Braves stay on top at Rocky

MISSOULA - No TV, a motivational talk and an early bedtime.

The Flathead wrestling team was less than enthused with its first-day performance at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic on Friday.

The Braves had the overall lead after the first day at Missoula Sentinel High School, but the Flathead coaches weren't too pleased with what they saw.

So, once the team was back at the Super 8, they settled in for a discussion.

"It was our first heart-to-heart with them. We sat them down and told them we expected a little bit more," Flathead head coach Jeff Thompson said.

"We told them we were disappointed. Not mad, but disappointed. We told them we felt they could wrestle better," Thompson said.

"We had each coach say their perspective. Some of the captains stood up … they took it like men and they were ready to go," Thompson said.

"They lit a fire under us," said Flathead junior 145-pounder Bryce Stacy.

"All of us took it very seriously, took it to heart and went to bed early. We made weight and knew what we had to do about warming up properly," Stacy said.

"The coaches weren't too excited about (the first day). But I think we responded pretty well. I think they're happy with how we rebounded," agreed 152-pounder Tyler Wells.

"We definitely got a motivational speech," said junior heavyweight Tyler Thomas.

"We had some tough losses (Friday), but I think our kids really picked it up," he said.

"They were focused. You could just see it," Thompson said.

"It seemed to pay off. They came out today firing on all cylinders," he said.

"They opened up today and went after it."

Indeed they did.

By tournament's end, they'd rung up 277.5 points to easily outdistance second place Havre (196) and third place Central Valley (187) to claim their third straight Rocky Mountain Classic title.

As for the other local teams, Ronan scored 78.5 points and finished in 13th place. Polson scored 67 points and was 15th, Libby scored 64 points and tied for 16th, Columbia Falls was 21st with 55.5 points, Glacier was 23rd with 46 points and Whitefish was 25th with 28 points.

The Braves had six finalists and four tournament champions - Stacy (145), Wells (152), Luke Fischer (171) and Thomas (heavyweight).

Flathead also had 13 wrestlers among the top eight.

As a comparison, Flathead scored 268 points and had just one champion (Ham) at the 2007 Rocky. The Braves scored 244 points and also had one champion (Mikey Kuehne) in 2006.

"What a great day for Flathead wrestling. Four champs in a tournament like this," Thompson said.

"We're happy with where we're at right now," he said.

Thomas got revenge on an old opponent - he pinned CMR's Andrew Voorhees in 1:53. Voorhees pinned Thomas as the 2007 Class AA state tournament and the two hadn't met since.

Fischer downed Zach Wichman of Great Falls High, 9-0.

Wells put in one of his better performances - he had three pins and a tech fall until the finals, then major decisioned Havre's Ethan Hinebauch, 19-10 for the title.

"Probably the toughest kid in Class A," Wells said of Hinebauch.

The two have met twice this year - they split with Wells pinning the Blue Pony the first time around and Hinebauch winning a decision in the second meeting.

"He's the only kid from Montana to beat me, so I really wanted to wrestle him again and I got the opportunity."

Wells wasted little time putting Hinebauch on his back.

"He was going for a big throw and I just stepped in and tossed him. We had the same idea and I got lucky," Wells said.

"Super tough kid," Thompson said of Hinebauch. "It was exciting, lots of throws. That's what the fans come to see. (Wells) wrestled a great match."

Stacy gave up an early takedown, but battled back to beat CMR's Nash Hallfrisch, 5-2.

"I got taken down in the beginning, but I knew I had two more periods to come back and wrestle," Stacy said.

"I just used my lungs and my skills and my coaches helped me a lot. I knew I had to wrestle a no-mistake match and that's what I did."

Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic

At Sentinel High School

Saturday's Final Results

Team Totals

(with abbreviations in paratheses)

Flathead (Flat) 277.5; Havre (Hav) 196; Central Valley, Wash. (CV) 187; University High, Spokane, Wash. (UHi) 183; Mead High, Spokane, Wash. (Mead) 139; Corvallis (Cor) 131.5; Coeur d'Alene High, (CdA) 129; Great Falls High (GFH) 129; Frenchtown (Ftn) 127; Great Falls C.M. Russell (CMR) 111; Missoula Sentinel (Sent) 104.5; Bozeman (Boz) 84.5; Ronan (Ron) 78.5; Butte (But) 75; Polson (Pol) 67; Ferris High, Spokane, Wash. (Fer) 64; Libby (Lib) 64; Clarkston, Wash. (Clk) 63; Hamilton (Ham) 63; Anaconda (Ana) 56; Columbia Falls (CF) 55.5; Bonners Ferry, Idaho (BF) 49; Glacier (Gla) 46; Missoula Big Sky (BS) 36; Whitefish (Wf) 28; Missoula Hellgate (Hgt) 8; Superior (Sup) 8; Loyola Sacred Heart (Loy) 6.

