Flathead wins Rocky Mountain Classic
The Daily Inter Lake
MISSOULA - The Flathead Braves just keep rolling on.
Flathead won its fourth straight Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic on Saturday, crowning four individual champions and racking up 269 points.
Ryan Swelland (112), Alejandro Calderon (119), Ryan Thiel (152) and Tyler Thomas (285) all return to Kalispell as RMC champions. It is Thomas' second straight Rocky win.
Second-place Havre scored 246 points and also had four champions, including outstanding wrestler Ethan Hinebauch at 160 pounds.
Hinebauch defeated Flathead's Bryce Stacy, 4-3, in the championship.
"Great match. Really entertaining," said Flathead coach Matt Owen.
"Out of all the finals matches, that definitely was the most exciting one," he added.
"That's pretty cool to continue that tradition," Owen said of the team title.
"Havre had a great tournament. They put six in the finals. They're going to be really tough to beat in the 'A'," Owen said.
"I don't think we could have wrestled much better than we did. I think we had just a great, great tournament. I'm just really proud of these kids," he said.
The Braves really wanted to perform well at this tournament, Owen said.
"We've done well out of state. We wanted to show that we could come into Montana and continue that. We definitely met that goal that we set for ourselves.
"From top to bottom, we had a great performance and it was definitely a team effort that put us up there. I'm definitely excited about where we're heading."
He complimented the efforts of Thomas, Thiel and Calderon.
"Thomas had some really good throws. He took two really nice high crotches and finished both of those. It's a big step for him to start mixing up those shots with his throws," Owen said.
As for Thiel and Calderon, "they looked fantastic on their feet all weekend. Alejandro is just so much fun to watch. He ends up on top in every scramble he gets into."
Another coach excited about what he saw is Glacier's Mark Fischer.
Glacier was one of only two teams that had every kid score, Fischer said. The other one was Havre.
"I thought that was very impressive. Every single kid contributed to our cause. It's just a neat thing," he said.
The Wolfpack, which finished ninth with 124 points, had one finalist.
Flathead's Ryan Thiel defeated Larry Francis in the 152-pound championship.
"Thiel was real smart. He knew what not to do," Fischer said of the Flathead wrestler.
"Larry likes to throw a lot. Thiel came in low."
But Francis finished strong, taking Thiel down a couple of times in the final period.
Fischer also complimented the efforts of Cooper Sipe, John Franzen, Zach Barber, Tanner Woodland and Jordan Nelson.
Nelson came into the tournament unseeded, wrestled the No. 1 seed right off the bat and wound up one match from placing.
"He had a tough road and he really battled as far as he could. I was pretty proud of him.
"These kids are competing with some tough kids. We're very happy with where we're at. We've got four weeks left and we're going to continue clawing our way down the road. We're pretty excited about what has happened … but it's not over," Fischer said.
Other locals who are 2009 Rocky Mountain Classic champions are Ronan's Cameron Neiss (125), Polson's Brock Picard (171) and Libby's Justin Graham (215).
Flathead has a home dual Tuesday with Big Sky, while Glacier travels to Missoula Sentinel.
Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic
At Sentinel High School
Saturday's results
Outstanding wrestler: Ethan Hinebauch
Quick pin: Cole Mendenhall
Team scores (abbreviations) - Kalispell Flathead (Flat) 269, Havre (Hav) 246, University High (UHi) 155, Central Valley (CV) 146.5, Bozeman (Boz) 137.5, Coeur d'Alene High (CdA) 136, Mead 133, Great Falls High (GFH) 126, Kalispell Glacier (Gla) 124, Ronan (Ron) 103, Missoula Sentinel (Sent) 101, Great Falls C.M. Russell (CMR) 96.5, Frenchtown (Ftn) 83, Clarkston (Clk) 81.5, Polson (Pol) 77, Ferris (Fer) 73, Libby (Lib) 72, Corvallis (Cor) 69.5, Hamilton (Ham) 56, West Valley (WV) 55, Bonners Ferry (BF) 49, Lake City (LC) 43, Columbia Falls (CF) 39, Butte (But) 33, Missoula Big Sky (BS) 24, Missoula Hellgate (Hgt) 20.5, Superior (Sup) 13.5, Whitefish (Wf) 9.
Individual weights
98 lbs
Finals - Cole Mendenhall, GFH, pinned Logan Ames, CV, 3:29.
