Warriors and Bulldogs place nine at divisionals

ST. IGNATIUS — After wrestling their hearts out, the Arlee Warriors took second and Mission-Charlo Bulldogs took third place at the B-C Divisional Tournament in St. Ignatius on Saturday.

Arlee finished with 164.5 points as a team and Mission-Charlo with a 148.5. Florence won the tournament  with 180.5 points.

The Warriors and Bulldogs each placed nine wrestlers in the top four, which means those wrestlers will attend the state tournament in Billings in hope of placing against Montana’s best.

At 98 pounds, Bulldog freshman Russell Schultz took second after a loss to Drummond’s Jake Adler.

At 112 pounds, Bulldog wrestler Scotty Gilleard pinned Florence wrestler Kody Davidson to take third place.

At 119 pounds, Arlee’s Jake Trujillo took silver after a 3-1 decision loss to Florence wrestler Kody Newbary. Arlee’s Logan Lefler also placed fourth at the weight.

At 130 pounds, Arlee’s Cole Rice took first with a 12-3 major decision over Darby’s Dalton Roundby.

In a much anticipated battle for the 135-pound title, Bulldog Michael Beebe took first with a 6-4 decision over Deer Lodge wrestler Bobby Ray. Arlee’s Jordan Lefler took third, beating his Darby opponent, Christian Hammersmith 10-2 in a major decision. Lefler lost to Beebe in the semifinals of the tournament after beating the Bulldog rival at Darby the week before.

At 140 pounds, Bulldog Jame Petersen took first after downing Arlee’s Tucker Lytle in the championship by a pin in 5:24.

Lytle took silver and Bulldog Josh Christiansen finished in fourth after a loss to Thompson Falls wrestler Shawn Sacchi in the third/fourth place final.

At 145 pounds, Mission-Charlo wrestler Dakota Matt took fourth place.

Arlee placed both Trevor Rice and Damon Cordier at 160 pounds after the two met each other in the third/fourth place match. Rice came away with the win but both will get a shot in the state tourney.

At 171 pounds, Bulldog Travis Dumont took second after a decision loss to Plains’ Chris Stobie. Arlee’s Brady Potts won his third/fourth place match to take bronze.

Viking Matt Faroni had a tough go against Florence wrestler Craig Ashworth in the final for 189 pounds. Faroni had been wrestling Ashworth close all year but this time Ashworth got the quick pin. Faroni took silver nonetheless.

Warrior Curtis Seidel took fourth at 215 pounds.

Finally, at 285, Bulldog Ben Eggars took silver after being pinned by Jason Brown of Drummond.

All in all, Mission-Charlo head coach Lyle Cronk was pleased on the day.

“It was really quite a day for us,” he said. “Having 10 guys at the divisional tournament and qualifying nine and getting a third place finish wasn’t a given for us by an means and the team wrestled well to come up with that finish. I was really happy at the end of the day and the kids were really excited - they had a lot to be proud of.”

The flurry of matches between the quarter final round until the championship round saw the Bulldog team unbeaten, Cronk said.

“That was just an incredible streak of great wrestling,” he said.

Dakota Matt was right in the thick of that match, losing early on and having to earn his way back into a position to place for state.

“I was feeling horrible cause I didn’t think I was going to be able to wrestle back,” he said.

He had a huge double OT win against a Thompson Falls wrestler that kept him in it.

“I felt twice as confident going into my next match,” Matt said. “I knew I was going to do something after that.”

He went on to pin a Plains wrestler, and then won his next match with an escape at the very last second to keep it from going to overtime.

This will be Matt’s first year headed to state.

“I’m really excited,” he said.

The Arlee Warriors and Mission-Charlo Bulldogs that placed are headed to the state tournament this weekend in Billings. Matches begin on Friday.