Ronan wrestlers divisional favorites in Northwestern A

This is the weekend for which local wrestling fans have been waiting - Northwestern A divisional.

Teams from Ronan, Libby, Columbia Falls, Polson and Whitefish will gather today at the Ronan Event Center to decide who goes to the Feb. 8-9 All-Class State Wrestling Tournament at MetraPark in Billings.

The top four in each weight class advance. Weigh-ins are at 9 a.m., wrestling starts at 11.

One change this year is there will be a fifth-sixth place match at each weight class. A fifth or even a sixth place wrestler, by a random draw, could go to fill out a state bracket.

Returning divisional champions are - Michael Hader (152), Cody Kolodejchuk (140) and Clayton Patterson (119), all of Columbia Falls; Logan Torgison (145) and Brock Picard (160) of Polson, Cameron Neiss (112) and Tyson Noyes (125) of Ronan and Justin Graham of Libby (189).

Noyes suffered what appeared to be a season-ending injury just before the Rocky Mountain Classic, but was recently cleared to wrestle, according to Ronan head coach Ryan Fisher.

No. 5-ranked Polson is the defending champion, but longtime coach Bob Owen picks 2007 runner-up and No. 4-ranked Ronan as this year's favorite.

"Ronan is the team to beat. I don't think we have enough ammo to run with them. They have a full team," Owen said.

"Ronan, right now is tough, and Polson," agreed Columbia Falls coach Jesse Schaeffer.

"They have a solid lineup, both teams. Polson always has a good showing. They have probably eight kids who can legitimately make it into the finals. Ronan is about the same," he said.

He's hoping the Wildcats will also post that number in the finals.

"Eight, eight and eight. That's kind of what I'm shooting for for my team," Schaeffer said.

"I feel like we had a great week of practice. The kids are looking good. Everything is looking pretty crisp and they have a good attitude," Schaeffer said.

"I feel confident we're going to have a good performance as a team," he added.

"I think we'll be all right," Owen said.

"We're fairly healthy and our kids are wrestling pretty well right now," he added.

"Both the Foutys are wrestling pretty well. I think they'll be right in there and our little guy, Jesse Alfierro, beat the other two kids in the conference at (98)," he said.

"We're a young team, so you never know for sure, but they've sure been working their tails off. Our sport has a way of rewarding the kids who put in the effort," Owen said.

Fisher predicts a tight race.

For one thing, he believes the extra wrestlers each team is allowed to bring to the divisional will make a huge difference for the Pirates.

"Polson always manages to pull a team together and peak at the right moment," he said.

"I think it will be a battle right to the end. We could not know how this is going to turn out until well into the championship round," he said.

Second, the Chiefs aren't particularly healthy.

Two Ronan wrestlers were hospitalized this past week.

"We can't keep anything down. It's just this bug that's been going around. It's been zapping us a little bit," the coach said.

"But everyone else is pretty excited. It's in our home gym," Fisher said.

Ronan seniors were freshmen when Fisher took the head job.

"It's nice to see them go out on this note on their home floor," he said.

Fans will want to keep an eye on some interesting matchups in the following weight classes - 130, 140 and 189.

At 130, both Mick Cheff of Ronan and Trae Fouty of Polson are ranked in the top 6.

"We dualed (Polson) last week. Micky won, 6-5. I think that's going to be a real barnburner," Fisher said.

At 140, Fisher says Kolodejchuk and Whitefish's Matt Starr are "both quality kids. It's going to be a battle. And Toby Cheff has wrestled both of them and has had three to four point battles," he said.

At 189, Fisher expects Graham and Columbia Falls' Kelly Houle to put on a show.

Houle has won all three times they've met, but one of those meetings went to a fourth OT.