Polson avenges earlier loss

RONAN — Last Thursday, the Polson wrestling team earned revenge as it beat Libby in a 36-35 dual.

The Pirates lost to Libby in their first dual of the season 54-30.

“It came down to [Brock] Picard’s match,” head coach Bob Owen said. “As soon as he won, we won.”

The senior beat Libby’s Kyle Sweedman 4-2 in the 171-pound match. Sweedman was ranked fourth in last week’s coaches poll while Picard was first.

Five Pirates worked their way to pins, including freshman Craig Feistner, at 105 pounds, and senior Kaden Thomas, at 285, both had the quickest pins in 55 seconds.

The Pirates took the win’s momentum into the Ronan dual tournament last weekend, going 4-2 overall.

Polson beat Plains 84-6, Hamilton 63-24 and Arlee 66-24 with Pirate pins counting for many of their points.

“There were a lot of forfeits from those teams,”  Owen said.

Against Plains, sophomore Jake Skelton got a pin nine seconds into his 160-pound match. Freshman Razzman Walhood pinned his opponent in 46 seconds after  Feistner had a 47-second pin, showing why he is ranked second in the 105-pound weight class. Feistner went 5-0 during the dual tournament.

Of the five pins registered against Hamilton, four were under 60 seconds.

Senior Ty Fouty got his in 37 seconds and freshman Nate Brooks earned his in 38.

The Pirates earned nine pins against Arlee. Feistner bettered his earlier time with a pin in 23 seconds in the 105 class. Thomas was close behind with a pin in 25 seconds in his 285 match.

Polson faced tougher competition the next day against Frenchtown and Ronan but also suffered an injury at the 112 spot in their line up, resulting in forfeits against the Pirates during the whole day.

In the 47-36 loss to Frenchtown, the Pirates managed five pins. Senior Brock Picard put the Pirates on the board with a 52-second pin. Feistner, Brooks, junior Jacob Young and freshman Mike Devlin also added points with pins.

Owen is confident the Pirates will do better against Frenchtown next time the two teams face off.

“I think that’ll be a better dual,” he said.

Next up was familiar opponent Ronan.

Picard put the Pirates on the board again, but this time by forfeit. Ronan moved its 189-pound wrestler to 215 and its 171 wrestler to the 189 class, leaving the 171 slot open for six points towards Polson.

“It was good strategy on their part,” Owen said. “We are two closely matched teams.”

Thomas added a pin in the 285 match and Feistner earned a pin in 12 seconds over Lukas Conklin. Freshman Colton Lenz won a major decision 14-6 and sophomore Brock Bleazard won a close 9-8 decision that went into overtime.

Owen said his young team is learning despite the losses.

“In those matches, they are close losses,” Owen said.

The last dual for the Pirates was a 72-6 rout of Flathead JV. Four of the eleven Polson pins came in one minute or less.

Feistner clocked his in 41 seconds and junior Jesse Alfiero was close with his in 42 seconds.

Polson’s dual against Whitefish last Tuesday is rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. on at Linderman Gym

Next up, Polson travels to the Rocky Mountain Classic in Missoula this weekend.

“The competition is better than the state tournament,” Owen said of the Classic.

This will show what Polson’s youthful team needs to work on.

“With the young kids we have, they just need to keep practicing,” he said. “Our freshmen and sophomores are really competitive, but lack technique.”