BRACKET BUSTERS

PHILIPSBURG - Like they've done all season long, Mission-Charlo

wrestlers made a deep drive through tournament brackets, but this

time it was the Western B-C divisionals.

Five Bulldog wrestlers made the championship round of the

tournament and senior Scotty Gilleard took home first place in the

130-pound weight class with a pin of Kody Davidson at the 3:12 mark

of his match.

PHILIPSBURG - Like they've done all season long, Mission-Charlo wrestlers made a deep drive through tournament brackets, but this time it was the Western B-C divisionals.

Five Bulldog wrestlers made the championship round of the tournament and senior Scotty Gilleard took home first place in the 130-pound weight class with a pin of Kody Davidson at the 3:12 mark of his match.

"Scotty has been wrestling well this season," Mission head coach Lyle Cronk said. "It was a great win for him, who while having placed at state all three previous years, had not won a divisional title. Scotty pinned all three opponents en route to his first divisional championship."

Jamie Mullins (105), Casey Nitschke (135), Jacen Petersen (160) and Chadd Anderson (215) also made the first-place match. Petersen had a battle with highly ranked Barrett Stanghill at 160 pounds, but fell 10-6 to place second.

"Jacen showed improvement against top-ranked Barrett Stanghill in his quest to unseat the returning champion at 160," Cronk said.

And improvement was the name of the game for the Bulldogs, with wrestlers overcoming opponents that had already gotten the best of them this season.

"The best part about having five in the finals this weekend was Jamie, Casey and Chadd all overcame opponents they had lost to earlier in the year in order to get into the final round," Cronk said. "Jamie Mullins, who had previously split with Thompson Falls' Rod Crew, earned a technical fall; Casey Nitschke defeated Cameron Dominick from Arlee, a longtime rival who had defeated Casey in both of their previous matches this season; and Chadd Anderson defeated long time rival Cody North from Arlee in an exciting overtime match."

All together, Mission-Charlo earned 95.5 points and placed sixth at divisionals.

All five finalists will head to the state tournament this weekend in Billings and will hope to continue to terrorize the brackets.

"Heading into next week, we focus on intensity, desire and belief," Cronk said. "We try not to get ahead of ourselves or read too much into brackets and rankings. Instead we try to prepare ourselves the best we can for that first match Friday morning. The preparation for this weekend has occurred throughout the season and this week our focus is to avoid distractions, stay focused and prepare to once again hold nothing back when we step on the mat."