Chiefs wrestling has a strong showing in Lewistown

Ronan High School boys wrestling coach Dylan Kramer is aware the countdown towards the Class A wrestling tournament dwindles with each passing week and tournament.

This also means the time to fine-tune things and get prepared is also dwindling. His Chiefs got a golden opportunity to preview the atmosphere on Feb 9-10 at Rimrock Auto Arena at Metrapark during the Class A Duals in Lewistown.

The Chiefs’ wrestling program was able to get critical wins in the dual meet with a 53-21 victory over Hamilton, a 42-28 victory over Hardin, a 60-14 win over the Hardin and a closely-contested 34-36 loss to cross-county rival Polson.

“The Lewistown Duals is just a fun environment and it’s great from a coaching staff perspective on the whole scouting aspect of things,” Kramer said. “Not only do you get to compete with people that you don’t see the whole year but the tournament is good for the sports wrestling and keeps people involved and attracts a lot of attention to the sport.”

Kramer said in a dual format “anything can happen” and Lewistown was no exception as the Chiefs could have defeated the Pirates’ wrestling program but Polson’s wrestler Cameron Brown came through by pinning Chiefs’ wrestler Eric Dolence.

“Anywhere in a dual anything can happen and that can happen in the last match,” Kramer said. “We left points out there on the mat. Hats off to Polson for capitalizing on our mistakes, not quitting and being ready for the right moment in the match.”

Having success in wrestling, just like in football, can be dictated by a team’s health during the season, and right now the Chiefs’ squad is starting to get healthy at the right time.

“I think we are getting healthy and being healthy and in shape gives us a good chance to win in matches that go until the third period,” Kramer said. “ As we continue to prepare for the final portion of the season, we will work on those two things and really focus on those two areas.”

Kramer expressed that he is “proud” of his team’s ability to perform during the week.

“I am super proud of the kids and the way they are competing, the time they’ve put in, and how they’ve bought into our system and program,” Kramer said. “They know we are nowhere near finished and we aren’t satisfied with close losses. That is why we are putting in a little more time during practice.”

Kramer and his team also got to take a look at some of the elite programs they will most likely see in Billings.

“That is the thing about state is whoever has the best tournament can show up and win,” Kramer said. “Sidney was extremely dominant and the No. 1 team in the state. Havre is just as dominant and deserving as the No. 2 but come tournament time, anything can happen and anyone can win trophies. It all depends on who peaks at the right time.”

Another important psychological factor the Chiefs were able to pick up from having success in these duals is confidence.

“I think this tournament has done two things,” Kramer said. “We were able to pick up a couple of wins against teams that were ranked higher than us and we were able to gain a little bit of confidence because first through seventh place in Class A are going to be very close. We need to focus on the little things and get everything accomplished in practice in the next couple of weeks.”

The Chiefs will get a chance at redemption when they battle Polson Thursday afternoon at the Ronan Events Center in another dual.