Chiefs finish second at Western Montana Duels

The Ronan High School wrestling team didn’t quite finish where they wanted to by finishing second in the Montana Western Duals Friday and Saturday at the Ronan Events Center but that hasn’t hampered their focus moving forward.

“We have a good swing of momentum coming into it and I feel like we wrestled to their potential,” Chiefs Coach James Muir said. “Our guys carried out the momentum we built and beat some incredible teams. Coming out in the finals, the match just swung the other way but it was a great duel against Frenchtown.”

In the championship match against Frenchtown, the Chiefs weren’t able to defeat the Mustangs matching up against them well.

“They are a solid wrestling team,” Muir said. “Our guys went out and wrestled really well . They eventually just came out on top. We battled some pretty good teams and Columbia Falls had some really good guys. They beat some of our guys pretty good and it was kind of a back-and-forth match. There is a rivalry with Columbia Falls and that was a good dual for us to pick up.”

Despite the loss to Frenchtown, Muir said he is now focused on one match: the Rocky Mountain Classic.

“We would have liked to come out the champion of the Western Montana duals but we aren’t backpedaling,” Muir said. “We are moving forward and (the duals) were a positive for our team. We did the best wrestling. We continue to wrestle and now we are focused on the Rocky Mountain Classic.”

The Rocky Mountain Classic, a 33-team wrestling classic in Missoula, will feature teams from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

“There are people who say the Rocky Mountain is actually tougher than the Tri-State (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)” Muir said. “I believe it’s very equal to the Tri-State and a very, very similar tournament. It’s one of our toughest individual and team tournaments, and there are 32 teams with us all the way from Class-AA down to B-C and from four different states. The diversity there makes it a tough tournament for sure.”

Muir said he is happy with his team’s progress moving forward.

“Our guys never gave up in the Western Montana Duals and we knew, going into those matches, that Frenchtown was going to be a grind,” Muir said. “Our guys never gave up and it was a battle to the end. That really shows how much we’ve progressed. We are willing to dig down deep. We bought into the program and system. We are ready to go, continue to wrestle, and turn the wheels forward.”

WESTERN MONTANA DUAL STAT PACK

WESTERN MONTANA DUALS

At Ronan

Final Standings: 1, Frenchtown; 2, Ronan; 3, Columbia Falls; 4, Corvallis; 5, Flathead JV; 6, Hamilton; 7, Glacier; 8, Polson JV.

Championship bracket

Round 1

Deer Lodge (POW) 30, Great Falls Central (GFC) 18

113 – open; 126 - Jaymin Schimming (POW) pin Kye Frazier-Harris (GFC) 1:24; 132 - Kordell Smith (POW) pin Trevor Thompson (GFC) :12; 138 – open; 145 – open; 152 - Teegan Shafer (POW) pin Noah Newman (GFC) :48; 160 – open; 182 - open; 285 - Trevor Yumas (GFC) pin Malik Jones (POW) 1:05.

Deer Lodge win by forfeit at 103, 120, 205. Central at 170.

Ronan (RON) 42, Flathead (KAL) 27

103 - Caden Rhine (RON) maj. dec. Brendan Bames (KAL) 13-1; 113 - Spencer Stagg (RON) maj. dec. Damian Naldret (KAL) 11-1; 120 - Owen Brown (RON) pin Riley Olson (KAL) 1:12; 126 - Hunter Peterson (RON) maj. dec. Jaden McNeil (KAL) 9-1; 132 - Noah Cheff (RON) pin Braden Comer (KAL) 1:20; 138 - Drew Harrison (KAL) pin Dylan Wilson (RON) 1:36; 145 - Seth Cheff (RON) pin Kade Quinn (KAL) 1:00; 152 - Happy Cheff (RON) pin Paxton Boyce (KAL) 3:28; 160 - Tyler Houle (RON) pin Joseph Battello (KAL) 2:42; 170 - Colby Martin (KAL) dec. Steven Weyant (RON) 12-5; 182 - Ross Calhoon (KAL) pin Wesley Pablo (RON) 1:20; 205 - Daniel Long (KAL) pin Andreas Staalstrum (RON) :38; 285 - Alex Paul (KAL) pin Ethan Christopher (RON) 2:42.

