Local grapplers gear up for 2012 season

Lake County wrestlers enter the 2012 season coming off a strong collective showing last year and will be looking for more of the same.

Lake County wrestlers enter the 2012 season coming off a strong collective showing last year and will be looking for more of the same. Below is a glimpse at each teams’ credentials:

POLSON (CLASS A)

Key Returnees: Craig Feistner, Mike Devlin, Carlos Quinones, Taylor Martin

Key Losses: Josiah Clairmont, Alex Nystrom

The good news for Polson is that it returns a majority of the team that led the Pirates to a Northwestern A divisional championship and a seventh-place finish at the State Final last year.

The bad news, however, is that they will be without two of their individual divisional champions in Josiah Clairmont (285) and Alex Nystrom (140). 

Not only did the pair account for two of the team’s five divisional winners, but two of the Pirates’ five placers at state.

Clairmont brought home third place in the 285-pound weight class, while Nystrom took fourth place in the 140-pound division.

While losing them will surely have a significant impact on the team, Polson’s depth should be able to soften the blow.

Returning for the Pirates is a squad that produced three top five finishes at state, three divisional champions and nine more finishes at divisionals of fourth or better.

Most notable of those returning are Craig Feistner, Mike Devlin, Carlos Quinones and Taylor Martin.

Feistner (125) and Devlin (152) both were crowned as divisional champs and placed at state a year ago, with Feistner taking third and Devlin capturing fifth.

Quinones (112) also snagged a fifth place at state, but was runner-up at divisionals, while Martin (105) was a divisional champion and didn’t place at state.

While they highlight the returning squad, the Pirates also get back divisional runner-ups Drew Fouty (130) and Dylan Moll (119).

And if that wasn’t enough, Polson returns four divisional third-place finishers in Marlin Burke (189), Skylar Anderson (135), Lucas Polk (112) and Alex Helgeson (98), as well as fourth-place finishers Tel Motichka (145) and Jared Young (152).

Each will try to become Polson’s first state champion since two seasons ago when Brock Picard won the 171-pound weight division in 2009. 

The Pirates had at least one individual state title winner in every year from 2003-2009, accounting for 10 in all between six different wrestlers.

Polson has a great shot at getting back on this trend this season, and will be on the hunt for its third state team title (team won in 1995 and 1996).

ARLEE (CLASS B-C)

Key Returnees: Austin Rubel, Albert Plant, Cameron Dominick

Key Losses: Clayton Trimble, Cody North, Leif Rova, Nathan Bertollt

Arlee was the second-best Class C school at the Class B-C State Final last year when all was said and done, led by placers Clayton Trimble, Leif Rova and Cody North.

Trimble took second at the Western B-C divisional and fifth at state in the the 189-pound weight class.

Rova (160) also snatched a fifth-place state finish, while North (215) was third at divisionals and grabbed sixth place at state.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, all three were lost to graduation, as well as Nathan Bertollt, who was also a third-place finisher at divisionals last year.

Playing a vital part in filling the void left by the graduating seniors will be Austin Rubel, Albert Plant and Cameron Dominick.

These three were the only other Warriors to place fourth or better at divisionals a year ago.

Rubel (140) and Plant (171) both came in second place, while Dominick (135) came away with a third-place finish.

However, Arlee, a school with a great wrestling tradition, is sure to have some rising stars waiting in the wings.

The Warriors have produced eight individual state titles by five different wrestlers in the past 11 seasons.

They will be hoping to add to that list in 2012.

MISSION-CHARLO (CLASS B-C)

Key Returnees: Jacen Petersen, Jamie Mullins

Key Losses: Scott Gilleard, Casey Nitschke, Chadd Anderson

Last year, sophomore Jacen Petersen (160) came painfully close to doing something that hasn’t been done since Sean Mullins last did it for the Mission-Charlo program in 2000: win a state title.

After falling to Philipsburg-Drummond’s Barrett Stanghill at the Western B-C divisional, the two wrestlers met again in the state title match.

Unfortunately for Petersen, it would yield the same result, as Stanghill bested him once again and won his second-straight state title.

With Stanghill still having another season of eligibility left, this rivalry looked to be one of the biggest storylines headed into the 2012 season.

However, Stanghill was accepted to the United States Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Mich., where he will be devoting his time this season.

On the positive side, Petersen is now at the top of the list for state title contenders.

The Bulldogs had other strong performances last season as well.

Scott Gilleard (130), brought home the team’s only divisional title and fell just short of the state championship match, coming in third place.

However, unlike Petersen, the Bulldogs will not have the luxury of his talents this year.

Mission-Charlo also will be without Casey Nitschke (135) and Chadd Anderson (215), who both turned in second-place finishes at divisionals a season ago.

Not to worry, though, the team does return the only other wrestler to place at state for them last year in sophomore Jamie Mullins.

Mullins battled his way to a sixth-place finish at state, as well as a second-place finish at divisionals.

While the Bulldogs will need other wrestlers to step up this season to improve their 13th-place finish at state, Petersen and Mullins are surely going to be fun to watch.

RONAN (CLASS B-C)

Key Returnees: Colby Roberts, Quentin Denton, Brandon Dumont, Shelby Grant

Key Losses: Dustin Goldsby

No Lake County team as a better wrestling tradition than Ronan, as the Chiefs have nine state titles to their name (1973-74, 1976, 1978-1982, 1991). 

More recently, since 2000, Ronan has amassed seven individual state titles, including three in 2008 alone.

Ronan was part of Class A for all of these accolades, but the program looks poised to start racking up trophies in Class B-C.

A Chiefs team that captured the Western B-C divisional crown and placed fourth at state last year enters the 2012 season primarily intact.

Though they lost Dustin Goldsby (152), who placed fifth at state last season, to graduation, Ronan returns four other wrestlers that placed at state.

At the top of that list is Colby Roberts (189), who took third on the big stage a year ago in addition to capturing the team’s only divisional title.

Quentin Denton (160) also took third at state, while Brandon Dumont (125) and Shelby Grant (152) both finished second at divisionals and placed at state. Dumont came in fourth and Grant snatched sixth.

Also keeping the Chiefs in the running for a 10th state title is the return of Trae Garcia (98), Chase Rhine (112) and Connor Benn (130).

Garcia and Rhine both earned third-place finishes at divisionals last season, while Benn took fourth.

Look for the Chiefs to remain one of the toughest squads in the state this season.