Five Braves capture mat titles

| January 6, 2008 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

BOZEMAN - Five champions, 11 wrestlers in the top three - and another team title.

You could say the Flathead Braves bounced back pretty well at the Tom LeProwse Invitational in Bozeman.

The Braves struggled through illness and a bit of adversity on Friday, but they rallied on Saturday and wound up claiming the tournament with 273.5 total points. Great Falls High was a distant second with 221 points. Billings Skyview rounded out the top three with 196.5 in a tournament that included every Class AA school except Glacier.

"We had a wrestler not make weight. But we came back on fire today," said head coach Jeff Thompson.

"We won all the close matches today. Our conditioning kicked in. We literally dominated the third period today. It was a great performance for us.

"It seems the tougher the opponent, the better we do. They stepped it up. They wrestled better than the match before, then wrestled better than the match before," Thompson said of the Braves.

Champions for the Braves were Brian Ham (135), Bryce Stacy (145), Tyler Wells (152), David Lau (160) and Luke Fischer (171).

Ham "had just a great final match," Thompson said. He downed CMR's Mitch Rohrback, 11-3. "Just really opened up on him," the coach said.

He also complimented the efforts of Tyler Wells at 152.

"He pinned everybody he wrestled this weekend. He literally dominated the 152-pound weight class," the coach said.

David Lau had the best tournament of his high school career, Thompson added.

"He was sick, couldn't get a workout on Thursday, but he's just such a tough kid, such a big heart," he added.

Lau defeated Great Falls High wrestler Maxx Galland in the finals, 3-1.

"Those two guys just battled back and forth," Thompson said.

But late in the match, Lau drove Galland halfway across the mat in a power double and scored the winning takedown at the edge of the match.

Galland had beaten Lau, 8-1 earlier in the year.

Luke Fischer also turned in a terrific effort, the coach said.

Outstanding Wrestler Award: Ty Vinson

Team scores

1. Flathead 273.5, 2. Great Falls High 221, 3. Billings Skyview 196.5, 4. C.M. Russell 169.5, 5. Powell (Wyo.) County, 151 6. Bozeman 149, 7. Missoula Sentinel 137.5, 8. Butte High 121, 9. Billings West 101, 10. Billings Senior 94, 11. Huntley Project 89, 12. Helena High 87, 13. Helena Capital 78, 14. Townsend 69, 15. Missoula Big Sky 64, 16. Belgrade 63, 17. Anaconda 55, 18. Missoula Hellgate 44, 19. Shepherd 43, 20. Laurel 33.5, 21. Livingston 28, 22. Dillon 24, 23. Whitehall 18, 24. Billings Central 17, 25. Bozeman Red 16, 26. Butte Central 15.

Championship finals

98 - Jade Rauser, TOWN, pinnned Dylan Mendenhall, GF, 1:06; 105 - Brennan Barta, Skyview, dec. Jake Dallaserra, Bu, 8-5; 112 - Brice Gretch, Skyview, dec. Culley Buckley, Boz, 5-2; 119 - Travis Lang, Boz, dec. Tanner Sprenkle, Senior, 5-3; 125 - Tucker Sprenkle, Senior, dec. Jake Love, Sentinel, 3-1; 130 - Trevor Donarski, Pow, major dec. Tanner Beaman, Kal, 10-1; 135 - Brian Ham, Kal, major dec. Mitch Rohrback, CMR, 11-3; 140 - Zach Mendenhall, GF, default over TC Decker, Kal; 145 - Bryce Stacy, Kal, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 3-2; 152 - Tyler Wells, Kal, dec. Cody Kalberer, Pow, 2:22; 160 - David Lau, Kal, dec. Maxx Galland, GF, 3-1 (OT); 171 - Luke Fischer, Kal, dec. Zach Wichman, GF, 6-2; 189 - Ty Vinson, GF, major dec. Mark Jones, Pow, 13-5; 215 - Tyler Carter, GF, pinned Matt Kuske, Skyview, 1:40; HVY - Toby Erickson, Helena, pinned Andrew Voorhees, CMR, 4:10.

