First weekend action-packed on mat
It’s dual action one day, tournament competition the next as Flathead and Glacier will get a heavy dose of mat time this weekend to open the 2009-2010 season.
Flathead wrestling coach Matt Owen says its the ideal way to kick things off every year.
“After a couple weeks of practice, we get pretty antsy to get out there and start competing,” he said.
“We love this stuff.”
The four-time defending Class AA champion Braves and Wolfpack open the season at home today with Butte in separate Class AA dual matches.
Glacier will go first at 2 p.m. Flathead will then get its shot at Butte at 4 p.m. at FHS.
The Braves and Wolfpack hit the road for the 13-team Polson Invitational on Saturday, which begins at 9:30 a.m. The semifinals are set for 5:15-5:30 p.m. with the finals to follow.
Flathead will be shooting for its seventh-straight title.
“As always, they’re the team to beat, far and away,” Polson coach Bob Owen said of FHS.
“The other teams enjoy going up against them. Their kids are the best.”
Rounding out the field for the invitational are: Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Eureka, Hamilton, Corvallis, Missoula Sentinel, Frenchtown, Superior, St. Ignatius and Thompson Falls.
“Just getting our feet wet,” Bob Owen said of what he’s expecting from his wrestlers.
“They can look like a millions bucks in the wrestling room, but until you get them in competition you don’t know how they will really react.”
Polson will be without two-time state champ Brock Picard this weekend because of disciplinary reasons. The 189-pounder will be back in the lineup next week.
Bob Owen expects Ty Fouty, a senior who was fourth at state last year at 152, Jacob Young, a junior at 135, and Kaden Thomas, a senior at 285 who was fourth at state, to be “contenders” at the
invitational.
Flathead’s roster is loaded with 10 state placers, led by two-time state champ Shawn Lau (130 last year). The other nine are: Caleb Piasecki (fifth at 112), Cody Tally (sixth at 119), Joaquin Calderon (second at 125), Steel Hahn (third at 105), Jeremiah Gaiser (fifth at 119), Caleb Allen-Schmid (third at 145), Larry Francis (second at 152), Trevor Beaman (sixth at 215) and Connor Thomas (third at 285).
“Really high expectations,” Owen said for his Braves this season.
“I think we can follow up on what we did last year pretty well. The only difference (this year) is our depth. Our varsity is very comparable to last year. We have to do some work with our JV squad. We have some tough kids, but we have to make sure they improve through the course of the year.”
Francis wrestled for Glacier last year, as did Josh Erickson, who will wrestle at 152 for FHS.
“It was a big help,” Owen said of having those two join the program.
“It was a move they wanted to make and their parents wanted to make. They did it the right way. There was no underhanded stuff going on.”
Owen said Lau could miss the first two weeks of the season with a hand injury.
Glacier returns five wrestlers who have placed at state. They are: Zach Barber (sixth at 98), Shane St. Onge (fourth at 135), Stormy Day (fourth in 2008) Boyce Ballard (fifth at 189), Dan Gilbert (sixth at heavyweight).
Day missed last season with a broken vertebrae in his back, but should be a major contributor this winter. Barber is not in today’s lineup because he lost in a wrestle-off earlier in the week.
The Wolfpack will also be looking to improve on last year’s seventh place finish at state.
“By far the best team we’ve put out there on the mat,” Glacier coach Mark Fischer said.
“Our kids have some high goals this year.”
Glacier’s lineup will feature five freshmen, five seniors, three sophomores and two juniors.
Flathead Lineup
98 — open; 105 — Jake Kinkel, so.; 112 — Billy Allen, so.; 119 — Caleb Piasecki, jr.; 125 — Cody Tally, jr.; 130 — Joaquin Calderon, sr.; 135 — Steel Hahn, jr.; 140 — Zach Deist, sr.; 145 — Jeremiah Gaiser, fr.; 152 — Josh Erickson, so.; 160 — Caleb Allen-Schmid, sr.; 171 — Larry Francis, so.; 189 — Travis Ozegovich, jr.; 215 — Trevor Beaman, sr.; 285 — Connor Thomas, jr.
Glacier Lineup
98 — Kaleb Mitchell, fr.; 105 — Alec Mitchell, fr.; 112 — Grant Tafoya, fr.; 119 — Jackson Barber, fr.; 125 — Lucas Mantel, fr.; 130 — Cooper Sipe, so.; 135 — Tyler Hendrickson, sr.; 140 — Shane St. Onge, so.; 145 — Stormy Day, jr.; 152 — Riley Pisk, so.;
160 — Travis Woodland, sr.; 171 — Logan Clay, sr.; 189 — Boyce Ballard, jr.; 215 — Jake Criner, sr.; 285 — Dan Gilbert, sr.