Pirates earn third place at Class A duals in Belgrade

by Joe Sova Lake County Leader
| January 24, 2019 12:08 PM

Polson and Ronan high school wrestlers got a good, long look at every Class A team in Montana during the Class A Duals last Friday and Saturday in Belgrade.

Teams were divided into pools, and each of them wrestled four duals Friday. Based on records, the squads went into bracket competition Saturday.

While Polson advanced to the semifinals, Ronan fell short of advancing in the bracket.

In pool duals, Polson dominated Browning, 57-15, and Stevensville/Victor, 71-6, and Glendive 63-12, and finished with a narrow 39-34 loss to Laurel. In the bracket Saturday, the Pirates topped Hardin, 47-27, and Corvallis, 54-22. In the final dual, Polson was no match for Sidney/Fairview in a 64-6 semifinal loss.

In the match for third place, the Pirates eked out a 36-34 win over Hardin.

“It came right down to the wire,” Polson head coach Matt Owen said. “We had a lead going into the last match … It was a hard-fought dual.”

Owen said Hunter Fritsch had a “great tourney.” His only loss was to his

Sidney/Fairview opponent. He had upset Nelson Crisafulli of Glendive, who was ranked No. 1 in the 170-pound class.

Bridger Wenzel “had a really strong tournament,” Owen said.

Another Pirate who stepped up strong was senior Jarod Farrier. “He really started to put things together. We bumped him up quite a bit. He was giving up weight and coming out with some big wins,” the coach said.

Farrier’s win against Laurel gave Polson the dual victory. “That was was a cool match for him to come out with a big win for us,” Owen said.

Polson was to host Glacier on Tuesday (Jan. 22), and entertains Ronan at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Pirates compete in a mixer Friday at Whitefish, with action starting at 4 p.m.

RONAN GOT off to a strong start in pool duals at Belgrade. The Chiefs went 2-2 Friday — getting wins over Park County 34-15 and Billings Central 45-18 before losing to Hardin 45-18 and Frenchtown 57-19.

In bracket duals, Ronan was outscored by Miles City 42-30, Browning 42-27 and Belgrade 59-18.

Two of the top wrestlers for the Chiefs were Daniel Bishop, who posted a 6-1 record at the duals while Zane Walchuk was 5-1. Those marks are not counting forfeits.

Ronan wrestles against Polson and Frenchtown on Thursday in Polson, then hosts Class B-C Mission/Charlo on Saturday.

Polson and Ronan enter the Divisional Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 2 at Butte Central, and the state tournament is the following weekend in Billings.

Class A Duals in Belgrade

BRACKET DUALS

POLSON

Polson 47, Hardin 27

152: Bridger Wenzel (POLS) over Ronald Anderson (HARD) (Fall 0:09) 160: Conner Schwend (HARD) over Garrett Croft (POLS) (Fall 3:42) 170: Hunter Fritsch (POLS) over Ty Greenfield (HARD) (Fall 0:44) 182: Logan Adler (POLS) over Dante Pallone (HARD) (Fall 0:35) 205: Jesse Murdock (HARD) over Aaron O`Roake (POLS) (Fall 1:58) 285: Preston Bad Bear (HARD) over Jasper Drake (POLS) (Fall 1:24) 103: Gavin Knutson (POLS) over (HARD) (For.) 113: Rene Pierre (POLS) over Keith Pretty Weasel (HARD) (TF 16-0 4:22) 120: Kedrick Baker (POLS) over (HARD) (For.) 126: Maysn Cowell (POLS) over Wyatt Harmer (HARD) (Fall 1:47) 132: Tyren Stidham (POLS) over (HARD) (For.) 138: Calder Pilkington (HARD) over Jarod Farrier (POLS) (Dec 7-4) 145: Jace Guptill (HARD) over Caleb Pierre (POLS) (Fall 3:34)

Polson 54, Corvallis 22

170: Hunter Fritsch (POLS) over Ethan Chavez (CORV) (Fall 0:29) 182: Logan Adler (POLS) over (CORV) (For.) 205: Aaron O`Roake (POLS) over (CORV) (For.) 285: Jasper Drake (POLS) over Harley Wise (CORV) (Fall 0:28) 103: Gavin Knutson (POLS) over Mark Spencer (CORV) (Fall 2:37) 113: Rene Pierre (POLS) over (CORV) (For.) 120: Kedrick Baker (POLS) over Jimmy Schmitt (CORV) (Fall 0:41) 126: Dante Vewnema (CORV) over Maysn Cowell (POLS) (MD 10-0) 132: Carter Brown (CORV) over Tyren Stidham (POLS) (Fall 0:09) 138: Benji Opat (CORV) over Jarod Farrier (POLS) (Fall 3:05) 145: Triston Davis (CORV) over Caleb Pierre (POLS) (Fall 1:17) 152: Bridger Wenzel (POLS) over Randon Weidow (CORV) (Fall 0:45) 160: Garrett Croft (POLS) over Ethan Chaven (CORV) (Fall 0:25)

Sidney/Fairview 64, Polson 6

205: Ryan Wyman (SIFA) over Aaron O`Roake (POLS) (Fall 1:06) 285: Brodey Skogen (SIFA) over Jasper Drake (POLS) (Fall 1:20) 103: Gavin Knutson (POLS) over Christian Lassey (SIFA) (Fall 1:29) 113: Caiden Kline (SIFA) over Rene Pierre (POLS) (Dec 8-4) 120: Jordan Darby (SIFA) over Kedrick Baker (POLS) (Fall 2:00) 126: Everett Jensen (SIFA) over Maysn Cowell (POLS) (Fall 2:59) 132: Aden Graves (SIFA) over Jarod Farrier (POLS) (Fall 1:37) 138: Christian Dean (SIFA) over (POLS) (For.) 145: Kade Graves (SIFA) over Caleb Pierre (POLS) (Fall 0:53) 152: Jace Winter (SIFA) over (POLS) (For.) 160: Riley Waters (SIFA) over Bridger Wenzel (POLS) (Dec 12-6) 170: Trevor Dean (SIFA) over Hunter Fritsch (POLS) (MD 13-1) 182: Jett Jones (SIFA) over (POLS) (For.)

