Loggers overcome weigh-in troubles
Libby beats C-Falls, Whitefish in mat duals
COLUMBIA FALLS - Steve Bertelsen really wanted to wrestle.
Libby's 160-pounder wanted to get on the mat so badly he went up two weight classes to wrestle 189 at Columbia Falls Friday night.
"He wanted to wrestle," said Libby head coach Jay Graham.
And he won.
Bertelsen defeated Mat Cat Jesse Woodward by technical fall and the Loggers beat Columbia Falls in a Northwestern A dual, 58-26.
Bertelsen was up those two weight classes because of a weigh-in snafu.
The Libby coaches didn't know that on days when a team wrestles two duals - as the Loggers did Friday against Whitefish and Columbia Falls - the team has to weigh in at each school. That's a new rule.
The No. 2-ranked Loggers weighed in earlier in the day at Whitefish. They got seven forfeits and three pins and won, 69-15.
All the Libby wrestlers made weight easily there, Graham said.
Because Whitefish didn't have a 160-pounder, Bertelsen collected a forfeit.
Afterward, all the Loggers had water, sports drinks and snacks, then found out in Columbia Falls they had to weigh in again.
That led to a major reshuffling of the Libby lineup.
"It was kind of a bad situation," Graham said. "We bumped people around like we had to - and they still wrestled tough," he said.
At 112, Libby had to put in a JV wrestler. Kyle Sweedman, the regular 112-pounder, jumped to 119, while regular 119-pounder Lewis Brossman went to 125. A JV wrestler filled in at 130 while 130-pounder Andrew Elliott moved to 135. Richard Davidson, who usually wrestles 152, moved to 160.
That meant Bertelsen would have to go to 171 - but Columbia Falls didn't have a 171-pounder. Bertelsen could have claimed another forfeit and jumped on the bus back to Libby.
"You've got to like when they're willing to step up. But it's still hard to give up that much weight," Graham said.
Libby also collected five Mat Cat forfeits. Columbia Falls forfeited 98, 105, 145, 152 and 171.
"It was kind of an ugly win, but we'll take it. They've got a lot of fight and I was pleased with the effort," Graham said.
So was Columbia Falls coach Jessie Schaeffer.
"We did some good things - and there are a lot of things we need to work on. And we have two weeks," he said.
"We went 5-5 with them (in matches wrestled)," he added.
The Mat Cats got wins from Clayton Patterson (112), Travis Pete (119), Shawn Whitman
(125), Cody Kolodejchuk (130) and Michael Hader (140).
But Libby controlled the upper weights.
"Libby in those upper weights - they're solid and they're going to be tough to beat," Schaeffer said.
In addition to Bertelsen, 215-pounder Jake Graham pinned his Mat Cat opponent, as did heavyweight Lyle Jordan.
"We're making progress. Each individual is making progress," Schaeffer said.
"We have stuff to work with. It's coming. I'm excited."
Libby 69, Whitefish 15
98: Michael Roby, L, won by forfeit; 105: Levi Edwards-Myslicki, L, won by forfeit; 112: Kyle Sweedman, L, won by forfeit; 119: Lewis Brossman, L, won by forfeit; 125: Brandon Huffman, L, won by forfeit; 130: Andrew Elliott, L, won by forfeit; 135: Cody Morris, W, pinned Kelbee Sweedman, L, 1:38; 140: Matt Roberts, L, dec. Kaleb Prestegaard, 9-3; 145: Matt Starr, W, dec. Parter Nelson, L, 4-2; 152: Richard Davidson, L, pinned Randy Martin, W, 1:41; 160: Steve Bertelsen, L, won by forfeit; 171: Jake Beck, W, pinned Rory Hendrickson, L, 1:19; 189: Justin Graham, L, pinned Jake Scheel, W, 3:23; 215: Jake Graham, L, won by forfeit; 285: Lyle Jordan, L, pinned Kevin McDowell, :21.
Libby 56, Columbia Falls 28
98: Michael Roby, L, won by forfeit; 105: Levi Edwards-Myslicki, L, won by forfeit; 112: Clayton Patterson, CF, pinned Logan Ricke, L, 3:05; 119: Travis Pete, CF, dec. Kyle Sweedman, L, 11-3; 125: Shawn Whitman, CF, pinned Lewis Brossman, L, 4:37; 130: Cody Kolodejchuk, CF, pinned Caleb Gilder, L, 3:01; 135: Andrew Elliott, L, pinned Casey Stewart, CF, 4:52; 140: Michael Hader, CF, pinned Porter Nelson, L, 1:14; 145: Matt Roberts, L, won by forfeit; 152: Seth Wright, L, won by forfeit; 160: Richard Davidson, L, dec. Kelly Houle, CF, 2-1; 171: Justin Graham, L, won by forfeit; 189: Steve Bertelsen, L, tech fall Jesse Woodward, 25-10; 215: Jake Graham, L, pinned Kodie Kenfield, CF, 2:27; 285: Lyle Jordan, L, pinned Jacob Pierson, L, :18.