Braves win Rocky Mountain Classic
Score 268 points to claim second straight title
The Daily Inter Lake
MISSOULA - Back-to-back.
The Flathead Braves placed 13 of 15 wrestlers among the top six Saturday to win their second straight Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic. It's the third Rocky team title in four years for Flathead.
The Braves scored 268 points. Class A Havre -the pre-tournament favorite - placed second at 216. C.M. Russell was third with 190 points.
"I don't think anybody expected any one team to run away with it," said Flathead coach Jeff Thompson.
"It felt good and it gave us a little bit of bragging rights. We kind of showed them we can compete with anyone in the state. We've made a lot of improvements on the year and that's neat to see."
There are two area wrestlers who are 2007 Rocky champions.
Flathead's Brian Ham won the 119-pound weight class and Polson's Ted Morigeau won at 160. Illness forced Libby's Jake Graham, who was a favorite in his 215-pound weight class, to default in Saturday's semifinal.
"Another awesome tournament (for Ham)," said Thompson. "He just dominated."
Ham won a major decision over Ronan's Seth Clary in the championship.
"He put on a show," Thompson said of Ham.
As for the Flathead team, the Braves went into the tournament hoping to focus on individual performances.
"We didn't have to focus on the team score. We kind of moved up to the next level. It was exciting as a coach to sit back and watch," Thompson said.
Thompson complimented Flathead heavyweight Tyler Thomas on his performance.
In his first varsity competition, Thomas beat out the No. 2 Class A heavyweight and the No. 3 Class AA heavyweight to place fourth.
"What an athlete!" Thompson said.
He also had good things to say about Drew Watkins. Watkins moved up from 171 to 189 when Levi Holt was injured early in the season.
"He had the best tournament of his high school career," Thompson said.
Watkins placed fourth.
Luke Fischer also had one of his best tournaments to place fourth at 171.
Fischer lost the third-fourth place match by one point - to defending Class A champion Bryce Picard of Polson.
"He's looking really good," the coach said.
Other Flathead wrestlers who placed were Shawn Lau, second at 98, Dan Jenkins, fifth at 105, Tanner Beaman, fourth at 112, Ricky Janes, fifth at 125, Austin Zapata, fourth at 130, TC Decker, fourth at 135, Bryce Stacey, second at 145, Tyler Wells, third at 152 and David Lau, fifth at 160.
Other area wrestlers who placed were Whitefish's Kevin Kaltschmidt, fifth at 119, Columbia Falls' Cody Kolodejchuk, third at 130, Polson's Logan Torgison, second at 135, Columbia Falls' Michael Hader, third at 140, Libby's Matt Roberts, sixth at 140, Libby's Steve Bertelsen, sixth at 160, Polson's Bryce Picard, third at 171, and Jake Graham, sixth at 215.
Overall "we just feel very fortunate to be where we're at right now," Thompson said.
"It's a great tournament to win."
The Braves will have senior night Tuesday when they play host to Class A Libby.
Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic
At Sentinel High School
Saturday's Results
Team Totals
Flathead (Fla) 268; Havre (Hav) 216; C.M. Russell (CMR) 190; Great Falls High (GFH) 170; Butte (But) 1671/2; Central Valley, Spokane, Wash., (CV) 137; Ronan (Ron) 128; University High, Spokane, Wash., (UHi) 120; Frenchtown (Ftn) 1191/2; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, (CDA) 1021/2; Polson (Pol) 101; Sentinel (Sent) 99; Corvalis (Cor) 981/2; Hamilton (Ham) 81l; Big Sky (BS) 76; Anaconda (Ana) 601/2; Columbia Falls (CF) 59; Bonners Ferry, Idaho, (BF) 551/2; Libby (Lib) 52; Mead, Spokane, Wash., (Med) 45; Clarkston, Wash., (Clk) 33; Whitefish (Wf) 32; Hellgate (Hgt) 26; Ferris, Spokane, Wash., (Fer) 25; Superior (Sup) 14.
Individuals
98 lbs
Finals - Chris Recio, Hav, dec. Shawn Lau, Fla, 7-3.
Semifinals - Recio, Hav, tech fall Tyler Stedman, Ftn, 19-3; Lau, Fla, dec. Cameron Neiss, Ron, 7-3. Third-fourth place - Mike Budeski, CMR, dec. Justin Rowlings, But, 8-2. Fifth-sixth place - Neiss, Ron, pinned Stedman, 2:32.
105 lbs
Finals - Braden Mowry, CDA, dec. West, CMR, 10-6. Semifinals - West, CMR, dec. Chad Hansen, Ftn, 4-3; Mowry, CDA, dec. Ryan Shelstad, Hav, 5-0. Third-fourth place - Shelstad, Hav, dec. Hansen, 5-3. Fifth-sixth place - Dan Jenkins, Fla, pinned Zach Robinson, Ron, 4:23.
112 lbs
Finals - Josh Stedman, Ftn, dec. Jake Love, Sent, 10-5. Semifinals - Stedman, Ftn, maj. dec. Kelly Olds, CMR, 10-0; Love, Sent, dec. Tyson Noyes, Ron, 7-1. Third-fourth place - Tanner Teeples, CV, maj. dec. Tanner Beaman, Fla, 14-2. Fifth-sixth place - Olds, pinned Noyes, Ron, 4:32.
