. We want to be that team that's consistent and continues to battle. We had some big matches and big confidence boosters and that carries on throughout the whole team," said WHS wrestling coach Josh Garcia.

Earning a spot in the semifinals for the Warriors are 106-pound Kein Anderson, 113-pound Domanic Hartley, 120-pound Adam Bankert, 126-pound Daniel Weyrich, 145-pound Luke Goncalves, 160-pound Lane McBee, 170-pound Peyton Woffinden, 182-pound JR Hofmann, 195-pound Cameron Cabarett, 220-pound Alex Beck and 285-pound Morgan Tigner.

One of the many standouts for the Warriors Friday night was the freshman Anderson. After receiving a bye in the first round, Anderson advanced to the quarterfinals where he matched up against Douglas' Chance Himle.

In the first period Himle held the 5-0 advantage but in the second, Anderson flipped the script. Going on the offensive he was able to get him on his back and finish the match off with a pin, securing his spot in the semifinals.

"That's a huge match for him. It just shows what happens when you have that don't give up attitude at any point. He's a perfect example of that. When I walked over we were down but he was able to shoot a double leg and take that kid to his back and it worked out to his favor. It's nice when you have those kids that are coachable and they listen, it makes things go a lot smoother," said Garcia.

Another standout from Day One action was 195-pound Cameron Cabarett. The junior pinned Buffalo's Morgan Tellock in 1:02 to move on to the semifinals.

"He's a great boy, he shows up to practice and I can always count on him. He's bounced a few different weight classes this year and all he says is 'Yeah coach I'll do it.' He never complains about it. When kids have that kind of attitude it carries through the team. He hadn't beat that kid all year and it's always fun to see when a kid works hard all season and when they get a big win like that is super exciting," said Garcia.

Standings heading into the final day of the 3A East regional meet are as follows, first, Worland 84 points; second, Rawlins 70; third, Douglas 63; fourth, Wheatland 55; fifth, Torrington 54.5; sixth, Hot Springs County 50.5; seventh, Buffalo 42 and eighth, Newcastle/Upton 39.

With the inside track to the regional championship, the focus for the Warriors will be finishing as strong as they started.

"I think that's one of those big roles that come from your senior leaders. When you have leaders like Alex Beck, Morgan Tigner, JR Hofmann and Hayden Johnston the young kids feed off of that. They know that everyone has to step up tomorrow [today] and it's going to be a big challenge. But we've had challenges all year and we're really looking forward to it," said Garcia.

The Hot Springs County Bobcats have four wrestlers in the semifinals, 106-pound Austin Ireland, 152-pound Cullen Becher, 182-pound Logan Cole and 195-pound Austin Weaver, and sit sixth in the standings with 50.5 points.

Day Two of the 3A East regional tournament begins at 9 a.m.