Xtown III: Flathead, Glacier meet in wrestling dual

by The Daily Inter Lake
| January 28, 2010 2:00 AM

TODAY: 7 p.m. at Flathead High School for varsity; 5:30 p.m. for junior varsity.

RANKINGS: Flathead is No. 1 in the last AA wrestling poll, while Glacier is No. 3.

DUAL ACTION: This is the fifth dual, not counting tournaments, for Flathead. The Braves have beaten Butte 53-26, Missoula Sentinel 37-33, Missoula Hellgate 55-24 and Missoula Big Sky 54-29. Glacier has had five such ventures, going 4-1. The Wolfpack beat Butte 70-8, Missoula Hellgate 68-15, Libby 54-24 and Missoula Big Sky 70-6, but lost to Missoula Sentinel 33-32.

SERIES RECORD: Flathead is 2-0.

LAST YEAR: Flathead won 10 of 13 matches en route to a 50-22 victory at Glacier High School. The Braves had six pins, two by wrestlers who are back in the lineup tonight — Joaquin Calderon (125) and Caleb Allen-Schmid (152). Glacier’s Zach Barber also won by pin and is back.

FIRST CROSSTOWN: The Braves won 70-9 at Flathead High School. The Braves were ranked No. 14 in the nation that year (2008) by Amateur Wrestling News. Flathead had seven pins in that meeting.

FLATHEAD LINEUP: (Records not available) 98 — open; 105 — Kaileb Liehr (10); 112 — Suny Cheff (9); 119 — Caleb Piasecki (11); 125 — Cody Tally (11); 130 — Joaquin Calderon (12); 135 — Coty Piasecki (9); 140 — Austin Bowen (11); 145 — Jeremiah Gaiser (11); 152 — Zach Diest (12); 160 — Caleb Allen-Schmid (12); 171 — Larry Francis (10); 189 — Trevor Beaman (12); 215 — Travis Ozegovich (11); 285 — Connor Thomas (11).

WOLFPACK LINEUP: 98 — Alek Mitchell (9) 12-7; 105 — Zach Barber (10) 12-9; 112 — Jackson Barber (9) 11-12; 119 — Grant Tafoya (9) 11-17; 125 — Lucas Mantel (9) 20-15; 130 — Nick Iavicolli (9) NA; 135 — Tyler Hendrickson (12) 21-13; 140 — Shane St. Onge (10) 22-7; 145 — Brayden Bagley (11) NA; 152 — Lucas Cummings (12) 5-6; 160 — Travis Woodland (12) 13-19; 171 — Logan Clay (12) 15-12; 189 — Boyce Ballard (11) 18-15; 215 — Randy Martin (12) NA; 285 — Dan Gilbert (12) 26-6.

WHAT’S LEFT: Just two regular season duals for both schools. On Saturday, the Braves host Helena High, 5 p.m., and Helena Capital, 7, while Glacier hosts Helena Capital at 5 p.m. and Helena High at 7. The Western AA seeding tournament is Feb. 5-6 in Missoula with state to follow Feb. 12-13 in Billings.

INTERESTING TWIST: In last year’s crosstown, Flathead’s Caleb-Allen Schmid of Flathead pinned Glacier’s Larry Francis in 5:06 in a match at 152. This year both are on the same team — Flathead. Allen-Schmid wrestles one weight class below Francis.

GOING FOR THREE: Flathead’s Jeremiah Gaiser is 2-0 versus Glacier in the crosstown. Gaiser won by major decision at 119 in the first crowntown and by decision last year at 135.

INDIVIDUALS RANKED NO. 1 — Flathead had four in the last AA poll — Caleb Piasecki, Lau, Francis and Thomas. Glacier has one — Kaleb Mitchell at 98. He alternates outings at 98 with his brother Alek, who gets the call for the crosstown.

HURTING: Glacier’s Cooper Sipe (130) will miss this dual with a knee injury. He suffered that last weekend at the AA Duals in Great Falls. Flathead’s Shawn Lau remains sidelined with a knee injury he suffered in the semifinals at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic. Lau won by pins at 112 and 130 in the previous two battles with Glacier. Lau has been wrestling this year at 140.