Libby pins 'Cats, Bulldogs

COLUMBIA FALLS - The Libby Loggers didn't wrestle their best, but they still found a way to skin the Columbia Falls Wildcats Thursday night, 54-27. Libby's commitment to offseason weightlifting was apparent, as the team dominated the Class A matchup.

"We might have come in a little over confident," Libby coach Jay Graham said. "We didn't wrestle all that well. We'd better wrestle (against Whitefish later) than we did today."

In the latest wrestling poll, Libby came in third behind Sidney and Havre.

"I don't really care about polls," Graham said. "Sidney is a powerhouse, but between Havre and us, it just depends. They took second at the Butte Duals, and we took second at the Tri-State. There's only one in the end."

The dual started with the 140-pounders, and Columbia Falls' Michael Hader gave his team a jump start by pinning Andrew Orr in the second period. Hader, arguably the Matcats' best wrestler, is ranked third in the state along with teammate Cory Pete (135).

But after Hader's win, the Loggers rolled to eight straight wins including six pins in a row. Libby's lineup is top-heavy as far as talent, and the big guys got the job done. Jake Spencer (171), Jake Graham (189) and Travis Hjort (215) were on the mats for just 2:16 combined.

Jake Graham, ranked second in Class A, managed to look a little bored in his 37-second match against Chans Hennessey.

Libby's Tyler Goff wrestled well at heavyweight, pinning Dan Petersen in short order after tossing him to his back. Goff is in the varsity lineup due to an injury by Quinton Rodriguez. Rodriguez is likely out for the season with a blown rotator cuff.

Hunter Gragert (152) is also out with an injury for the Loggers, but will likely return to the lineup before state.

Columbia Falls finally put together a string of wins late in the dual as the lighter weights came alive and wrestled gutsy. Matt Hurless, (98 pounds soaking wet) lost a heartbreaker as he was called for stalling with six seconds left in the match. The one-point penalty gave Libby's Levi Edwards-Myslicki a 6-5 win.

"Their lighter weights did a good job," Graham said. "They got a little physical with us."

But Hurless's next three teammates rallied with consecutive pins to bring the score to 24-43. Libby was able to finish the night with a win as Matt Roberts beat Derek Pepperling 18-3. Pepperling was also docked one point for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Loggers 54, Matcats 27

98 - Levi Edwards-Myslicki (L) dec. Matt Hurless 6-5; 105 - Kolton King (CF) pinned Logan Ricke 3:29; 112 - Nolan Emerson (CF) pinned Trevor Kelly 3:38; 119 - Cody Kolodejchuk (CF) pinned Loran Nelson 4:24; 125 - Boomer Peek (L) pinned Jesse McCafferty 1:58; 130 - Cory Pete (CF) dec. Porter Nelson 9-2; 135 - Matt Roberts (L) tech. fall Derek Pepperling 18-3; 140 - Michael Hader (CF) pinned Andrew Orr 3:34; 145 - Seth Cummings (L) maj. dec. Michael Clark 22-9; 152 - Justin Graham (L) pinned Joe LeCount :31; 160 - Steve Bertelsen (L) won by forfeit; 171 - Jake Spencer (L) pinned Matt Sauter 3:40; 189 - Jake Graham (L) pinned Chans Hennessey :37; 215 - Travis Hjort (L) pinned Jesse Woodward 1:41; 275 - Tyler Goff (L) pinned Dan Petersen 1:03.

Blue Devils 55, Matcats 24

After losing a hard-fought battle against Libby, Columbia Falls dropped its second dual Thursday night by losing to Corvallis.

Michael Hader came through for his team again with another pin. He defeated Dan Dubose in 3:23. Matcat Kolton King was the only other C-Falls wrestler to post back-to-back wins for the evening. King earned the fastest pin of the dual against Corvallis with a 48-second fall over Ryan Bogden.

Cory Pete and Nolan Emerson each came close to an undefeated night, but lost close matches against Corvallis.

98 - Matt Hurless (CF) won by forfeit; 105 - Kolton King (CF) pinned Ryan Bogden :48; 112 - Danny Powers (COR) dec. Nolan Emerson 5-2; 119 - Landon Dellasilva (COR) won by forfeit; 125 - Jaris Biever (COR) pinned Jesse McCafferty 5:43; 130 - Talor Nagel (COR) dec. Cory Pete 2-1; 135 - Chase Jesson (COR) pinned Casey Steward 1:52; 140 - Michael Hader (CF) pinned Dan DuBose 3:23; 145 - Danny Gates (COR) pinned Michael Clark 5:46; 152 - Steve Peden (COR) dec. Joe LeCount 6-1; 160 - Bo Davenporl (COR) won by forfeit; 171 - Matt Sauter (CF) pinned Cody Cousins 4:36; 189 - Josh Wood (COR) maj. dec. Chans Hennesey 10-2; 215 - Kelly Birmingham (COR) pinned Jesse Woodward 1:33; 275 - Blake Cranmore (COR) pinned Dan Petersen :53.

Loggers 54, Bulldogs 18

Libby showed it had plenty of stamina by beating Columbia Falls, then traveling to Whitefish and dominating the Bulldogs 54-18.

The matchup featured several bouts between ranked grapplers, the biggest coming at the 160 and 171-pound weight classes.

Libby's state champ Steve Bertlesen (ranked No. 1) beat a hard-charging Brad Watterud (No. 4) for the 6-5 win. Jake Spencer (No. 2) followed his teammate's performance by defeating Tim Lehner (No. 3) 8-2.

Whitefish also gave up two forfeits.

98 - Phillip Murphy (W) pinned Levi Edwards-Myslicki 1:59; 105 - Logan Ricke (L) pinned Steven Vail 1:27; 112 - Ben Elliot (L) won by forfeit; 119 - Loran Nelson (L) maj. dec. Cody Morris 14-4; 125 - Kevin Kaltschmidt (W) dec. Boomer Peek 11-9; 130 - Andrew Elliot (L) tech. fall Kaleb Prestegaard 18-1; 135 - Matt Roberts (L) dec. Matt Starr 7-3; 140 - Andrew Orr (L) pinned Fabio Luchsinger :48; 145 - Brad Kuntz (W) dec. Seth Cummings 9-4; 152 - Matt Krause (W) pinned Justin Graham 1:03; 160 - Steve Bertlesen (L) dec. Brad Watterud 6-5; 171 - Jake Spencer (L) dec. Tim Lehner 8-2; 189 - Jake Graham (L) pinned Bret Martin :43; 215 - Travis Hjort (L) pinned Kyle Burns 2:26; 275 - Tyler Goff (L) won by forfeit.