Polson, Ronan tangle with state's top grapplers
BUTTE — Polson and Ronan’s wrestling squads trekked to Butte to toe the mats with some of the top wrestling programs in the state over the weekend.
The Pirates, paired with Class A favorite Havre and Class AA Helena Capital and Bozeman, drew perhaps the toughest pool in the Mining City Duals.
“Friday we had a real difficult time,” Polson coach Bob Owen said.
Polson wrestlers didn’t earn a point against eventual tournament champion Havre, and lost to Bozeman, 72-6, and Capital, 60-21.
Ronan also faced stout competition. Their Friday pool included tournament runner-up Billings Skyview along with Corvallis and Glacier.
The Chiefs fared a little better, taking the dual match from Glacier, 45-29 to finish third in their pool.
“That tournament’s a grind, and we have a lot of young kids,” Cory Johnston, the Chiefs head coach said. “We basically used it as a toughening up tournament for this weekend at [Great Falls’ Charles M. Russell], which is another tough tournament.”
Johnston said his Chiefs started out slow against their first opponent, Skyview, until freshman Steven Michael took the mat at 145.
“He went 100 percent, full-speed, just everything we’ve been asking the kids to do,” Johnston said. “He went out there fearless and it changed our entire weekend even though he lost the match.”
Junior Cole Snyder was another sparkplug for Ronan, going 4-1 over the weekend.
Johnston said the Chiefs’ younger kids will go to a junior varsity tournament at Great Falls High this weekend rather than wrestling up.
“We won’t throw our freshmen to the wolves this weekend,” he said.
Polson will travel to the Eureka Invitational to compete on Saturday, where Owen hopes the Pirates can carry over some momentum from a much improved second day in Butte, and may get state placer Dylan Moll back from a concussion that has kept him from competing yet this year.
2013 Mining City Duals
at Butte High School
Friday
POOL 1
Havre 48, Bozeman 27
Bozeman 72, Polson 6
Helena Capital 60, Polson 21
Havre 68, Helena Capital 10
Havre 81, Polson 0
Bozeman 61, Helena Capital 15
1. Havre, 2. Bozeman, 3. Capital, 4. Polson.
POOL 2
Sidney 51, Billings Senior 27
Missoula Big Sky 67, Huntley-Project 7
Billings Senior 53, Huntley-Project 25
Sidney 38, Missoula Big Sky 37
Sidney 54, Huntley-Project 30
Missoula Big Sky 44, Billings Senior 31
1. Sidney, 2. Big Sky, 3, Senior, 4. Huntley-Project.
POOL 3
Billings Skyview 64, Kalispell Glacier 18
Billings Skyview 88, Ronan 0
Corvallis 58, Ronan 15
Billings Skyview 71, Corvallis 6
Ronan 45, Kalispell Glacier 29
Corvallis 50, Glacier 29
1. Skyview, 2. Corvallis, 3. Ronan, 4. Glacier
POOL 4
Great Falls 57, Helena 18
Great Falls 64, Flathead 18
Flathead 42, Conrad 33
Helena 51, Conrad 30
Great Falls 70, Conrad 3
Helena 46, Flathead 42
1. Great Falls, 2. Helena, 3. Flathead, 4. Conrad
POOL 5
Missoula Sentinel 69, Anaconda 2
Missoula Sentinel 54, Butte 24
Butte 54, Anaconda 26
Missoula Sentinel 65, Columbia Falls 6
Columbia Falls 42, Butte 36
Columbia Falls 69, Anaconda 10
1. Sentinel, 2. Columbia Falls, 3. Butte, 4. Anaconda
POOL 6
Billings West 51, Belgrade 24
Billings West 43, Great Falls-CMR 39
Great Falls-CMR 66, Belgrade 15
Dillon 39, Belgrade 33
Billings West 55, Dillon 21
Great-Falls CMR 60, Dillon 19
1. West, 2. CMR, 3. Dillon, 4. Belgrade
Saturday
Championship
Havre 33, Billings Skyview 31
Semifinals
Billings Skyview 49, Sidney 31
Havre 45, Great Falls 31
Scores
Great Falls 40, Sidney 23, third place
POOL 1
Havre 69, Helena 12
Havre 58, Columbia Falls 15
Columbia Falls 45, Helena 28
POOL 2
Great Falls CMR 49, Corvallis 31
Sidney 51, Corvallis 27
Sidney 43, Great Falls CMR 35
POOL 3
Billings Skyview 48, Missoula Big Sky 28
Billings Skyview 52, Billings West 28
Missoula Big Sky 43, Billings Wesg 16
POOL 4
Great Falls 54, Missoula Sentinel 33
Great Falls 44, Bozeman 30
Missoula Sentinel 40, Bozeman 34
Consolation Matches
Helena Capital 60, Anaconda 29
Belgrade 37, Billings Senior 36
Kalispell Glacier 42, Dillon 35
Flathead 42, Butte 40
Conrad 43, Helena Capital 36
Billings Senior 54, Ronan 30
Huntley Project 47, Kalispell Glacier 33
Polson 45, Flathead 33
Huntley Project 48, Dillon 33
Belgrade 42, Ronan 26
Anaconda 45, Conrad 28
Missoula Big Sky 46, Corvallis 27
Hamilton Invitational
Team standings – 1, Hamilton-Victor, 171; 2, Missoula Big Sky JV, 144; 2, Missoula Hellgate, 144; 4, Kalispell Flathead JV, 97; 5, Florence, 92.5; 6, Polson JV, 82; 7, Whitefish, 72; 8, Drummond-Philipsburg, 71; 9, Stevensville, 46; 10, Missoula Sentinel JV, 31; 11, Corvallis-Darby JV, 30.
Individuals
113
Championship – Jaron Morgan, POL, pinned Caden Sant, MHG, 4:18.
Third place – Austin Gabbert, FH, pinned Sean Galloway, COR, :55.
126
Championship – Coltin Cox, HAM, pinned Derek Baker, MHG, 2:59.
Third place – Skylar Knutson, POL, dec. Myles Terry, FH, 2-0.
138
Championship – Easton Albert, HAM, pinned Alex Helgeson, POL, 2:51.
Third place – Brett Volkman, FLO, dec. Carter Westphal, MBS, 1-0.