Polson wrestlers top Columbia Falls

Casey Dunn

For the Leader

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Polson wrestling team came out of the Christmas holiday break in dominant fashion, beating the Columbia Falls Wildcats 49-28 Tuesday night.

Pirate Shane Ludwick pinned Clayton Patterson in the 98-pound weight class, and then Logan Torgison finned his opponent in the 105 class to start off the evening. Conlin Benson followed up with another pin for the Pirates, but Stephen Feistner fell to Wildcat standout Aric Tarr in the 119 weight class. Tarr lost his first match in more than two years last month.

Polson (8-3) bolted to an early 18-0 lead after three matches and cruised to a victory against the Wildcats, 5-4 on the season.

The Pirates feasted on a young Columbia Falls lineup. The Wildcats had six freshman wrestling.

But Polson wasn't exactly wrestling with a veteran squad either. The Pirates used four freshman, which equaled the number of seniors in the lineup.

Both teams had wrestlers out with injuries, leaving spots open for younger teammates. The less experienced wrestlers created exciting matches.

"It's fun for the crowd but not so fun for the coach sometimes," Polson coach Bob Owen said.

Early in the dual it was the Polson freshmen who shined.

Columbia Falls countered with Aric Tarr's decision against Stephen Feistner and Bo Hader's pin against Beau Nordberg, but Columbia Falls trailed 18-9.

In the next four matches, each team had a couple wins. Polson's Kaine Zetterburg and Pat Dellwo got victories, while Dalvin Averill and Ryan Buck won for Columbia Falls.

Then the Pirates put the dual out of reach. Polson's Ryley Duford pinned Brighton Hollis at 152 and Logan Kugler won by major decision against Derek Wolf.

"We wrestled a little bit better at a few weights than I expected," Owen said.

The Pirates added a forfeit victory at 170 to take a 43-16 lead.

Beau Nordberg lost to Cat Bo Hader, but Kaine Zetterberb put the Pirates back on top by beating Keyvin Walter, 7-0, in the 130 weight class. Derrick Roberts lost to Dalvin Averill in the 135-pound weight class, but Pat Dellwo beat Bridger Beach at 140 with a pin. The match continued with both sides trading wins; Cat Ryan Buck beat Ted Morigeau, but Ryley Duford pinned Brighton Hollis. Logan Kulger beat Derek Wolf in the 160 weight class, and then Kevin Owen got a win by default.

A.J. Angelo pinned Jesse Woodard in the 189 weight class, and Aaron Jones followed up with a pin in the 215 class over A.J. Taylor. In the heavyweight class, Mat Cat Tommy Church pinned Pirate Jeff Smith, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome an onslaught of Pirate points earlier in the night.

The Pirates will go to the Ronan Invitational this Friday and Saturday.