Semifinals - Mendenhall, GFH, pinned Cody Ishler, Ftn, 3:40; Ames, CV, pinned Brandon Edwards, Sent, 5:43.
Third-fourth place - Ishler, Ftn, dec. Edwards, Sent, 10-3.
Fifth-sixth place - Zach Barber, Gla, dec. Zak Harney, But, 5-3.
Seventh-eighth place - Sal Baccaro, CF, pinned Nick Cropp, Ham, 4:55
105 lbs
Finals - Duell Stadel, Hav, dec. Caleb Piasecki, Flat, 7-0
Semifinals - Piasecki, Flat, dec. Zach Robinson, Ron, 8-4; Stadel, Hav, pinned Clay Armstrong, Ftn, 5:23.
Third-fourth place - Jarod Maynes, CV, dec. Andrew Palmer, CdA, 7-5.
Fifth-sixth place - Armstrong, Ftn, won by default over Robinson, Ron.
Seventh-eighth place - Brandon Matlock, UHi, dec. Justin Whitman, CF, 5-3.
112 lbs
Finals - Ryan Swealland, Flat, dec. Riley Berry, Boz, 8-6.
Semifinals - Berry, Boz, dec. Tyler Stedman, Ftn, 7-6; Swelland, Flat, dec. Tyler Clark, UHi, 6-4.
Third-fourth place - Marcus Banducci, LC, maj. dec. Braden Davis, CV, 11-0.
Fifth-sixth place - Clark, UHi, won by forfeit over Stedman, Ftn.
Seventh-eighth place - Cliff Evans, Sent, pinned Kenny Thomas, Cor, 1:30.
119 lbs
Finals - Alejandro Calderon, Flat, dec. Kenny Staub, CdA, 6-3
Semifinals - Calderon, Flat, won by forfeit Travis Lang, Boz; Staub, CdA, pinned Benny Watt, BF, 1:56.
Third-fourth place - Cody West, CMR, dec. Jeremy Golding, Mead, 9-3.
Fifth-sixth place - Watt, BF, won by forfeit over Lang, Boz.
Seventh-eighth place - Cooper Sipe, Gla, dec. Justin Rowling, But, 5-2.
125 lbs
Finals - Cameron Neiss, Ron, dec. David Demo, Boz, 4-2.
Semifinals - Demo, Boz, dec. Shawn Lau, Flat, 7-2; Neiss, Ron, maj. dec. Braden Mowry, CdA, 12-2.
Third-fourth place - Lau, Flat, dec. Mowry, CdA, 9-3.
Fifth-sixth place - Zach Lester, UHi, dec. Arik Ackerman, LC, 8-7.
Seventh-eighth place - Jacob Young, Pol, dec. Travis Pete, CF, 1-0.
130 lbs
Finals - Eli Hinebauch, Hav, dec. Kyle Taranto, Boz, 5-3.
Semifinals - Taranto, Boz, dec. Sam Howard, CdA, 6-1; Hinebauch, Hav, pinned Zach Deist, Flat, 3:19.
Third-fourth place - Howard, CdA, dec. Trevor Delmedico, CV, 7-3.
Fifth-sixth place - Riley Nagel, Cor, won by forfeit over Deist, Flat.
Seventh-eighth place - Quinn Gannon, WV, dec. Jacob Conklin, BS, 9-3.
135 lbs
Finals - Myles Mazurkiewicz, Hav, dec. Tanner Beaman, Flat, 5-0.
Semifinals - Mazurkiewicz, Hav, dec. Kevin Harder, UHi, 4-2; Beaman, Flat, dec. Marshal Carpenter, Boz, 4-1.
Third-fourth place - Carpenter, Boz, dec. Harder, UHi, 7-1.
Fifth-sixth place - Brandon Riehle, Fer, pinned Trevor Hampton, BF, :57.
Seventh-eighth place - Jake Graham, CdA, dec. Zech Schalz, GFH, 4-2.
140 lbs
Finals - Michael Carpenter, Boz, dec. Brad Nordahl, Ftn, 8-5.
Semifinals - Carpenter, Boz, dec. Dayne Swisher, BF, 8-4; Nordahl, Ftn, dec. Justin Mikkola, Sent, 8-5.
Third-fourth place - Kent Pattison, Hav, dec. Jordan Rogers, Mead, 7-6.