Frenchtown (FTN) 57, Polson (POL) 0

103 Walker Dyer (FTN) dec. Kedrick Baker (POL) 13-7; 120 Zach Blanchard (FTN) pin Owen Targerson (POL) 3:50; 126 Riley Gurr (FTN) pin Ethan Tolley (POL) 1:34; 138 Cade Livoti (FTN) dec. Jarod Farrier (POL) 8-6; 145 Bryce Williams (FTN) pin Caleb Unger (POL) 1:33; 152 Mikey Edwards (FTN) dec. Garrett Croft (POL) 3-0; 160 Hunter Allen (FTN) pin Nick Cleveland (POL) :53; 170 Tate Jones (FTN) pin Jon Peterson (POL) 3:48; 182 open; 205 Levi Downard (FTN) pin Jasper Drake (POL) 2:44; 285 Jesse Mecham (FTN) pin Ryan Burland (POL) 1:46.

Frenchtown win by forfeit at 113, 132.

Thompson Falls (TFS) 48, Big Sky (MBS) 16

113 Kaleb Frank (TFS) pin Lawrence Granbois (MBS) 1:09; 126 open; 132 Isaac Skillicorn (MBS) maj. dec.Tristan Fountain (TFS) 12-2; 138 Sam Ostwald (TFS) pin Sean Stinford (MBS) 1:42; 152 Cody Garrison (TFS) pin Kyle May (MBS) 3:43; 160 Max Andres (MBS) pin Luke Furman (TFS) 4:48; 170 Dakota Irvine (TFS) pin Zane Holland (MBS) 5:59; 182 Kendahl Odell (MBS) pin Kai Olsen-Swan (TFS) 3:17; 285 Seth Alarcon (TFS) pin Eric Ruttenburg (MBS) :44.

T. Falls win by forfeit at 120, 205. Big Sky at 145.

Corvallis (COR) 39, Hamilton (HAM) 29

120 Michael Golden (HAM) maj. dec. Dante Venema (COR) 11-0; 126 Bridger Williams (HAM) dec. Bengi Opat (COR) 7-2; 132 Adrian Garcia (HAM) pin Gus Roland (COR) :47; 138 Will Wissenbach (COR) pin Caden Brown (HAM) 5:59; 145 Aaron Christensen (COR) pin Laine Petri (HAM) 1:52; 160 Colton Ewalt (COR) dec. Dustin Copeland (HAM) 13-6; 170 Manny Rivera (HAM) maj. dec. Kye McCollaum 14-6; 182 Hunter Barron (COR) pin Aaron Swafford (HAM) 3:54; 205 Justin Hinson (HAM) pin Harley Wise (COR) :23; 285 Kyle Anderson (HAM) pin Garrett Hunt (COR) 1:47.

Corvallis win by forfeit at 103, 113, 152.

Columbia Falls (CFS) 60, Glacier (GLR) 12

103 - Garret Salminen (CFS) dec. Dylan Miller (GLR) 6-3; 113 - Austin Nelson (CFS) pin Caden Willis (GLR) 2:45; 120 - Winfield West (CFS) pin Lane Wilson (GLR) 1:08; 132 - Easton Sempf (CFS) pin Cole McCollam (GLR) :58; 138 - Justin Gibson (GLR) pin Brandon Thomas (CFS) 3:47; 145 - Ben Windauer (CFS) pin Adam Bartlett (GLR) 1:11; 152 - Mason Fetters (CFS) pin Andrew Glynn (CFS) 1:09; 160 - Colton McPhee (CFS) dec. Sam Barber (GLR) 8-6; 170 - Storm Kemppainen (CFS) pin Ney-J Johns (GLR) 3:17; 182 - Jakob Freeman (CFS) pin Brandon Olsen (GLR) 2:50; 285 - Kyler Koski (CFS) pin Ashton Thompson (GLR) 5:01

C. Falls win by forfeit at 126. Glacier at 205.

Mission (STI) 48, Great Falls Central (GFC) 0

103 - Robert Dempsey (STI) open; 113 - Walker Murphy (STI) open; 120 - Isaac DuMontier (STI) pin Alex Tooley (GFC) :27; 126 - open; 132 - Darwin Adams (STI) pin Trevor Thompson (GFC) :22; 138 - open; 145 - open; 152 - Miles Anderson (STI) pin Noah Newman (GFC) :32; 160 – open; 170 - Trent Dennison (STI) pin Tyler Stevens (GFC) 1:14; 205 – open; 285 - Chris Anderson (STI) pin Trevor Yunas (GFC) :24

Mission win by forfeit at 103, 113, 182.

