Braves Allen-Schmid, Lau go out in style

BILLINGS  - Back-to-back and three times in four years.

Flathead High School’s Shawn Lau has gone out in style.

Lau (140) won his third Class AA state championship on Saturday with a 5-0 decision over Ben Sulser of Billings Senior at the All-Class State Wrestling Tournament in Rimrock Auto Arena at Metrapark.

 Lau secured his first title his freshman season (98) and last year picked up his second (130).

He finished second as a sophomore (112).

Burke Tyree is Flathead’s other three-time state champ.

“I never wrestled him (Sulser) before. But I watched him for a few matches (at this tournament).”

He says that gave him all the information he needed.

“I know I put in more (mat) time than he did,” Lau said.

“I deserve it.”

His finals match, however, was a grind.

After a scoreless first period, Lau took a 3-0 lead with an escape and takedown in the second period. He finished it off with a takedown just before the match ended.

“I didn’t want to make any mistakes (early),” he explained.

Lau said having the finals start with his weight class was a plus.

“It was nice to get it done with,” he said.

“I didn’t want to be sitting around for an hour bouncing around. I didn’t want to think about it.”

Lau, who lost just four times this season, finished with a career record of 136-16.

Caleb Allen-Schmid followed Lau’s lead and gave Flathead its other champ two weight classes later.

Allen-Schmid pulled it out with a takedown with 10 seconds remaining for a thrilling 8-7 decision over Josh Hamilton (29-12) of Missoula Sentinel.

Allen-Schmid (160) had the advantage early, leading 4-1 after the first period and 6-4 going into the third.

But Hamilton was far from finished. He battled back to go in front 7-6 before Allen-Schmid’s dramatic ending.

“I knew I had to get a takedown once I saw the clock,” he said.

It marked the fifth time this season those two have battled. They split the first four matches.

“Three of those four went into overtime,”  Allen-Schmid said.

“I ran cross country against that kid for two years,” he added.

Hamilton, he said, won those battles.

“He has those long legs,” Allen-Schmid said.

“We’ve been best friends,” he added.

Which explains why both wrestlers were very loose before the finals.

“People were saying they never saw the same competition joking with each other before a (finals) match,” Allen-Schmid said.

Allen-Schmid’s day began with just as much drama as his finals’ match.

He needed an 7-5 overtime win over Greg Wyatt of Senior to advance.He won that one in the fourth overtime period with a reversal.

The two had met earlier in the season with Allen-Schmid winning 6-4.

“I knew it would be a tough match. He was gunning for me.”

Allen-Schmid said the semifinals match was so grueling that he had to mentally force himself to press on.

“I kept telling myself that I can do this,” he said.

This marked the fourth time he’s competed in the state semifinals. He finished sixth as a freshman (140), second as a sophomore (152) and third last year (145).

“That’s always been the hardest match for me,” he said.

“I still can’t believe I won,” he said of the title.

“Oh my gosh ... Three of my uncles were state champs (one in Idaho and two in Oregon). I thought of him (uncle Phil in Oregon) before the match. I had to win so I can call and tell him that I did it.”