Individual Results

98 lbs

Finals - Tyler Stedman, Ftn, pinned Duel Stadel, Hav, 1:35. Semifinals - Stedman, Ftn, dec. Jared Maynes, CV, 6-4; Stadel, Hav, dec. Andrew Palmer, CdA, 8-7. Third-fourth place - Palmer, CdA, dec. Maynes, CV, 10-5. Fifth-sixth place - Zach Reimnitz, Flat, dec. Brandon Matlock, UHi, 6-1. Seventh-eighth place - Dylan Mendenhall, GFH, dec. Cliff Evans, Sent, 5-4.

105 lbs

Finals - Chris Recio, Hav, dec. Zach Robinson, Ron, 9-2. Semifinals - Recio, Hav, pinned Kenny Staub, CdA, 1:36; Robinson, Ron, pinned Tyler Clark, UHi, 4:52. Third-fourth place - Clark, UHi, pinned Staub, CdA, 2:10. Fifth-sixth place - Sam Edminster, Mead, dec. Ben Watt, BF, 5-0. Seventh-eighth place - Steel Hahn, Flat, pinned Clay Armstrong, Ftn, 3:13.

112 lbs

Finals - Tanner Teeples, CV, dec. Shawn Lau, Flat, 6-4. Semifinals - Teeples, CV, dec. Braden Mowry, CdA, 7-0; Lau, Flat, dec. Culley Buckley, Boz, 7-1. Third-fourth place - Chad Hansen, Ftn, dec. Cameron Neiss, Ron, 7-1. Fifth-sixth place - Buckley, Boz, dec. Mowry, CdA, 11-7. Seventh-eighth place - Matt Snyder, GFH, maj. dec. Bret Normandy, Hav, 9-1.

119 lbs

Finals - Anthony Rivera, UHi, dec. Jake Love, Sent, 4-3. Semifinals - Rivera, UHi, dec. Travis Lang, Boz, 4-2; Love, dec. Jeramiah Gaiser, Flat, 5-1. Third-fourth place - Lang, Boz, maj. dec. Gaiser, Flat, 15-4. Fifth-sixth place - Robert Murphy, Mead, default over Curtis Sprague, Ftn. Seventh-eighth place - Jake Dallaserra, But, dec. Sam Howard, CdA, 7-1.

125 lbs

Finals - Brian Owen, UHi, pinned Philip Smith, Mead, 3:56. Semifinals - Owen, UHi, pinned Kelly Olds, CMR, 1:18; Smith, Mead, dec. Lorren Mack, Hav, 4-2. Third-fourth place - Mack, Hav, default over Olds, CMR. Fifth-sixth place - Stormy Day, Gla, dec. Brad Nordahl, Ftn, 7-5. Seventh-eighth place - David Demo, Boz, dec. Levi Lovshin, But, 8-6.

130 lbs

Finals - Myles Mazurkiewicz, Hav, dec. Trae Fouty, Pol, 6-0. Semifinals - Mazurkiewicz, Hav, dec. Josh Rettinghouse, Fer, 8-4; Fouty, Pol, pinned Taylor Allan, Cor, 5:04. Third-fourth place - Rettinghouse, Fer, dec. Mickey Cheff, Ron, 5-4. Fifth-sixth place - Tanner Beaman, Flat, dec. Allan, Cor, 9-4. Seventh-eighth place - Trenton Starkey, CMR, dec. Kyle Taranto, Boz, 4-1

135 lbs

Finals - Landon Della Silva, Cor, dec. Brian Ham, Flat, 5-0. Semifinals - Ham, Flat, dec. Matt Powell, Clk, 8-2; Della Silva, Cor, dec. Mitch Rohrback, CMR, 9-7. Third-fourth place - Rohrback, CMR, dec. Powell, Clk, 10-7. Fifth-sixth place - Matt Starr, Wf, dec. C.J. Kissell, But, 4-1. Seventh-eighth place - Tyler Simmet, CV, dec. Christian Putman, CdA, 11-4.

