Pin-fest for No. 3 Wolfpack

Glacier’s Cooper Sipe (back) tightens his grip on Missoula Big Sky’s Anthony Thomson during a dual meet in Kalispell Tuesday. Sipe won the 130-pound match by major decision.

Jackson Barber (front) of Glacier stays alive in a 119-pound match despite having his arm locked.

by David Lesnick Daily Inter Lake
| January 6, 2010 4:10 PM

Jackson Barber (front) of Glacier stays alive in a 119-pound match despite having his arm locked.

There was no holiday hangover for Glacier’s wrestling team.

The No. 3-ranked Wolfpack opened the 2010 portion of their schedule with an inspired 70-6 demolition of Missoula Big Sky on Tuesday in a Western AA dual at Glacier High School.

The Wolfpack won eight matches by pin, twice each by forfeit and decision, and once by major decision.

In the 13 matches wrestled, Glacier had the first takedown in 11 of those.

The Wolfpack trailed in just four matches and rallied to win two of those.

And, five Glacier grapplers did not surrender a point en route to winning by pin.

“As a team we wrestled really intense, and the way we want to see them wrestle,” Glacier coach Mark Fischer said.

“I was impressed with how they got after it.”

Glacier was in action for the first time since a 54-24 dual win over Class A Libby on Dec. 22.

“We had a great week of practice,” Fischer said about the break.

“We’ve only got six weeks left.”

Grant Tafoya (112), Boyce Ballard (189) and Kaleb Mitchell (105) had the quickest pins on the night, sticking their foes in 55, 56 and 59 seconds, respectively.

Also joining the fall-fest were Alex Mitchell (98), Lucas Mantel (125), Tyler Hendrickson (135), Shane St. Onge (140) and Stormy Day (145).

Glacier’s Cooper Sipe (130) came through with a workmanlike effort, falling behind 5-2 in the first period before storming back to win by major decision, 16-5.

St. Onge also had to work from behind, down 1-0 in the second period. He tied the match at 1-all in the final period and then finished it off with a pin at 5:16.

Glacier is back in action Friday and Saturday at the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho. The tournament field will consist of more than 40 teams.

Also competing from Montana will be Bozeman, which is ranked No. 2 in AA.

(Match started at 215)

98 — Alex Mitchell, G, pinned Justin Conklin, 4:36; 105 — Kaleb Mitchell, G, pinned Tucker Schmidt, :59; 112 — Grant Tafoya, G, pinned Billy Bears, :55; 119 — Beau Doerr, MBS, dec. Jackson Barber, 8-6, OT; 125 — Lucas Mantel, G, pinned Keon Gallagher, 2:26; 130 — Cooper Sipe, G, maj. dec. Anthony Thomson, 16-5; 135 — Tyler Hendrickson, G, pinned Marx Kemmer, 1:06; 140 — Shane St. Onge, G, pinned, Cody Raymond, 5:16; 145 — Stormy Day, G, pinned Casey McMillon, 1:55; 152 — Kyle Moyer, MBS, dec. Riley Pisk, 8-4; 160 — Travis Woodland, G, dec. Tanner Orr, 7-2; 171 — Logan Clay, G, won by forfeit; 189 — Boyce Ballerd, G, pinned Darby Maier, :56; 215 — Jake Criner, G, won by forfeit; 285 — Dan Gilbert, G, dec. Chad Sickles, 4-3.