Braves pounce on Wolfpack

Flathead rides 7 pins to 70-9 dual win over Glacier

A big assignment.

Going up against a team that has won every tournament it has entered this season, that owns a 17-0 dual meet record and is ranked No. 14 in the nation (by Amateur Wrestling News)?

That's a little daunting.

Glacier Wolfpack head coach Mark Fischer admitted to feeling a few butterflies prior to Thursday's first ever crosstown dual at Flathead.

And the whole thing worked out just about the way everybody thought it would as Flathead downed Glacier, 70-9.

But there were bright spots for the Wolfpack.

"I thought they went out there and battled," Fischer said.

"Some of these (Flathead) kids are the top-ranked kids in the state and we were scoring points on them in the second and third period. I was very impressed.

"We feel we can come out of here with our heads high. This can be a positive for the rest of our season," he said.

On the other side of the mat, Flathead coach Jeff Thompson was glad to get this dual over.

"This was really challenging, really tough on our kids," he said.

"Most of these guys were their teammates last year and they grew up in the wrestling club with them," Thompson said.

"It was almost like intersquad. The kids wrestled well under the circumstances.

"They didn't open up real well and it took them awhile to get into their matches, but the overall picture of the thing … we wrestled well enough."

The Braves forfeited their first match of the year - 98-pounder Caleb Piasecki was ill - and Glacier freshman Stormy Day defeated Dan Jenkins in the 125-pound class, 8-2.

"We're very happy with Dan Jenkins," Thompson said.

"He wrestled a great match. It came down to the last few seconds there and Stormy, so dangerous, got the head and arm on. We're really happy with that match," he said.

The rest of the points belonged to the Braves.

Flathead benefited from three Glacier forfeits - at 105, 160 and 171 - and had seven pins on the night. Those with pins were Shawn Lau (112), Brian Ham (135), T.C. Decker (140), Bryce Stacy (152), Luke Fischer (189), Justin Waverek (215) and Tyler Thomas (heavyweight).

"(The coaches) told us to wrestle like any other match, but to have fun with it and give the home crowd what they wanted," said Stacy, a junior.

For himself, Stacy took the opportunity to work on a few things.

"I wanted to get my takedowns in. It's been kind of a downfall for me," he said.

Glacier found its bright spots in the middle weights.

Jordan Nelson (130) and Tanner Woodland (145) kept their matches close. Derek Mitchell (119) gave up a major decision, but got a takedown right at the end.

"Our middle weights I thought competed really well," Fischer said.

"Tanner Woodland had a great match, Stormy Day pulled out his match, Derek Mitchell right at the end got that takedown. Jordan Nelson kept it close. All of our middle weights competed really hard," he said.

Thompson also complimented the Wolfpack effort.

"Overall, I'm really proud of how Glacier wrestled," he said.

"They coached up real well. They knew our assets. They came prepared. We had a difficult time getting our legs in, which is kind of our offense on top."

"They had a good crowd here. This is going to be a lot of fun for years to come," Stacy said.

"It's nice having a crosstown rival."

Flathead 70, Glacier 9

98: John Patrick (G) won by forfeit; 105: Zach Reimnitz (F) won by forfeit; 112: Shawn Lau (F) pinned Sam Overton, 3:44; 119: Jeremiah Gaiser (F) maj. dec. Derek Mitchell, 13-3; 125: Stormy Day (G) dec. Dan Jenkins 11-7; 130: Tanner Beaman (F) dec. Jordan Nelson, 8-2; 135: Brian Ham (F) pinned Tyler Hendrixson, 1:58; 140: T.C. Decker (F) pinned Lucas Cummings, 3:05; 145: Ryan Thiel (F) dec. Tanner Woodland, 8-2; 152: Bryce Stacy (F) pinned Clayton Hamilton, 3:33; 160: Tyler Wells (F) won by forfeit; 171: David Lau (F) won by forfeit; 189: Luke Fischer (F) pinned Joel Horn, 1:12; 215: Justin Waverek (F) pinned Kazmir Spilis, 2:45; Hwt: Tyler Thomas (F) pinned Joel Horn, 1:12.