Wildcats' Tarr looks for third straight title

While Aric Tarr of Columbia Falls will be looking to become the first Wildcat ever to win three state Class A wrestling titles this weekend in Billings, Polson's Kevin Owen, like a lot of other qualifiers, will be hoping to claim his first.

Owen is currently Montana's No. 1 ranked wrestler at 171 pounds for Class A.

He owns a record of 39-1 and will be competing in his fourth, and final, state tournament.

"He's pretty excited about getting to his goal (winning state)," said his father, and coach, Bob Owen.

"He got caught up in the emotions last year. He had a real good lead going into the second period and just ran out of juice. A lot of it had to do with anxiety."

Owen finished second at state in 2003 and was third as a sophomore and freshman.

He captured his fourth divisional title last weekend in Polson and earlier this year became just the second wrestler to win four titles at the Rocky Mountain Classic.

A state championship has been the only thing to elude him thus far.

Tarr, on the other hand, put together back-to-back perfect seasons (30-0 and 31-0) in taking state titles his sophomore and junior seasons.

The senior enters this year's season finale with a 29-3 mark.

He's ranked No. 2 in Class A at 119 pounds behind Brandon Stedman of Frenchtown. Stedman has beaten Tarr twice this season, 3-2 each time.

"He has his work cut out for him, no question about that," said Columbia Falls coach Wes Knutson.

"His attitude has been great, he's been working hard in the (wrestling) room. For losing the first time in several years, he handled it very sportsmanlike."

Knutson said Tarr and Stedman are in opposite brackets at state, which means the two could face off in the finals baring any upsets.

Polson's Logan Kugler will be seeking his second straight title, having won at 152 a year ago.

Kugler, one of six Polson divisional champions last week, is currently 35-3 at 160. He finished third at state in 2002.

"Three state champs," said coach Owen in Kugler's weight class.

"The other two (state champs) have to wrestle (each other) to get to him."

Polson's Kaine Zetterberg, 34-3 at 130, will be looking to place at state for a fourth time. He finished fifth last year, but was third both years before that.

"Both Kaine and Kugler have good opponents at their weight," said coach Owen.

"They will be in the mix."

Polson, ranked No. 4 team-wise, will have to wrestle very well to finish in the top three this time around.

The Pirates, with just eight qualifiers last year, placed second. This year they are sending 11 to Billings.

"Sidney is definitely in the driver's seat," said coach Owen.

"They have so much ammunition. They have the possibility for seven, eight finalists. They're tough."

Sidney, which piled up 251 points to easily win state last year, also returns "four or five state champions," said coach Owen.

"That's a big statement right there."

Libby, ranked No. 3, figures to be in the hunt for some state hardware along with No. 2 Havre.

The Loggers won their third straight divisional title last week while qualifying 14 wrestlers.

"We hope to bring home a team trophy, but will really have to wrestle well," said Libby coach Jay Graham.

"(We have a) realistic shot at eight placers and a couple state champions. Due to our tough division, Sidney and Havre have a big advantage."

The Loggers have two wrestlers having won 30-plus matches - Nils Unger, 31-8 at 152, and Jake Graham, 34-5 at 189.

Libby's Travis Hjort, 23-5, is the top ranked Class A wrestler at 215.

Whitefish, ranked No. 6, finished second at the Northwestern Divisional last week and will take 13 to state.

Columbia Falls, ranked No. 9, is sending 12.

"It does bring out the best (in us)," said Whitefish coach Pat Cheff of divisionals. "They wrestled their hearts out."

Cheff said his wrestlers beat three kids in the opening round that they had lost to during the regular season.

"We continued on (from there)," he said.

At state, Cheff said how well the Bulldogs wrestle in the first round will dictate how well they do.

"It sets the tone," he said of opening matches. "That's where the upsets take place. They have to perform in that first round or it will be a long two days."

Cheff said he'd like to place "eight to 10 kids," this weekend.

"We have high expectations," he said. "We have one more good tournament left in us."

Whitefish had three divisional champs in Danny Neff, 13-3 at 112; Cody Mikesell, 19-8 at 140; and Troy Parker, 20-6 at heavyweight.

Brad Watterud, 145, has the most wins on the squad with 27 to go with nine losses.

Tommy Church, 23-9 at heavyweight, has the second most wins on the Columbia Falls roster. Ryan Buck, 145, and Dalvin Averill, 135, are next with 21 apiece.

"We're hoping, if things go extremely well, top five," said Knutson. "(That's) our goal every year. Realistically, finish in the top eight. That would be a good performance by the kids."

Wrestling begins Friday at 10 a.m.

The semifinals will take place 9 a.m. Saturday morning. The consolation finals are set for 3 p.m. with the championship finals at 6.

Columbia Falls

105 - Cody Kolodejchuk, fr., 16-8; 119 - Aric Tarr, sr., 29-3, and Cory Pete, jr., 16-9; 125 - Michael Hader, fr., 15-4, and Bo Hader, so., 5-7; 130 - Keyvin Walter, sr., 11-8; 135 - Dalvin Averill, jr., 21-11; 140 - Bobby Opp, jr., 20-10; 145 - Ryan Buck, sr., 21-7; 160 - Calvin Williams, sr., 9-8; 189 - Nik Caron, sr., 14-6; Hwt - Tommy Church, sr., 23-9.

Libby

105 - Loran Nelson, fr., 12-16; 112 - Trevor Kelly, fr., 3-18; 119 - Kyle Ames, sr., 17-6; 125 - Matt Roberts, so., 18-14; 130 -Boomer Peek, jr., 27-11; 135 - Seth Cummings, jr., 26-6; 140 - Tim Spencer, sr., 12-9; 145 - Steve Bertelsen, so., 22-13; 152 - Nils Unger, sr., 31-8; 160 - Reece Gassett, jr., 9-17; 171 - Jake Spencer, jr., 26-6; 189 - Jake Graham, so., 34-5; 215 - Travis Hjort, jr., 23-5; Hwt - Tyler Goff, so., 19-13.

Polson

98 - Shawn Medland, fr., 16 - 8, and Shayne Ludwick, fr., 28 - 7; 105 - Logan Torgison, fr., 32 - 5; 112 - Conlin Benson, so., 29 - 6; 125 - Colby Wolfenden, sr., 8 - 6; 130 - Kaine Zetterberg, sr., 34 - 3; 140 - Pat Dellwo, so., 20 - 17; 145 - Ted Morigeau, so., 23 - 10; 160 - Logan Kugler, sr., 35 - 3; 171 - Kevin Owen, sr., 39 - 1; 215 - Aaron Jones, jr., 19 - 14.

Whitefish

98 - Phillip Murphy, fr., 8-21; 105 - Cody Morris, fr., 5-12; 112 - Danny Neff, so., 13-3; 119 - Kevin Kaltschmidt, so., 21-11; 130 - Matt Starr, fr., 18-15; 135 - Pete Starr, sr., 21-13; 140 - Cody Mikesell, jr., 19-8; 145 - Brad Watterud, jr., 27-9; 152 - David Lautaret, sr., 18-10, and Brad Kuntz, jr, 17-12; 171 - Tim Lehner, jr., 22-11; 215 - Kyle Burns, jr., 9-16; Hwt - Troy Parker, jr., 20-6.