Glacier puts 16 in semis, FHS 14
MISSOULA — Glacier will have 16 wrestlers competing in today’s Western AA seeding tournament semifinals to 14 for Flathead after both teams turned in spectacular opening-day performances on Friday at Missoula Big Sky High School
“That’s huge,” Glacier coach Mark Fischer said of his 16 semifinalists.
“That’s big for us.”
Of Glacier’s 26 wrestlers, only three were eliminated on the first day.
“Up and down the lineup, we had a very big day,” Fischer said.
“We were pinning. That is what we needed to get back to. I think we wrestled really sharp.”
Fischer said unseeded Grant Tafoya (112) knocked off the No. 3 seed from Helena High, while unseeded Dawson Day (152) upset a wrestler from Sentinel, who was seeded No. 4.
Glacier’s semifinalists are: Kaleb Mitchell (98), Alek Mitchell (98), Zach Barber (105), Tafoya (112), Jackson Barber (112), Lucas Mantel (119), Cooper Sipe (130), Shane St. Onge (140), Stormy Day (145), Lucas Cummings (152), Dawson Day (152); Travis Woodland (160), Logan Clay (171), Boyce Ballard (189), Randy Martin (189) and Dan Gilbert (285).
Flathead’s semifinalists are: Jake Kinkel (105), Caleb Piasecki (112), Cody Tally (125), Jacob Bagley (125), Joaquin Calderon (130), Steel Hahn (135), Shawn Lau (140), Jeremiah Gaiser (145), Zach Deist (152), Caleb Allen-Schmid (160), Larry Francis (171), Treavor Beaman (189), Travis Ozegovich (215) and Conner Thomas (285).
Flathead has 22 of its 25 wrestlers in action today.
“I thought it was a fantastic start to the tournament,” Flathead coach Matt Owen said.
“We punched a bunch into the semifinals, that was our main goal.”
Owen said there were no big surprises.
“I thought we wrestled where we should be at this point of the season,” he said.
“I think we have a good chance to put a bunch in the finals tomorrow.”
Wrestling resumes today at 9 a.m. The finals are tentatively set for 3 p.m.
The top six placers advance to state Feb. 12-13 in Billings.
Flathead, ranked No. 2, has won four straight Class AA state championships.