140 lbs

Finals - Dayne Swisher, BF, dec. Zach Mendenhall, GFH, 5-4. Semifinals - Mendenhall, GFH, dec. Ryan Zumwalt, UHi, 3-1; Swisher, BF, dec. Chad Ranes, Hav, 7-1. Third-fourth place - Daniel Hamilton, Sent, dec. Zumwalt, UHi, 6-3. Fifth-sixth place - Kramer Lane, Fer, pinned Ranes, Hav, 2:16. Seventh-eighth place - Michael Carpenter, Boz, dec. Justin Walker, CV, 13-6.

145 lbs

Finals - Bryce Stacy, Flat, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 5-2. Semifinals - Stacy, Flat, pinned Andy Jessop, Cor, 3:51; Hallfrisch, CMR, dec. Alex Martin, Ham, 8-5. Third-fourth place - Martin, Ham, dec. Jessop, Cor, 8-3. Fifth-sixth place - Jordan Choate, CV, dec. Justin Mikkola, Sent, 6-2. Seventh-eighth place - Jacob Mason, UHi, dec. Nick Bond, Mead, 8-5.

152 lbs

Finals - Tyler Wells, Flat, maj. dec. Ethan Hinebauch, Hav, 19-10. Semifinals - Wells, Flat, pinned Don Widdicombe, BS, 3:05; Hinebauch, Hav, maj. dec. Michael Hader, CF, 19-8. Third-fourth place - Hader, CF, dec. Marcus Lussy, 4-3. Fifth-sixth place - Seth Wright, Lib, default over Widdicombe, BS. Seventh-eighth place - Derek Nelson, Ftn, dec. Gabe Hocum, Clk, 6-1.

160 lbs

Finals - Jesse Nielsen, CdA, maj. dec. Maxx Galland, GFH, 10-2. Semifinals - Nielsen, CdA, pinned Drew Comito, Mead, 3:07; Galland, GFH, dec. Clark Hensley, Ana, 6-2. Third-fourth place - Dan Jordan, UHi, dec. David Lau, Flat, 8-3. Fifth-sixth place - Hensley, Ana, dec. Comito, Mead, 7-6. Seventh-eighth place - Brock Picard, Pol, dec. Cody Stratton, CV, 3-1.

171 lbs

Finals - Luke Fischer, Flat, maj. dec. Zach Wichman, GFH, 9-0. Semifinals - Wichman, GFH, dec. Brock Anderson, Ham, 5-3; Fischer, Flat, maj. dec. Danny Gates, Cor, 15-1. Third-fourth place - Gates, Cor, dec. Curtis Shandorf, Hav, 7-3. Fifth-sixth place - Anderson, Ham, default over D.J. Renz, But. Seventh-eighth place - Kody Reed, BS, dec. Cody Way, Ftn, 9-4.

189 lbs

Finals - Ty Vinson, GFH, pinned Logan Bowman, CV, 4:38. Semifinals - Vinson, GFH, maj. dec. Mike Gireth, Clk, 15-3; Bowman, CV, dec. Brady Anderson, Ham, 2-1. Third-fourth place - Anderson, Ham, dec. Gireth, Clk, 3-2. Fifth-sixth place - Kelly Houle, CF, dec. Justin Graham, Lib, 3-2. Seventh-eighth place - Ian Damon, Flat, pinned Brennan Fisher, Ftn, 2:47.

215 lbs

Finals - Jacob Neumann, CV, maj. dec. Jake Trotter, Mead, 8-0. Semifinals - Neumann, CV, won by dq Ryan Kernkamp, Fer; Trotter, Mead, pinned Paul Jensen, Hav, 4:47. Third-fourth place - Jensen, Hav, pinned Dennis Jessop, Cor, 2:48. Fifth-sixth place - Kernkamp, Fer, maj. dec. Bentley Alsup, Sent, 16-3. Seventh-eighth place - Justin Waverek, Flat, dec. Marques Johnson, UHi, 6-1.

Heavyweight

Finals - Tyler Thomas, Flat, pinned Andrew Voorhees, CMR, 1:56. Semifinals - Voorhees, CMR, dec. Brandin Mills, Lib, 8-2; Thomas, Flat, pinned Grant Turner, CdA, 5:10. Third-fourth place - Tyler Cochran, CV, pinned Keith Brant, Ftn, 3:41. Fifth-sixth place - Turner, CdA, pinned Mills, Lib, :28. Seventh-eighth place - Cody Foote, Mead, pinned Wes Sherman, Ham, 3:16.S