Braves head to state atop AA poll

| February 9, 2005 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

Defending Class AA state champ Flathead enters the final weekend of the wrestling season ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll.

On the individual front, Flathead has wrestlers ranked in the top four spots in 11 of the 15 weight classes.

Brian Ham, 98, Chris Thompson, 189, and Brandon Hoffenbacker, heavyweight, are all ranked No. 1.

Three are ranked No. 2 - T.C. Decker, 105, Austin Zapata, 112, and Mikey Kuehne, 145.

The Braves have two wrestlers ranked at 112 - Ricky Janes is No. 3 - but none at 119, 125, 140 and 160.

Flathead posted a 17-1 record in duals. In tournament action, FHS won the Polson Invitational while finishing second at the CMR Holiday Classic, the Rocky Mountain Classic and the Pacific Northwest Classic in Spokane, Wash.

The Braves wound up third at the Butte Duals.

Flathead has qualified 25 individuals for the state tournament, which gets under way Friday in Billings. The tournament winds up Saturday with the championship matches at 6 p.m.

Class AA

Team

1. Flathead. 2. Billings Skyview. 3. Billings Senior. 4. Butte.

Individual

98 - 1. Brian Ham (Fla); 2. Seth Goodell (Sky); 3. Tyler McLaughlin (Butte); 4. Zach Mendenhall (GFH). 105 - 1. Kallen Kleinschmidt (Cap); 2. T. C. Decker (Fla); 3. Darren Pulver (SR); 4. Brendan Halsten (Sky). 112- 1. Ben Spencer (GFH); 2. Austin Zapata (Fla); 3. Ricky Janes (Fla); 4. Lester Plotner (West)

119 - 1. Kody Tolliver (GFH); 2. Jeff Jones (Sky); 3. T. J. Renz (Butte); 4. Trent Sprenkle (SR)

125 - 1. Craig Moline (West); 2. Brody Verrall (Butte); 3. Zach Gregoire (GFH); 4. Rob Gerbasch (Hel)

130 - 1. Cole Dalleserra (Butte); 2. Matt Schieno (West); 3. Duran Flaget (Fla); 4. Malcolm Kintzing (Sky)

135 - 1. Vince Saliminen (Sky); 2. Will Kusker (Big Sky); 3. Nick Lang (Boz); 4. Ryan Nelson (Fla)

140 - 1. Nick Haynes (Butte); 2. Jordan Duffield (Sky); 3. Tay Todd (Boz); 4. Jack Lowney (Big Sky)

145 - 1. Danny Whitby (SR); 2. Mikey Kuehne (Fla); 3. Tel Todd (Boz); 4. Kacey Halero (Cap)

152- 1. Tom Daniels (CMR); 2. D. Lemm (Sent.); 3. Darrin Williams (Sky); 4. David Lau (Fla) 160- 1. Austin Ouelette (Hlg); 2. Kirk Devore (Boz); 3. Derek Maciel (Sky); 4. Ryan McCracken (CMR)

171 - 1. Ryan Shilhanek (SR); 2. Ryan Featherstone (Hel); 3. Chase Gazzerro (CMR); 4. Levi Holt (Fla)

189 - 1. Chris Thompson (Fla); 2. Mike Keyser (Boz); 3. Zach Jones (Sky); 4. Colten Sherley (Cap)

215 - 1. Will Wine (SR); 2. Ben Schmidt (Butte); 3. Kevin Klaboe (West); 4. Garrett Woodson (Fla)

Hwt - 1. Brandon Hoffenbacker (Fla); 2. Preston Lyles (SR); 3. Trevor Hass (Butte); 4. Drew Stensland (West)