Round 2

Ronan (RON) 32, Columbia Falls (CFS) 27

103 - Caden Rhine (RON) pin Garrett Salminen (CFS) 3:18; 113 - Spencer Stagg (RON) dec. Austin Nelson (CFS) 12-9; 120 - Owen Brown (RON) dec. Winfield West (CFS) 10-3; 126 - Hunter Peterson (RON) maj. dec. Ayden Role (CFS) 13-3; 132 - Noah Cheff (RON) maj. dec. Easton Sempe (CFS) 9-1; 138 - Dylan Wilson (RON) dec. Brandon Thomas (CFS) ; 145 - Ben Windauer (CFS) pin Seth Cheff (RON) :58; 152 - Mason Fetters (CFS) dec. Happy Cheff (RON) 8-2; 160 - Tyler Houle (RON) dec. Colton McPhee (CFS) 4-2; 170 - Storm Kempainen (CFS) pin Steven Weyant (RON) 3:02; 182 - Jacob Freeman (CFS) pin Wesley Pablo (RON) 5:37; 285 - Kyler Koski (CFS) pin Ethan Christopher (RON) :51.

Ronan win by forfeit at 205. C. Falls lost one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Hamilton (HAM) 60, Polson (POL) 12

113 open; 120 Michael Golden (HAM) pin Owen Torgerson (POL) 3:37; 126 Bridger Williams (HAM) pin Ethan Tolley (POL) 3:36; 138 Caden Brown (HAM) pin Jarod Farrier (POL) 2:14; 145 Lane Petri (HAM) pin Kaleb Unger (POL) 4:14; 152 Dustin Copeland (HAM) pin Garrett Croft (POL) 3:04; 170 Aaron Swafford (HAM) pin Jon Peterson (POL) 3:20; 205 Justin Hinsen (HAM) pin Jasper Drake (POL) 1:30; 285 Kyler Anderson (HAM) pin Ryan Burland (POL) 1:39

Hamilton win by forfeit at 132, 182. Polson at 103, 160.

Frenchtown (FTN) 47, Corvallis (COR) 21

103 - Walker Dyer (FTN) pin Carter Brown (COR) 1:32; 113 - Jake Bibler (FTN) pin Tristan Davis (COR) 5:23; 120 - Dante Venema (COR) maj. dec. Zach Blanchard (FTN) 9-0; 126 - Owen Indreland (FTN) pin Bengi Opat (COR) :11; 132 - Riley Gurr (FTN) pin Gus Roland (COR) :36; 138 - Cade Livoti (FTN) pin Aaron Christensen (COR) 5:30; 145 - Bryce Williams (FTN) dec. Will Wissenbach (COR) 9-6; 152 - Mikey Edwards (FTN) dec. Drew Schmitt (COR) 8-4; 160 - Hunter Allen (FTN) dec. Colten Ewalt (COR) 12-5; 170 - Kye McCalla um (COR) pin Tate Jones (FTN) 1:55; 205 - Levi Downard (FTN) pin Harley Wise (COR) 1:41; 285 - Garrett Hunt (COR) pin Jesse Mecham (FTN) 1:02.

Corvallis win by forfeit at 182.

Flathead (KAL) 36, Glacier (GLR) 27

103 Brendan Barnes (KAL) pin Dylan Miller (GLR) 3:44; 113 Caden Willis (GLR) dec. Dominic Battello (KAL) 7-0; 120 Riley Olson (KAL) pin Lane Wilson (GLR) 3:38; 132 Braden Comer (KAL) pin Cole McCollam (GLR) 1:07; 138 Justin Gibson (GLR) dec. Drew Harrison (KAL) 4-2; 145 Kade Quinn (KAL) dec. Adam Bartlett (GLR) 6-4; 152 Andrew Glynn (GLR) dec. Paxton Boyce (KAL) 5-1; 160 Sam Marber (GLR) pin Joseph Battello (KAL) 1:42; 170 Ney-J Johns (GLR) pin Hunter Tenley (KAL) 1:29; 182 Brandon Olsen (GLR) pin Charlie Redifer (KAL) 2:20; 205 Daniel Long (KAL) pin Caden Seymour (GLR) 1:05; 285 Alex Paull (KAL) dec. Ashton Thompson (GLR) 8-7.