119 lbs
Finals - Brian Ham, Fla, major dec. Seth Clary, Ron, 12-1. Semifinals - Ham, Fla, pinned Dustin Hanson, Ana, 1:22; Clary, Ron, dec. Kyle Richie, Sent, 5-1. Third-fourth place - Hanson, Ana, dec. Mitch Rohrback, CMR, 10-5. Fifth-sixth place - Kevin Flatschmidt, Wf, injury default over Kyle Richie, Sent.
125 lbs
Finals - Brian Owen, UHi, dec. Zach Mendenhall, GF, 7-1. Semifinals - Mendenhall, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 3-0; Owen, UHi, pinned Micky Cheff, Ron, 5:59. Third-fourth place - Hallfrisch, CMR, dec. Myles Mazurkiewicz, Hav, 6-1. Fifth-sixth place - Ricky Janes, Fla, dec. Cheff, 4-2.
130 lbs
Finals - Beau LaSalle, Hav, dec. Landon DellaSilva, Cor, 9-5. Semifinals - LaSalle, Hav, tech. fall Jeremy Savage, CV, 18-3; DellaSilva, Cor, pinned Trenton Starkey, CMR, 4:48. Third-fourth place - Cody Kolodejchuk, CF, dec. Austin Zapata, 4-3. Fifth-sixth place - Starkey, CMR, maj. dec. Savage, CV, 13-2.
135 lbs
Finals - Zach Gregoire, GF, dec. Logan Torgison, Pol, 3-1. Semifinals - Torgison, Pol, dec. TC Decker, Fla, 5-1; Gregoire, GFH, dec. Jeff Croskrey, CV, 15-10. Third-fourth place - Isaak Lawlor, CDA, pinned Decker, 2:17. Fifth-sixth place - David Love, Ham, dec. Croskrey, CV, 8-5.
140 lbs
Finals - Bobby Vinson, GFH, dec. TJ Renz, But, 2-1. Semifinals - Renz, But, pinned Matt Roberts, Lib, 1:20; Vinson, GFH, dec. Michael Hader, CF, 7-6. Third-fourth place - Hader, CF, dec. Elliott Nay, UHi, 2-0. Fifth-sixth place - Kyle Flood, CMR, dec. Roberts, Lib, 5-3.
145 lbs
Finals - Don Widdicombe, BS, dec. Bryce Stacy, Fla, 6-4. Semifinals - Stacy, dec. Taylor Nagel, Cor, 3-0; Widdicombe, BS, dec. Spencer Bailey, CMR, 4-0. Third-fourth place - Nagel, Cor, dec. Bailey, CMR, 1-0. Fifth-sixth place - Ethan Hinebauch, Hav, pinned Thomas Kissell, But, 1:33.
152 lbs
Finals - Nick Haynes, But, major dec. Ken Swift, BF, 15-2. Semifinals - Haynes, But, pinned Maxx Galland, GFH, 5:52; Swift, major dec. Tyler Wells, Fla, 16-4. Third-fourth place - Wells, Fla, dec. Galland, GFH, 7-5. Fifth-sixth place - Jesse Nielsen, CDA, tech. fall Marcus Lussy, Ana, 15-0.
160 lbs
Finals - Ted Morigeau, Pol, pinned Austin Lord, Sent, 1:31. Semifinals - Morigeau, Pol, pinned Dan Jordan, UHi, 1:45; Lord, Sent, dec. Brock Anderson, Ham, 9-2. Third-fourth place - Anderson, Ham, pinned, Jordan, UHi, 4:30. ifth-sixth place - David Lau, Fla, injury default over Steve Bertelsen, Lib.
171 lbs
Finals - Ty Vinson, GFH, injury default over Beau Baltezar, But. Semifinals - Baltazar, But, pinned Bryce Picard, :55; Vinson, GFH, dec. Tyler Espinosa, Ron, 9-6. Third-fourth place -Picard, Pol, dec. Luke Fischer, Fla, 3-2. Fifth-sixth place - Espinosa, Ron, dec. Greg Mitchell, 7-2.
189 lbs
Finals - Evan Hinebauch, Hav, pinned, Jared Rohrback, CMR, 5:56. Semifinals - Hinebauch, Hav, pinned Brady Anderson, Ham, 5:06; Rohrback, CMR, tech. fall Steve Hystad, GFH, 17-2. Third-fourth place - Jake Neumann, CV, dec. Drew Watkins, Fla, 5-1. Fifth-sixth place - Anderson, Ham, dec. Hystad, GFH, 6-2.
215 lbs
Finals - Nick Weller, Ftn, dec. Tyler Cochran, CV, 4-3. Semifinals - Weller, Ftn, illness default over Jake Graham, Lib; Cochran, CV, dec. Zach Deffinbaugh, GFH, 5-2. Third-fourth place - Deffinbaugh, GFH, pinned Billy McGlasson, UHi, 4:11. Fifth-sixth place - Chris Buskirk, Hav, illness default over Graham, Lib.
Hwt
Finals - Matt Schnittgen, Hav, dec. Trevor Hass, But, 3-1. Semifinals - Hass, But, pinned Joe Tobol, Hgt, 1:02; Schnittgen, Hav, pinned Dan Gadley, CV, 1:59. Third-fourth place - Gadley, CV, pinned Tyler Thomas, Fla, 1:34. Fifth-sixth place - Andrew Voorhees, CMR, pinned Tobol, Hgt, 1:41.