Little grapplers shine on state stage
By Ed Moreth and Trent Makela / For the Leader
More than 500 matches were conducted at the Western Montana State Little Guy Wrestling Championships in Missoula Saturday, and by the time the gymnasium at Sentinel High School was cleared, the names of 39 Lake County athletes ended up in the top four placements.
Evergreen, a team out of Kalispell, took first in the medium class with 45 points. Second place went to Mission/Charlo/Dixon with 41 points. Lolo took first place in the small class with 25 points. They were followed by Arlee with 22 points.
Roughly 27 teams from around the state were represented at the championship tournament. Most of the squads flew the colors of local clubs or high school teams. Charlo and the St. Ignatius Iron Dog Club wore black and blue. The Arlee kids wore red and yellow.
St. Ignatius High School principal and coach Jason Seargent, who brought 28 athletes to state, believes that the strong performance of local clubs bodes well for the future.
"The little guy organization as a whole is getting tougher and more competitive each year. That's an attribute, of all the local clubs, that is making the west tougher now and down the road," Seargent said. "We've seen a lot of improvement in the competion as a whole. The kids still had a successful year and we're real proud of them all."
The St. Ignatius team was also awarded the trophy from the Ronan Inter-Valley Tournament last weekend.
"I thought we had an outstanding season and winning the Inter-Valley trophy meant a lot to our club and our wrestlers this year," Seargent said. "We're making some great strides in the right direction over all."
The Iron Dog Club received a boost in points all season from their youngest and smallest members; the novice group.
"Novice was a really strong group for us this year. They helped us a ton," Seargent said. "Jamie Mullins had a great year at novice 75. Bridger Kaufmun also did really well at novice 90. Jade smith at 110 was awesome, and Dante McDougle at novice 65 had a great year, even placing at state."
Jason Peterson capped a strong season at novice 105 by pinning all three of his opponents in the first round as he raced to the state championship.
"His championship match went a little further before he won," Seargent said. "He was probably our biggest, highest acheiver this season."
The Missoula match was the last of the season for all Lake County teams.
Little Guy Wrestling Western Montana Championships - Missoula
TEAM RESULTS:
LARGE SCHOOL - 1, Corvallis, 79; 2, Kalispell, 77; 3, Columbia Falls, 58.
MEDIUM SCHOOL - 1, Evergreen, 45; 2, St. Ignatius, 41; 3, Eureka, 40.
SMALL SCHOOL - 1, Lolo, 25; 2, Arlee, 22; 3, Superior, 20.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
JUNIOR HIGH DIVISION
90 - 1, Craig Feistner, Polson. 100 B - 1, Tra Lunderman, Mission-Charlo. 105 - 4, Andrew Fouty, Polson. 112 A - 3, Logan Lefler, Arlee; 4, Carter Clinkenbeard, Arlee. 112 B - 2, Casey Hitschke, Mission-Charlo. 119 A - 2, Michael Delin, Polson. 119 B - 2, Dallas Jore, Ronan. 125 A - 1, Dilan Starkel, Ronan; 2, Chris Cote, Polson. 125 B - 4, Zach Carver, Arlee. 130 A - 1, Brock Bleazard, Polson. 130 B - 4, Albert Plant, Arlee. 140 - 3, Clayton Trimble, Arlee. 145 - 1, Angel Courture, Polson; 4, Chad Anderson, Mission-Charlo. 152 - 4, Ty Butler, Arlee. 160 - 2, Colton Andrew, Mission-Charlo; 4, Gavin Fox, Polson. 171 - 1, Brady Potts, Arlee.
MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION
80 - 4, Taylor Martin, Polson. 85 - 4, Kyle Clinkenbeard, Arlee. 100 - 4, Gus English, Arlee. 105 - 1, Jacen Peterson, Mission-Charlo. 120 - 2, Nathan Brooks, Polson. 130 - 1, Derek Main, Ronan; 4, Earl Robinson, Ronan. 147 - 3, Stone Garfield, Ronan. 187 - 1, Joseph Hawking, Mission-Charlo; 4, Marlin Burke, Polson.
NOVICE DIVISION
65 - 4, Dante McDougal, Mission-Charlo. 75 - 3, Jamie Mullins, Mission-Charlo. 85 - 3, Steven Bravo, Mission-Charlo. 90 - 4, Bridger Coffman, Mission-Charlo. 95 - 2, Matt Rensvold, Polson. 100 - 3, Tele Seeman, Polson; 4, Shonko Christy, Mission-Charlo. 158 - 2, Calvin Hendron, Arlee. 200 - 1, Darin Cadman, Polson.