Braves sitting fourth at Rocky
MISSOULA — Flathead has four wrestlers in the semifinals and 11 still competing after first-day action at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic at Missoula Sentinel.
Caleb Piasecki (112), Shawn Lau (140), Zach Deist (152) and Connor Thomas (285) all won quarterfinal matches on Friday to move on to today’s semifinal round. Piasecki, Lau and Deist were also semifinalists a year ago for FHS.
“All those guys in the semifinals have been on since the first round,” Flathead coach Matt Owen said.
“I think we’re setting up pretty good since we still have 11 alive.”
Only three FHS wrestlers were eliminated.
Deist moved into the semifinals with an impressive 6-0 decision over Mitch Rohrback of C.M. Russell. Rohrback was a state runner-up last year.
“That was a big one,” Owen said.
“He just didn’t beat him, he controlled the whole match. It was an awesome match to watch.”
Flathead, which has won this tournament the last four years, had 10 in the semifinals last year.
The Braves could have had a fifth wrestler in today’s semis, but the coaching staff elected to keep Joaquin Calderon (125) out of the lineup. Calderon, the top ranked AA wrestler in his weight class, is nursing a sore shoulder.
“I think we had a great start to the tournament,” Owen said.
“We had a lot of those 50-50 matches and we won quite a few of those today. That was a good thing to see.”
Flathead is currently sitting in fourth place with 96 1/2 points. University High from Spokane leads with a 133 1/2 score.
Havre, 119, is second and Mead High, 109, of Spokane is third.
Ronan, 75, and Glacier, 72 1/2, are sitting ninth and 10th, respectively.
Team Totals
University High 133 1/2, Havre 119, Mead High 109, Flathead 96 1/2, Missoula Sentinel 93, Great Falls High 83 1/2, Central Valley 79, Ronan 75, Glacier 72 1/2, Corvallis 65, Coeur d’Alene 63, Polson 62, Frenchtown 57 1/2, Bonners Ferry 57, Libby 55 1/2, Lake City 51, Ferris 47 1/2, Butte 47, Fergus 47, West Valley 45 1/2, C.M. Russell 44, Clarkston 42, Missoula Big Sky 38 1/2, Arlington 35, Columbia Falls 28, Missoula Hellgate 26, Hamilton 18, Whitefish 13, Superior 12.