Wrestling squads swap dual action for open format

by Dixie Knutson
| January 28, 2007 1:00 AM

C-Falls entertains Ronan, Eureka, Polson JV

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Slight change of plans.

Columbia Falls had a long day of wrestling duals planned Saturday. They figured on having Hamilton, Ronan and Eureka up for the day - and were planning on each team dualing the other three.

The coaches figured there would be about 40 matches.

They were slightly off.

Instead of duals, they wound up putting matches together based on weight classes. Instead of each wrestler getting two matches, each boy wrestled three to five times over the course of the afternoon. That made for an 80-match day.

And when Hamilton, citing injuries and skin issues, decided against the drive from the Bitterroot, Polson's JV was more than happy to step into the non-scoring fray.

"Hamilton ended up having a lot of skin issues and injuries," said Columbia Falls coach Jesse Schaeffer. "We decided to change it when they decided they weren't coming up."

The day went so well, he's considering turning it into an annual event.

"It kind of worked out pretty good. The younger kids got a lot more mat time. We doubled our matches and we got a crowd here, too," Schaeffer added.

"I'm very pleased, giving them more opponents."

"More matches, more mat time, which is really beneficial right now," said Eureka coach Danny Lemer.

"All of my wrestlers got three or four matches. The other format, they would've gotten two," he added.

"And there would have been a lot of forfeits. The way this is set up is kind of good for us."

Lemer said he was approached about the format change late last week.

"I liked the idea. All the other coaches did, too, apparently," he said.

So did the kids.

"We got more matches, more mat time," said junior Michael Hader, Columbia Falls' 140-pounder.

Hader won all of his matches Saturday, although he confessed to having a difficult time against Eureka's Cory Greenwood.

"He wrestled solid," Hader said.

"I like having more mat time - and (this is) good, especially for our younger guys. It's kind of relaxed. Any match is intense, but this is a little bit more relaxed."