Pirates prove their poise

RONAN — Polson dominated the competition at last weekend's Ronan Wrestling Invitational as the Pirates tune up for the Missoula Classic this Friday. None of their duals were close as Polson used the meet as an opportunity to get mat time for their wrestlers.

"As far as teams go, there's not a lot of great competition, but there are a lot of great individuals here, so this is good practice," said Polson assistant coach Eric Huffine.

One of the wrestlers helped by the competition was Logan Kugler of Polson, who tallied a 10-5 decision over Caleb Cousins of Corvallis at 160 lbs. in a methodical match.

"I was trying to control the match, and slow it down to my speed," said Kugler.

Ronan was also pleased with their outcome as host, as the Chiefs defeated Darby, Arlee, and Big Sky on the second day and got a lot of experience for their junior varsity wrestlers.

"We had our ups and downs this weekend but I was pleased with the competition," said Ryan Fisher, coach for Ronan. "The philosophy with this tournament is to get the kids as much mat time as possible."

Josh Krantz of Ronan earned a decisive pin versus Jared Foust of Arlee at 135 lbs. that gave his team momentum as they advanced with a 48-15 victory.

"That was just a matter of sticking with it and not giving up," said Krantz. "Wrestling is more of a mind issue with me because holds don't really frustrate me."

Arlee coach Kenneth Hill echoed Fisher's enthusiasm for providing matches for wrestlers that might not be as experienced.

"There is a lot of really good competition at Class A and AA that we never face here at the tournament," said Hill. "I know they give trophies to the top teams, but we're doing pretty well, all our kids are getting at least six matches, and this tournament is close to home."

The barnburner of the tournament was a 152 lb. match between Jacob Whetzel of Arlee and R.J. Olsen of Ronan. Whetzel edged Olsen 12-11 as the grapplers scored points down to the last five seconds, where Olsen's reversal almost changed the outcome.

"I've been working on reversals and giving up less points," said Whetzel. "But this was definitely down to the wire."