WRESTLING ROUNDUP: Quick out of the gates

Here's the highlights of last weekend's Polson Invitational and

who stood out on the mat.

Here's the highlights of last weekend's Polson Invitational and who stood out on the mat.

POLSON

The Pirates weren't even up to full strength but still placed fifth at their home invitational tournament last Saturday.

Polson was the second-highest placing Class A team behind Corvallis with 95.5 team points.

"We missed three of our better wrestlers that didn't have enough practices to participate," Polson head coach Bob Owen said. "So we're going to be stronger than that."

That's got to be a scary thought to the Northwestern A competition as three different Pirate wrestlers made the championship match in the tournament, and two more made the third-place match.

At the top of Polson's effort was sophomore Carlos Quinones, who took first place in the 112-pound division with a pin over Frenchtown's Gavyn Wilson.

"He sure looked good this weekend," Owen said.

In the same weight class, fellow sophomore Taylor Martin took third for the Pirates. Last year he qualified for state as a backup and continues to impress for Polson, notching a pin over Thompson Falls' Wade Gascon 1:15 into the match for third place.

Another sophomore, Dylan Moll, placed fourth at the tournament at 119 pounds.

Junior Craig Feistner, fresh off his second-place finish at state last year, advanced to championship match at 125 pounds. There he faced an old nemesis, Alek Mitchell, from Glacier. Mitchell was able to beat Feistner just barely, 4-2.

The two had also faced off at the Montana Open this year and had split in two matches.

"Those two have battled for a while," Owen said. "We'll have a different strategy the next time we see him."

Senior Alex Nystrom also took second in the 140-pound division and faced two-time state champion in Travis Davis of Corvallis. Davis won by decision, 22-6.

"He really is focused," Owen said of Nystrom. "He had three really nice matches this weekend. He sure works hard, he's one of my best workers."

Junior Skylar Anderson also impressed Owen as he went 3-2 on the weekend and was just a win away from placing in the tournament.

"The progress he made from last year is really good," he said.

The 14-team tournament is a bit of a family reunion for head coach Bob Owen. A couple of the opponents have some familiar faces as Flathead head coach Matt Owen is his nephew and son of Polson coach Bill Owen. Glacier head coach Mark Fischer, also used to wrestle for him as a Pirate.

"I've heard from the coaches that they really like the atmosphere of the tournament," Owen said. "Everyone really understands it's the first competition so they're real calm with their kids."

RONAN

In their first tournament since moving down a classification, the Chiefs showed they're going to be tough to crack, placing as the highest B-C school at the Polson Invitational. Ronan was sixth with 75 points and also beat out all but two Class A schools in the tournament.

"Overall we competed very well," Ronan head coach Dustyn Azure said. "In the second round we picked it up. I think it was a good eye-opener for the guys."

Five Ronan wrestlers advanced to the final matches of the evening with 215-pounder Colby Roberts placing the highest in second place.

Roberts powered his way to the championship match and it took a Class AA wrestler to finally get the better of him as Sentinel's Jayden Wilson recorded a pin.

"He had a good day," Azure said of Roberts. "In that championship match he just found himself in a bad position."

Ronan showcased its depth in the 160-pound class, as wrestlers Dustin Goldsby and Quenton Denton wrestled for third place with Goldsby coming out on top via decision, 7-2.

"We have four kids at that weight class," Azure said. "It's going to be a battle all year to see who wrestles every week."

Nate Brooks took fourth for Ronan at 140 pounds and is looking good to start the year.

"We're happy with Nate's performance," Azure said. "He has come a long way from last year and it's been great watching him progress. We just need him to make sure he keeps at it."

And a freshman, 105-pounder Cole Synder, impressed people with his fourth-place finish at 105 pounds.

"With Cole, we were really impressed and we've been excited to see him get out on the mat," Azure said. "He's going to be a fun one to watch."

Since it was the first action of the year, Azure said it was good for all the younger kids on the roster to get exposed to high-school level wrestling.

"It's a big change from the middle school to high school level," Azure said. "So it's a good thing for the kids to see that."

Ronan will now head to the Mining City Duals this weekend and Azure is really happy with the amount of mat time his team got at the Polson Invite.

"Usually we start the season with two duals and sometimes you don't get much time," Azure said. "With this invitational you at least get two matches and as many as five."

He added that kids see a big jump in improvement from the first weekend to the next.

"You can't base their whole season off one weekend," Azure said. "You've got to go out and have a short memory. Remember your mistakes but forget about the losses."

MISSION-CHARLO

Mission-Charlo showed its strength even against competition from bigger schools at last weekend's Polson Invitational, and posted the second-highest score by a Class B/C school and all but two Class A schools at the event.

When the team scores were tallied up at the end of the day, the Bulldogs placed seventh among a field that included Class AA and A competition.

"We always look forward to the Polson Invitational because it is pretty much our only opportunity to compete against A and AA competition and that's what we focus on, we want to wrestle with and beat the best competition we can get," Mission-Charlo head coach Lyle Cronk said. "It can be difficult for wrestlers, especially young wrestlers to raise their level of intensity against tough competition rather than become intimidated."

Three different wrestlers made the championship match of their respective weight class while another placed fourth.

"There were a lot of positive performances on Saturday, and like always, after the first competition of the year a number of places for improvement," Cronk said. "I was glad to have three wrestlers make the finals, yet having only one other wrestler wrestle back for a medal and going zero for three in the finals kept us one point behind Ronan. We needed a win from our top wrestlers or a medal from one of our other wrestlers to get it done."

Scotty Gilleard began his senior campaign with a second place finish at 130 pounds, while sophomore Jacen Petersen also placed second at 160 pounds. Junior Barret Sargent made the championship match at 189 pounds and placed second.

"I was pleased to see these three make the finals. I expect them to lead our team all yet," Cronk said. "I was especially pleased with Barret Sargent, who dominated his first two opponents wrestling aggressively and earning two pins. Barret has shown tremendous growth as a wrestler and is becoming team leader. What I saw in Barret this weekend was a desire to win and that is possibly the most critical aspect of his success."

Chadd Anderson also was in the medal round for the Mission-Charlo wrestlers, taking fourth at 215 pounds.

"Chadd will continue to be a leader on this team as well," Cronk said. "I know Chadd was disappointed with his losses, his first by a score of 2-1, yet he also did some excellent wrestling coming back to place fourth."

With it being the first meet of the year, Mission-Charlo finished just one point behind Class B/C newcomer Ronan with 74 team points. The Bulldogs finished 30 points better than the next nearest Class B/C school, which was Thompson Falls in ninth place at 43 points.

"I saw many promising things from my freshmen who competed well and am excited to see them improve," Cronk said. "Just like the rest of the team we have a lot of fundamental things we need to continue to work on. Our team overall needs to focus on the basics of positioning on our feet and on the mat."

Mission will be in action this Thursday, hosting Florence and then they'll be in Superior Friday and Saturday.