Championship semifinals

98 - Jade Rauser, TOWN def. Zach Reimnitz, Kal, 9-4; Dylan Mendenhall, GF, def. Nik Hinebauch, HP, 10-5; 105 - Jake Dallaserra, Butte, def. Riley Berry, Boz, 10-8; Brennan Barta, BSV, def. Val Rauser, TOWN, 5-4; 112 - Cullen Buckley, Boz, def. Cody West, CMR, 4-3; Brice Gretch, BSV, def. Zach Hettick, Butte, 7-6; 119 - Travis Lang, Boz, pinned Ryan Guenther, Bel, 3:44; Tanner Sprenkle, BSR, def. Tate Lucas, Bel, 8-2; 125 - Jake Love, Sentinel, def. Kelly Olds, CMR, 4-2; Tucker Sprenkle, BSR, def. Cole Schram, Bel, 7-5; 130 - Trevor Donarski, Pow, def. Kyle Taranto, Boz, 7-4; Tanner Beaman, Kal, def. Trenton Starkey, CMR, 2-0; 135 - Brian Ham, Kal, maj. dec. Frank Ramsey, GF, 9-1; Mitch Rohrback, CMR, def. Brandon Hu, BSV, 9-3; 140 - Zach Mendenhall, GF, def. Daniel Hamilton, Sentinel, 7-0; TC Decker, Kal, def. Auston Carter, Pow, 11-6; 145 - Bryce Stacy, Kal, def. Ryan Thiel, Kal, 3-1; NashHallfrisch, CMR, def. Brian Stieger, HP, 8-3; 152 - Tyler Wells, Kal, pinned Trevor St. John, Hellgate, 1:32; Cody Kalberer, Pow, def. Lucas Knight, HP, 9-4; 160 - David Lau, Kal, pinned Clark Hensley, Ana, 4:56; Maxx Galland, GF, maj. dec. Don Widdicombe, MBS, 15-3; 171 - Luke Fischer, Kal, pinned Tanen Doty, Sentinel, 1:57; Zach Wichman, GF pinned Kody Reed, MBS, 2:58; 189 - Ty Vinson, GF, pinned Mike Spence, Shep, 3:55; Mak Jones, Pow, pinned Colton Fenner, CMR, 4:50; 215 - Matt Kuske, BSV, pinned Bentley Alsup, Sentinel, 2:41; Tyler Carter, GF, pinnd Justin Waverek, Kal, 1:00; 275 - Andrew Voorhees, CMR, def. Shaun Sampson, CAP, :58.

Third Place matches

98 - Zach Reimnitz, Kal, maj. dec. Cliff Evans, Sentinel, 9-1; 105 - Val Rauser, TOWN, pinned Riley Berry, Boz, :45; 112 - Tyler Christians, HHS, def. Zach Hettick, Butte, 3-2; 119 - Ryan Guenther, Bel, def. Tate Lucas, Bel, 11-9; 125 - Brit Thompson, TOWN, def. Baltazar Rodriguez, Pow, 3-1; 130 - Trenton Starkey, CMR, def. Kyle Taranto, Boz, 7-5; 135 - Cory Eden, Pow, def. Frank Ramsey, GF, 11-4; 140 - Bill Olson, Laur, pinned Daniel Hamilton, Sentinel, 2:31; 145 - Ryan Thiel, Kal, def. Brian Stieger, HP, 4-3; 152 - Garrett Bergum, BSV, pinned Scott Hickey, Sentinel, 1:19; 160 - Clark Hensley, Ana, pinned Don Widdicombe, MBS, DEF; 171 - DJ Renz, Butte, pinned Patryk Webster, BWT, 1:17; 189 - Colton Fenner, CMR, pinned Mike Spence, Shep, 2:08; 215 - Justin Waverek, Kal, def. Abe Smith, CAP, 6-5; 275 - Tyler Thomas, Kal, maj. dec. Shaun Sampson, CAP, 11-3.

Fifth Place matches

98 - Nik Hinebauch, HP, pinned Collin Rupert, Boz, 2:17; 105 - Mike Budeski, CMR, pinned Dante Swallow, MBS, 1:50; 112 - David Schmitt, BWT, over Cody West, CMR, forfeit; 119 - Seth Snyder, HP, def. Niko Guymon, HHS, 6-5; 125 - Kelly Olds, CMR, def. Cole Schram, Bel, 6-3; 130 - Kooper Bond, BSV, pinned PJ Neary, BWT, 4:55; 135 - Bradon Hu, BSV, def. CJ Kissell, Butte, 5-0; 140 - Auston Carter, Pow, def. Kallen Kleinschmidt, CAP, 11-4; 145 - Tyler Elm, BSV, maj. dec. Steven Deyoung, Hellgate, 16-7; 152 - Trevor St. John, Hellgate, pinned Lucas Knight, HP, DEF; 160 - Brady DeCock, HP, def. Joey Mancuso, BSV, 5-1; 171 - Kody Reed, MBS, pinned Tanen Doty, Sentinel, 1:34; 189 - Lance Wilkinson, BSR, def. Dyami Barthalomew, Boz, 4-1; 215 - Jake Haan, BWT, pinned Bentley Alsup, Sentinel, 1:40; 275 - Josh Zimmer, GF, pinned Derek Treptow, BSV, 1:36.