Fifth-sixth place - Mikkola, Sent, won by forfeit over Swisher, BF.
Seventh-eighth place - Dan Jenkins, Flat, dec. Mitch Rohrback, CMR, 4-2.
145 lbs
Finals - Ryan Zumwalt, UHi, dec. Nash Hallfrisch, CMR, 6-3.
Semifinals - Hallfrisch, CMR, maj. dec. Caleb Allen-Schmid, Flat, 12-1; Ryan Zumwalt, UHi, dec. Micky Cheff, Ron, 4-0.
Third-fourth place - Cheff, Ron, dec. Allen-Schmid, Flat, 6-4.
Fifth-sixth place - Aaron Olson, Hav, maj. dec. Nathan DuBose, Cor, 14-2.
Seventh-eighth place - Justin Walker, CV, maj. dec. Devan Silva, WV, 10-0.
152 lbs
Finals - Ryan Thiel, Flat, dec. Larry Francis, Gla, 14-7.
Semifinals - Thiel, Flat, dec. Johnny Peregrina, CdA, 7-2; Francis, Gla, pinned Nick Beeler, CV, 3:02.
Third-fourth place - Kyle Sweedman, Lib, dec. Peregrina, CdA, 4-2.
Fifth-sixth place - Jimmy Netz, CMR, maj. dec. Beeler, CV, 11-2.
Seventh-eighth place - Max Coulson, Fer, pinned Logan Clay, Pol, 1:49.
160 lbs
Finals - Ethan Hinebauch, Hav, dec. Bryce Stacy, Flat, 4-3.
Semifinals - Stacy, Flat, maj. dec. Andre Rivera, Fer, 12-4; Hinebauch, Hav, dec. Toby Cheff, Ron, 12-5.
Third-fourth place - Jake Mason, UHi, dec. Rivera, Fer, 7-2.
Fifth-sixth place - Cheff, Ron, pinned Josh Hamilton, Sent, 4:33.
Seventh-eighth place - Jake Norris, CdA, dec. Nick Bond, Mead, 6-3.
171 lbs
Finals - Brock Picard, Pol, dec. Maxx Galland, GFH, 11-8.
Semifinals - Galland, GFH, dec. Gabe Hocum, Clk, 7-3; Picard, Pol, dec. Ian Bauman, Fer, 4-2.
Third-fourth place - Hocum, Clk, maj. dec. Bauman, Fer, 16-6.
Fifth-sixth place - Phillip Sutherland, Hav, pinned Cody Stratton, CV, 2:01.
Seventh-eighth place - Dustin Johnson, UHi, dec. Tanen Doty, Sent, 2-1.
189 lbs
Finals - Brady Anderson, Ham, dec. Zach Wichman, GFH, 3-1.
Semifinals - Wichman, GFH, maj. dec. Kelly Houle, CF, 8-0; Anderson, Ham, dec. Marcus Schiele, Ron, 10-3.
Third-fourth place - Houle, CF, dec. Schiele, Ron, 3-2.
Fifth-sixth place - Jace Prideaux, Sent, dec. Jacob Fry, UHi, 7-3.
Seventh-eighth place - Curtis Shandorf, Hav, won by forfeit over Nick King, Clk.
215 lbs
Finals - Justin Graham, Lib, dec. Paul Jensen, Hav, 10-4.
Semifinals - Graham, Lib, dec. Jacob Trotter, Mead, 7-2; Jensen, won by forfeit over Michael Gireth, Clk.
Third-fourth place - John Frandsen, Gla, dec. Bentley Alsup, Sent, 9-4.
Fifth-sixth place - Trotter, Mead, won by forfeit over Gireth, Clk.
Seventh-eighth place - Jake Laden, UHi, dec. Cameron Carpenter, GFH, 4-0.
Heavyweight
Finals - Tyler Thomas, Flat, maj. dec. Mitch Schnittgen, Hav, 10-2.
Semifinals - Thomas, Flat, pinned Joel Horn, Gla, 1:59; Schnittgen, Hav, pinned Hovik Mellkoyan, WV, 4:44.
Third-fourth place - Carter Comito, Mead, pinned Devin Norland, Clk, 1:10.
Fifth-sixth place - Hovik Mellkoyan, WV, maj. dec. Horn, Gla, 14-6.
Seventh-eighth place - Colby Davis, CV, dec. Kaden Thomas, Pol, 3-1.