Bulldogs have stellar performance at Class B-C state wrestling tournament

BILLINGS — Mission-Charlo wrestling head coach Lyle Cronk watched his Bulldogs develop putting themselves in a position to finish strong at the Montana Activities Association Class B-C state wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday afternoon at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings.

Cronk wasn’t at all disappointed with the Bulldogs’ performances as Gus Bosley (182), Darwin Adams (138) and Walker Murphy (113) all placed in their respective weight classes.

“I was really happy for our three state placers because they’ve earned every bit of state placing this year,” Bulldogs’ coach Lyle Cronk said. “All year long they’ve done a great job at placing at the tournaments and they are doing a great job likewise. It was great to see them finish and get up on the podium, especially those that got to do it for the first time. It was fantastic for them.”

Bosley, one of the Bulldogs seniors, competed in a weight class of 182-pounds, a class that featured an all-western Montana championship between Eureka’s Garrett Graves and Spencer Jones. In Bosley’s weight class was also Arlee Warrior George Shick, and the two competitors have had tough matches throughout the season, according to Cronk.

“The kids did a great job and 182 is a very tough weight class,” Cronk said. “Having two kids from our division in the championship really validated the depth from our division in that class.”

Cronk said he was “pleased” with the performances of other competitors that just missed becoming state placers including: Bailey Weibel (126), Cole Gilleard (132), Isaiah Allik (160) and Chris Anderson (285).

“They came up just short of placing but they contributed to the tournament and the team score in Billings,” Cronk said. “I was very proud of their efforts.”

All season Cronk said he felt his team demonstrated a good chemistry as a team, which he said made the season “fun.”

“We had a good team and I thought they did a good job and enjoyed themselves,” Cronk said. “We had a good year (as a team). I will say this team has demonstrated a good chemistry throughout the year and it’s been a great team to coach. There are a lot of young kids that went out and competed hard. We are going to miss our seniors. Hopefully we will come back next year and have a great group of young wrestlers and have a lot of success.”

Cronk said he felt the Bulldogs will lose of lot of leadership from their star-studded senior class, but will also have a lot returning next season.

“We will have some great leaders coming back next year and some of our competitors were just a match away from placing,” Cronk said. “We will have some great leaders like Isaiah, Darwin, and Walker Murphy coming back that will lead a great group coming back next year.”