Best in the West

RONAN — Lyle Cronk almost knew it before his wrestlers hit the mats on Saturday.

The Mission-Charlo coach could feel it on the bus from St. Ignatius to Ronan. His team was ready.

“They were very relaxed and focused right from the get-go,” Cronk said. “They didn’t let up the whole day.”

Morgan Schultz, Jacen Petersen and Steven Bravo each won individual Western B-C divisional titles, leading the Bulldogs to their first team divisional championship since 2001. In all, 10 Bulldogs wrestlers will compete in this weekend’s state tournament in Billings.

Mission-Charlo edged runner-up Plains-Hot Springs 177.5-166.5 in the points total.

“It was amazing,” Cronk said. “I really have to hand it to the guys on the team. They did an outstanding job. I was so proud of them.”

Ronan finished third just a point ahead of fourth-place Eureka.

The Chiefs saw 145-pounder Brandon Dumont take his own individual title. Dumont will be joined by six of his Chiefs teammates at state, including divisional runners-up Connor Benn, Ronny Cullis, Lauren Christopher and Michael Irvine.

Ronan coach Cory Johnston said the Chiefs hope to place in the top three at state.

“We’re not out of it,” Johnston said. “We’re bringing seven quality kids. Last year, we only placed five and we missed out on a trophy by 12 points.”

Arlee’s T.J. Knoll, Alex Bertollt and Daniel Dunlop will represent the 10th-place Warriors at state.

Cronk said that the Bulldogs’ success over the weekend trailed back to a mixer at Florence on Feb. 1 in which they won 11 of 14 matches against stiff competition that included the Falcons, Hamilton, Corvallis and Stevensville.

Add that confidence boost to the fact that the whole lineup was healthy for the first time in awhile, and Mission-Charlo became a deadly force.

“It’s probably the first time, other than last weekend, that we’ve had everybody ready to go, and they wrestled great,” Cronk said.

Now he hopes his team, led by a reigning state champion in Petersen and runner-up in Schultz, will take the same mentality to Billings.

“Fortunately for us, we have a lot of kids who have been there before,” he said. “It can be a really intimidating place.”

Johnston and Ronan know the importance of experience at state as well. The Chiefs most highly touted returner, Dumont, has hit his stride after a shaky start to the season.

“Ever since we decided 145 is where he was going to go, he’s really changed his outlook,” Johnston said. “He’s been wrestling really good.”

Dumont and another senior, 132-pounder Chase Rhine, are the keys to Ronan’s team success, according to Johnston. Rhine has been the Chiefs’ most consistent wrestler this season.

“He could be at the top of the podium at 132,” Johnston said. “There’s nobody he can’t beat at 132.”

And who knows, with the spotlight and pressure of a state tournament atmosphere, nearly anything can happen.

Western B-C Divisional

Ronan Event Center

Saturday, Feb. 8

Team scores

Mission-Charlo 177.5, Plains-Hot Springs 166.5, Ronan 130, Eureka 129, Florence 73, Deer Lodge 72, Drummond-Philipsburg 56, Thompson Falls 56, Superior 54, Arlee 49, Noxon 42, Bigfork 21.

Championship matches

98 – Blaine Parkin, Superior, pinned Colin Rogers, Deer Lodge, 1:58. 106 – Morgan Schultz, Mission-Charlo, pinned T.J. Knoll, Arlee, 1:08. 113 – Garrett White, Eureka, dec. Anthony Parkin, Superior, 9-6. 120 – Zach Durden, Eureka, pinned Gregory Weatherwax, Mission-Charlo, :32. 126 – Connor Rogers, Deer Lodge, dec. Jamie Mullins, Mission-Charlo, 5-4. 132 – Russell Kujala, Plains-Hot Springs, dec. Torren Lawson, Florence, 5-0. 138 – Logan Goodwin, Plains-Hot Springs, dec. Bridger LaPierre, Superior, 7-5. 145 – Brandon Dumont, Ronan dec. Trent Dennison, Mission-Charlo, 6-3. 152 – Kane Lawson, Plains-Hot Springs, pinned Connor Benn, Ronan, 1:32. 160 – Joe Detienne, Plains-Hot Springs, dec. Alex Bertollt, Arlee, 8-4. 170 – Jacen Petersen, Mission-Charlo, pinned Ronny Cullis, Ronan, :33. 182 – Steven Bravo, Mission-Charlo, pinned Vinny Quirk, Bigfork, 1:03. 195 – Kaelan Yanak, Eureka, pinned Lauren Christopher, Ronan, 3:49. 220 – John Onofrey, Noxon, pinned Keenan Hendricksen, Florence, 2:25. 285 – Ben Gorham, Plains-Hot Springs, pinned Michael Irvine, Ronan, 1:33.

Third-place matches

98 – Lena Babcock, Thompson Falls, bye. 106 – Alex Waite, Deer Lodge, pinned Tate Trudeau, Superior, 2:15. 113 – Danny Helmer, Mission-Charlo, bye. 120 – Logan Danforth, Deer Lodge, pinned Sean Provost, Drmd-Pburg, :17. 126 – Josh Schmidt, Eureka, dec. James Detienne, Plains-Hot Springs, 10-8. 132 – Daniel Dunlop, Arlee, pinned Chase Rhine, Ronan, 4:52. 138 – James Dunn, Eureka, injury def. over Tony Bergeson, Drmd-Pburg. 145 – Colton Bray, Thompson Falls, pinned Brett Volkmann, Florence, 2:59. 152 – Ty Pocha, Drmd-Pburg, dec. Luke Crowe, Noxon, 8-1. 160 – Peydon Prince, Drmd-Pburg, dec. Kyle Milner, Thompson Falls, 7-0. 170 – Jace Pancake, Florence, pinned Stephen Clinkenbeard, Plains-Hot Springs, 1:35. 182 – Shane Morigeau, Mission-Charlo, pinned Austyn Meinzen, Florence, :32. 195 – Ethan Goss-Dickie, Mission-Charlo, pinned Alan Chojnacky, Noxon, 3:29.220 – Brandon Shea, Plains-Hot Springs, pinned Tom Paxton, Drmd-Pburg, 2:24. 285 – Tyler Spidel, Mission-Charlo, pinned Tanner Mead, Ronan, :35.

Fifth-place winners

(Alternates to state)

120 – Bryce Henning, Plains-Hot Springs. 126 – Weston Stover, Thompson Falls 132 – Levi Lambertson, Eureka. 138 – Cody Edens, Florence. 145 – Nikko Bakkila, Eureka. 152 – Sheldon Danforth, Deer Lodge. 160 – Wyatt Miller, Eureka. 170 – Joe Fehr, Eureka. 195 – Luiz Gonzalez, Ronan. 285 – Caleb Connolly, Plains-Hot Springs.