Mission-Charlo take third in Corvallis Tournament

The Mission-Charlo co-op wrestling team placed third in their unscheduled trip to the Corvallis Tournament.

The Mission-Charlo co-op was originally scheduled to travel to Stevensville until it got canceled because of inclement weather.

“We placed third as a team and we had some excellent (individual) performances,” Mission-Charlo Coach Lyle Cronk said. “The big thing is that we had two of our freshman step up and place in our tournament at 103 pounds and 152 pounds. That was just exciting to see and it was very encouraging because we have a young team. That is going to make our team competitive with a great group of freshman. I was very excited about the results of this weekend.”

The Mission-Charlo co-op returned its key wrestler Trent Dennison.

Dennison, Charlo-Mission’s high placer and only returning senior, took first place in the competition at the 160-pound weight class.

“That was the first time that he got to wrestle all season and he took first at 160-pounds by pinning all of his guys,” Cronk said.

Cronk also said he felt freshman Robert Dempsey had “an outstanding” performance in the tournament.

“Dempsey had a really good match against one of his division rivals,” Cronk said. “Dempsey had a big match with Ronan’s Zane Walchuk. That was a big match that was the difference between placing third and fourth.”

120-pound wrestler Isaac DuMontier placed second after he lost his match to Owen Brown. Other Mission-Charlo wrestlers that placed included Miles Anderson, who placed third at 152 pounds, Bailey Wieble placed fourth at 126 pounds and Gus Bosley placed second at the 182-pound division.

Cronk said he felt his team “performed well.”

“I think it was a whole team effort and that is something that is most exciting about wrestling,” Cronk said. “Sometimes a JV kid will get a big win and that will spark huge momentum. When your wrestlers win big or exciting matches, that really boosts the momentum of your team. That is basically the name of the game. It is having all of your wrestlers competing hard and winning matches. People didn’t think they were going to win. However, if you can get an upset (match) or get a pin, these are things that can fire a team up. They can come from any member of the team, which is nice.”