Great day for Glacier's grapplers

Wolfpack stick it to Libby, Whitefish, C-Falls

Twenty-seven seconds.

That's how much time Glacier's 215-pound wrestler John Frandsen saw on the match clock after Columbia Falls' Kodie Kenfield took him down Saturday afternoon.

Frandsen had been nursing a 1-0 lead until that moment.

Now, he trailed 2-1.

"I just knew I had to get back up," he said.

"I thought 'I'm not going to lose this.'

"I just reached back, picked up (Kenfield's leg) and tried to take him down," he said.

It worked.

With 10 seconds to go, Frandsen retook the lead and came away with a 6-2 decision.

"He's a really good competitor," Frandsen said of Kenfield.

"(Kenfield) wrestled Frandsen better today," said Columbia Falls coach Jesse Schaeffer.

"The last 20 seconds he just ran out of gas. But he did wrestle solid," the coach said.

Frandsen's victory capped a pretty decent day for the Wolfpack.

Glacier played host Saturday to Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Libby.

Frandsen pinned Whitefish's Derek Crittendon, but was stuck by Libby's Justin Graham.

"It's going to make him work harder," Glacier coach Mark Fischer said of Frandsen's 2-1 performance.

"He knows those kids are close to him. (Graham and Kenfield) are definitely two of the tougher kids in the state," Fischer said.

"(Graham) is a moose. He's a strong kid. John had his hands full on that one," the coach said of Libby's 215-pounder.

The Wolfpack won all three of its duals. It started the day by dismantling Whitefish 81-6, then dropped Libby 58-20, and finished by rallying past Columbia Falls, 47-30.

"I feel good about the way we wrestled," Fischer said.

"We're coming back from the break. We've got to get some of the rustiness out," he added.

The Wolfpack trailed the Wildcats 21-0 before climbing back into the dual.

"We've had trouble in the lower weights, filling spots," Fischer said.

Glacier gave up a pin, a 4-3 decision and forfeited two matches in the early going.

Freshman Cooper Sipe picked up a 6-2 decision over Travis Pete at 125 to start the turning of the tide for Glacier.

The Wolfpack won eight of the next 10 matches for the win.

Jarrett Smith picked up a 9-4 decision at 145 pounds and Wildcat 189-pounder Kelly Houle pinned his Glacier opponent in 1:57.

Fischer complimented the efforts of Riley Pisk at 140 and Zach Barber at 105.

Schaeffer also liked some of what he saw from the Wildcats.

"We did some things better," he said.

"I felt good about some of our matches.

"Some kids wrestled to their ability, but some did not. I feel a couple let themselves down," he said.

But as good as Fischer felt after the win over Columbia Falls, it was the Libby victory that tasted the sweetest.

The Loggers downed the Wolfpack last year in Libby.

Not this year.

"They were more physical than we were. They were just tougher than us. Bottom line - mental and physical toughness," said Libby coach Jay Graham.

"We're better than we showed," he added.

The Loggers gave up four forfeits - at 98, 105, 112 and 171 pounds - and had four seniors on their team who lost.

"They let younger guys be tougher than they were. That's their choice," Graham said.

Glacier 81, Whitefish 6

98: Christian Knopp, G, won by forfeit; 105: Zach Barber, G, won by forfeit; 112: Zach Orr, G, won by forfeit; 119: Zach Berger, WF, p. Royce Schlegal, 3:39; 125: Cooper Sipe, G, p. Andrew Timmons, :45; 130: Shane St. Onge, G, p. Dalton Rice, 1:02; 135: Jordan Nelson, G, p. Steven Vail, 1:51; 140: Riley Pisk, G, p. Arron Burns, 1:47; 145: Lucas Cummings, G, dec. Tanner Benedict, 8-6; 152: Larry Francis, G, p. Kaleb Prestegaard, :48; 160: Tanner Woodland, G, p. Geoff Streeter, 1:43; 171: Clayton Hamilton, G, won by forfeit; 189: Randy Martin, G, won by forfeit; 215: John Frandsen, G, p. Derek Crittenden, 1:16; 285: Joel Horn, G, p. Jacob Washer, time not available.