Flathead win by forfeit at 126.

Round 3

Hamilton (HAM) 30, Flathead (KAL) 35

120 - Michael Golden (HAM) pin Riley Olson (KAL) 2:59; 126 - Jaden McNeil (KAL) dec. Bridger Williams (HAM) 2-0; 132 - Adrian Garcia (HAM) pin Braden Comer (KAL) 1:38; 138 - Drew Harrison (KAL) dec. Caden Brown (HAM) 8-3; 145 - Finn Sullivan (KAL) dec. Laine Petri (HAM) 14-8; 152 - Paxton Boyce (KAL) dec. Dustin Copeland (HAM) 12-7; 170 - Manny Rivera (HAM) pin Colby Martin (KAL) 2:28; 182 - Ross Calhoon (KAL) pin Aaron Swafford (HAM) 1:56; 205 - Justin Hinson (HAM) pin Daniel Long (KAL) 3:35; 285 - Kyle Anderson (HAM) pin Alex Paul (KAL) 1:32.

Kalispell win by forfeit at 103, 113, 160.

Glacier (GLA) 46, Polson (POL) 18

103 Kedrick Baker (POL) pin Dylan Miller (GLA) 1:16; 120 Lane Wilson (GLA) pin Owen Targerson (POL) :54; 126 open; 132 Ethan Tolley (POL) pin Cole McCollum (GLA) 1:02; 138 Justin Gibson (GLA) pin Jarod Farrier (POL) 5:35; 145 Adam Bartlett (GLA) maj. Dec. Kaleb Unger (POL) 11-1; 152 Andrew Glynn (GLA) dec. Garrett Croft (POL) 5-3; 160 Sam Barber (GLA) pin Nick Cleveland (POL) 2:48; 170 Ney-J Johns (GLA) dec. Jon Peterson (POL) 6-2; 205 Jasper Drake (POL) pin Caedon Seymour (GLA) 1:08; 285 Larrison Stevens (GLA) pin Ryan Burland (POL) :42.

Glacier win by forfeit at 113, 182.

Championship

Frenchtown (FTN) 34, Ronan (RON) 31

103 - Caden Rhine (RON) dec. Walker Dyer (FTN) 11-9; 113 - Jake Bibler (FTN) dec. Spencer Stagg (RON) 6-4; 120 - Owen Brown (RON) maj. dec. Zach Blanchard (FTN) 9-1; 126 - Riley Gurr (FTN) pin Hunter Peterson (RON) 1:27; 132 - Noah Cheff (RON) pin Owen Indreland (FTN) 1:39; 138 - Cade Livoti (FTN) maj. dec. Kane McAllister (RON) 17-6; 145 - Bryce Williams (FTN) pin Seth Cheff (RON) 4:45; 152 - Mikey Edwards (FTN) dec. Happy Cheff (RON) 5-1; 160 - Tyler Houle (RON) pin Unter Allen (FTN) 3:54; 182 - Tate Jones (FTN) pin Wesley Pablo (RON) 5:46; 205 - Levi Downard (FTN) pin Andreas Staalstrom (RON) 1:05; 285 - Ethan Christopher (RON pin Jesse Mecham (FTN) 1:27.

Ronan win by forfeit at 170.

Third place

Columbia Falls (CFS) 37, Corvallis (COR) 24

103 - Carter Brown (COR) pin Garret Salomon (CFS) 1:14; 113 - Austin Nelson (CFS) dec. Tristen Davis (COR) 4-2; 120 - Winfield West (CFS) dec. Dante Venema (COR) 6-0; 126 - Bengi Opat (COR) dec. Ayden Rule (CFS) 13-9; 132 - Easton Sempf (CFS) pin Gus Roland (COR) :46; 138 - Brandon Thomas (CFS) dec. Will Wissenbach (COR) 9-8; 145 - Ben Windauer (CFS) pin Drew Schmitt (COR) 3:45; 152 - Mason Fetters (CFS) pin Colton Ewalt (COR) 1:28; 160 - Kye McCullaum (COR) dec. Colten McPhee (CFS) 11-8; 182 - Jacob Freeman (CFS) maj. dec. Hunter Barron (COR) 15-2; 205 - Harley Wise (COR) pin Elijah White (CFS) 2:24; 285 - Garrett Hunt (COR) pin Kyler Koski (CFS) 1:30.

C. Falls win by forfeit at 170.