Ronan wrestling drops first dual, nabs third in Belgrade

The Ronan Chiefs won five of six duals and finished third at the A Duals in Belgrade on Saturday. Ronan's lone defeat of the season came at the hands of eventual champion Corvallis. Ronan later defeated Libby by forfeit in the 3rd-4th matchup.

"We see each other enough throughout the year," Ronan coach Ryan Fisher said. "[Forfeiting] allowed them to get back on the road for their long trip at least two hours ahead of schedule."

The duals gave the Chiefs added experience, as well as an opportunity to scout and wrestle against other class A teams as the Chiefs prepare to host divisionals next weekend, Feb. 2.

"We wrestled a pretty good tournament, and the team is starting to show recovery from the previous week," Fisher said. "It gave us a better indication of where we are as a team."

Ronan lost two wrestlers, Tyson Noyes and Westyn Kiehn, to injury in the tournament. Fisher does not expect to have either wrestler back in the lineup for the rest of the season.

"We had to make some adjustments in our lineup and the kids responded rather well," Fisher said.

Four Chiefs went undefeated through the tournament, and Zach Robinson led the way in the 105 weight class with six pins in six matches.

"He's done a great job this year in his mental and physical preparation," Fisher said. "He wrestles with a great deal of confidence, and is looking forward to the divisional and state tournaments."

Cameron Neiss also continued his solid season with an undefeated showing. Among Neiss' victims was Kylan Zumpf from Miles City. Zumpf placed third last year at state and is, again, ranked in the top three.

"Cameron's ready for those few remaining weeks to test himself again," Fisher said.

Micky Cheff added his name to the perfect list, and picked up two pins.

"No discredit to him, those were all tough kids," Fisher said. "It was a great test for him to see what is needed in the last weeks of preparation for state."

Ronan dropped a heart-breaker to Corvallis after defeating them by just four points at their home duals. The Chiefs actually picked up some better showings against the Blue Devils but also had a few drop off and more washed because of the injuries. It also meant they couldn't face top-seeded Havre, a regular powerhouse at state.

"I'm not so disappointed that we lost to them as I am that we didn't get to face Havre," Fisher said. "There were a number of matchups I wanted with Havre's team."

The Chiefs may have to wait for the state tournament to see those matchups after Corvallis sent them packing.

"That was our first dual loss of the season and an opportunity to see how our team would handle it," Fisher said. "The Corvallis dual went longer than anticipated so we had to turn around and wrestle Glendive immediately after. It's a good sign to see them rise like that after they have fallen."

Ronan will wrestle at Polson on Thursday in their last dual of the year before the divisional tournament. Ronan handled Polson earlier in the year, before the Christmas break, but Polson has had a resurgence over the past few weeks.