Whitefish cruises to win over Bigfork
With Wildcat Derek Wolf grasping at Bulldog David Lautaret's headgear, the Whitefish wrestler maintains control of the 160-pound match Thursday night in Whitefish. Lautaret won by technical fall, helping his team to a 45-27 win over Columbia Falls. Karen Nichols/Daily Inter Lake
WHITEFISH - Once Whitefish got rolling, the dual meet between the 10th-ranked Bulldogs and No. 5 Columbia Falls wasn't much of a contest.
Powered by two pins, a forfeit, a technical fall and a major decision in the upper weight classes, Whitefish cruised to a 45-27 win over the Wildcats.
"It was a bit of a struggle," Columbia Falls coach Wes Knutson said, noting that four of his regulars were not in action to injury or illness, putting added pressure on some underclassmen in the upper weights.
"We've got freshmen in all those upper weights - 160, 189, 215," he said. "You're asking a lot of a freshman to step in and wrestle an older kid."
The Bulldogs (5-4) knew it and took advantage. Brad Kuntz got things rolling with a major decision at 152 and David Lautaret followed that with a technical fall at 160. Columbia Falls (5-5) forfeited 171 then Tim Lehner got a pin at 189 and Matt Mangold did likewise at 215.
"They've got some kids banged up in that lineup, and we know that," Bulldogs coach Pat Cheff said. "We wanted to go out tonight and put on a solid performance, but we also didn't want to beat ourselves."
The heavyweight match, featuring Class A No. 1 Troy Parker of Whitefish and No. 5 Tommy Church, almost turned into a disaster for the Bulldogs. Parker led 6-4 late in the third when he tried for another takedown. Church was ready, made a counter move and ended up with the takedown to tie the match.
However, Parker escaped with just a few seconds left to get a 7-6 win and 39-6 team lead to seal the deal for Whitefish.
"I thought we out-physicaled them," Cheff said. "We came out more focused than they did, and there were some matchup issues - freshmen versus seniors - but in the key matches they came out pretty good."
After the heavyweights, the meet rolled back over to the lower weights and Columbia Falls picked up some points, keyed by two Bulldog forfeits and a pin by 98-pounder Clayton Patterson.
"We have some things to work on," Knutson said. "Our intensity wasn't like it was Tuesday. The inconsistency has got to end soon. That has to end real quick.
"That's one of those coaching battles you have to deal with. You encourage them, you show them film, you challenge them and hope that they step up."
Things should improve when Cody Kolodejchuk (105 pounds, ranked fifth), Michael Hader (125, No. 6), Bobby Opp (140, No. 6) and Calvin Williams return to the lineup.
Whitefish hosts Polson on Tuesday. The Wildcats travel to the Cut Bank tournament today.
No. 10 Whitefish 45, No. 5 Columbia Falls 27
98-Clayton Patterson, CF, pinned Phillip Murphy, 2:30; 105-Cody Morris, WF, pinned Micah Jam, 2:27; 112-Tyson Nelson, CF, won by forfeit; 119-Aric Tarr, CF, won by forfeit; 125-Corey Pete, CF, dec. Kevin Kaltschmidt, 11-6; 130-Keyvin Walter, CF, dec. Matt Starr, 10-4; 135-Pete Starr, WF, dec. Dalvin Averill, 3-1 (OT); 140-Cody Mikesell, WF, pinned Bridger Beach, 1:19; 145-Ryan Buck, CF, dec. Brad Watterud, 2-0 (OT); 152-Brad Kintz, WF, maj. dec. Brighton Hollis, 17-4; 160-David Lautaret, WF, TF Derek Wolf 19-3; 171-Nathan Topliff, WF, won by forfeit; 189-Tim Lehner, WF, pinned Jesse Woodward, :33; 215-Matt Mangold, WF, pinned A.J. Taylor, :59; HWT-Troy Parker dec. Tommy Church, 7-6.