Glacier 58, Libby 20

98: Christian Knopp, G, won by forfeit; 105: Zach Barber, G, won by forfeit; 112: Zach Orr, G, won by forfeit; 119: Royce Schlegel, G, won by forfeit; 125: Cooper Sipe, G, p. Levi Edwards-Myslicki, 2:55; 130: Kyle Zeir, L, dec. Shane St. Onge, 5-4; 135: Jordan Nelson, G, dec. Cody Elliott, 14-7; 140: Riley Pisk, G, dec. Dillon Berget, 5-0; 145: Lucas Cummings, G, p. Charlie Berget, 1:30; 152: Larry Francis, G, p. Kyle Sweedman, 5:10; 160: Kody Berget, L, p. Tanner Woodland, 5:24; 171: Seth Wright, L, tech fall Clayton Hamilton, 21-3; 189: Randy Martin, G, p. Even O'Brien, 3:09; 215: Justin Graham, L, p. John Frandsen, 2:57; 285: Joel Horn, G, maj. dec. Brandin Mills, 9-0.

Glacier 47, Columbia Falls 30

98: Sal Baccaro, CF, p. Christian Knopp, 2:50; 105: Justin Whitman, CF, dec. Zach Barber, 4-3; 112: Adam Richardson, CF, won by forfeit; 119: Brady Richardson, CF, won by forfeit; 125: Cooper Sipe, G, dec. Travis Pete, 6-2; 130: Shane St. Onge, G, p. Virgil Matt, 1:04; 135: Jordan Nelson, G, won by forfeit; 140: Riley Pisk, G, tech fall Russell Plevel, 18-2; 145: Jarrett Smith, CF, dec. Braydon Bagley, 9-4; 152: Larry Francis, G, p. Joe Gross, :53; 160: Tanner Woodland, G, p. Will Joubert, 1:13; 171: Clayton Hamilton, G, won by forfeit; 189: Kelly Houle, CF, p. Randy Martin, 1:57; 215: John Frandsen, G, dec. Kodie Kenfield 6-2; 285: Joel Horn, G, won by inj. default.

Libby 51, Whitefish 15

At Whitefish, the Loggers used six pins and two forfeits to defeat Whitefish.

Kyle Leir (125), Cody Elliott (135), Dylan Berget (140), Kody Berget (160), Graham (215) and Brandin Mills (285) all picked up pins for the Loggers.

The Bulldogs got wins from 145-pounder Tanner Benedict, a 7-1 decision over Charlie Berget, and 152-pounder Kaleb Prestegaard, who pinned his Logger opponent in just 44 seconds.

Benedict "wrestled a good match. He didn't make a lot of mistakes," said second-year head coach Ryan Hoffman.

"We were in a lot of other matches," Hoffman said.

"Instead of looking at getting pinned in the first period, we're extending the matches. We're getting better. We're definitely improving.

"We were in matches that at one point this year we may not have been in," he added.

The Bulldogs travel Tuesday to Polson, then head to the Cut Bank tournament next weekend.

Libby 51, Whitefish 15

98: Double forfeit; 105: Double forfeit; 112: Double forfeit; 119: Jonathan Reimer, WF, won by forfeit; 125: Kyle Leir, L, p. Jonathan Reimer, 3:22; 130: Tate Wilson, L, dec. Dalton Rice, 5-3; 135: Cody Elliott, L, p. Steven Vail, 2:25; 140: Dylan Berget, L, p. Aaron Burns, 2:46; 145: Tanner Benedict, WF, dec. Charlie Berget, 7-1; 152: Kaleb Prestegaard, WF, p. Morgan Peek, :44; 160: Kody Berget, L, p. Geoff Streeter, 4:09; 171: Seth Wright, L, won by forfeit; 189: Evan O'Brien, L, won by forfeit; 215: Justin Graham, L, p. Derek Crittenden, 1:28; 285: Brandon Mills, L, p. Jacob Washer, :48.