Havre 36, Polson 34

285: Jasper Drake (POLS) over (HAVR) (For.) 103: Riley Pleninger (HAVR) over Gavin Knutson (POLS) (Fall 1:29) 113: Rene Pierre (POLS) over Mick Chagnon (HAVR) (Dec 6-3) 120: Cameron Pleninger (HAVR) over Kedrick Baker (POLS) (Fall 3:53) 126: Maysn Cowell (POLS) over Kendall Pleninger (HAVR) (Fall 1:47) 132: Randy Tommerup (HAVR) over Tyren Stidham (POLS) (Fall 3:58) 138: Jarod Farrier (POLS) over Wyatt Hansen (HAVR) (Dec 7-1) 145: Martin Wilkie (HAVR) over Caleb Pierre (POLS) (Fall 0:45) 152: Bridger Wenzel (POLS) over Orion Thivierge (HAVR) (MD 8-0) 160: Connor Harris (HAVR) over Garrett Croft (POLS) (Fall 2:07) 170: Hunter Fritsch (POLS) over (HAVR) (For.) 182: Logan Adler (POLS) over Brayden Stadell (HAVR) (Fall 0:42) 205: Austin Ratliff (HAVR) over Aaron O`Roake (POLS) (Fall 2:22)

RONAN

Custer County (Miles City) 42, Ronan 30

205: Tyler Harms (CCMC) over Justin Mays (RONA) (Dec 3-0) 285: Larz Sorrell (RONA) over Archie Swift (CCMC) (Fall 5:15) 103: Jacob Shurtliff (CCMC) over (RONA) (For.) 113: Orrin Russell (CCMC) over (RONA) (For.) 120: Orin Muri (CCMC) over (RONA) (For.) 126: Trapper McAllister (RONA) over Jake Murnion (CCMC) (Fall 1:53) 132: Damian Leidholt (CCMC) over Zane Walchuk (RONA) (Dec 5-0) 138: Tommy Baker (CCMC) over (RONA) (For.) 145: Dalton Tvedt (CCMC) over Manny Rowan (RONA) (Fall 0:15) 152: Daniel Collins Bishop (RONA) over (CCMC) (For.) 160: Christian Smith (RONA) over (CCMC) (For.) 170: Liam Pauley (CCMC) over Jamison Webster (RONA) (Fall 0:22) 182: Jesse LittleBoy (RONA) over (CCMC) (For.)

Browning 42, Ronan 27

103: Double Forfeit 113: JC Larson (BROW) over (RONA) (For.) 120: Ashton Quinton (BROW) over (RONA) (For.) 126: Trapper McAllister (RONA) over Quinten Campos (BROW) (Fall 3:19) 132: Julian Strait (RONA) over Bruce Owens (BROW) (Fall 1:19) 138: Zane Walchuk (RONA) over Brenan Running (BROW) (Dec 9-5) 145: Chance Kittson (BROW) over Manny Rowan (RONA) (Fall 0:52) 152: Daniel Collins Bishop (RONA) over Lawrence Bird Rattler (BROW) (Fall 2:40) 160: Ryan Kipp (BROW) over Christian Smith (RONA) (Fall 1:10) 170: Charlie Bullcalf (BROW) over Jamison Webster (RONA) (Fall 1:38) 182: Ryan Running Crane (BROW) over Jesse LittleBoy (RONA) (Fall 0:59) 205: Justin Mays (RONA) over (BROW) (For.) 285: Wacey Zuback (BROW) over Larz Sorrell (RONA) (Fall 0:43)

Belgrade 59, Ronan 18

103: Dyson Kinnaman (BELG) over (RONA) (For.) 113: Matt Foley (BELG) over (RONA) (For.) 120: Roy DeGuzman (BELG) over (RONA) (For.) 126: Oden Currier (BELG) over Trapper McAllister (RONA) (Fall 3:05) 132: Julian Strait (RONA) over Nate Rowe (BELG) (Fall 6:11) 138: Zane Walchuk (RONA) over Colter Landsen (BELG) (Fall 1:55) 145: Brendan Gill (BELG) over Manny Rowan (RONA) (Fall 1:04) 152: John Mears (BELG) over Daniel Collins Bishop (RONA) (TF 16-0 0:00) 160: Colby Rochells (BELG) over Christian Smith (RONA) (Fall 0:50) 170: Kevin Aiken (BELG) over Jamison Webster (RONA) (Fall 1:52) 182: Xaden Cunningham (BELG) over Jesse LittleBoy (RONA) (Fall 4:00) 205: Justin Mays (RONA) over Mason Jacobsen (BELG) (Fall 4:40) 285: Enrique Ruie (BELG) over Larz Sorrell (RONA) (Fall 5:09)