Glacier, Flathead bring home divisional hardware

HELENA - Both Glacier and Flathead got it done on Saturday in the finals of the Western AA seeding tournament.

The Braves tallied six champions and the Wolfpack finished with four.

Glacier is sending 21 kids to state wrestling, while Flathead will take 20.

Winning titles for Flathead are Caleb Piasecki (119), Cody Tally (125), Steel Hahn (152), Larry Francis (160), Josh Erickson (171) and Connor Thomas (285).

Glacier titleists are Kaleb Mitchell (105), Lucas Mantel (130), Boyce Ballard (189) and Mack Sutherland (215).

"I'm pretty happy. The kids were enjoying the feeling afterward. They're already looking forward to the next week of practice and to that state tournament," said Wolfpack coach Mark Fischer.

"I'm extremely pleased with where our kids are sitting. We had 16 kids in the top four, which is a really good place to be and the consolation semis was the best round we could possibly have. We just were on fire. It was a great round for our kids," Fischer said.

The four champions are up from one a year ago.

"We're still moving in the right direction," he said.

"I think we have 21 kids who will score some points next week. They're excited about that and they're ready to go."

As for the Braves, coach Matt Owen couldn't have been happier.

The final round couldn't have gone much better - Flathead had eight finalists (including both at 125) and won six.

"Six number one seeds - you can't ask more than that. I feel really good after this weekend. We did exactly what we needed to do and we put ourselves in a spot where we can possibly make a run at (a state title)," he said.

Two of Flathead's winners (Piasecki and Erickson) were down in their championships, but rallied for pins.

Piasecki trailed 7-1 and Erickson was behind 9-2.

Hahn beat two wrestlers at 152 that he has lost to earlier this year, Francis turned in a consistent, solid effort to win at 160 and Thomas claimed another barnburner over Helena's Tucker Erickson.

Thomas got a takedown with five seconds remaining to win a 3-1 decision.

Hahn was the "most outstanding wrestler of the weekend for us. He was in the toughest weight class in the tournament and he pretty handily won it," the coach said.

His final win was a major decision over Josh Seeburger of Sentinel.

"Totally controlled the match. It wasn't even close," Owen said.

The coach also complimented the efforts of Cody Tally and Suny Cheff at 125.

"They both wrestled really good. Cody just ended up getting the better of it. It's still really positive for both of them. Suny had a fantastic tournament," he said.

Western AA Wrestling Seeding Tournament

Day 2

Championship

98 - Grant Boggs, HHS, maj. dec. Dylan Schulte, MS, 16-4; 105 - Kaleb Mitchell, Gla, pinned Tucker Schmidt, MBS, 3:10; 112 - Gabe Schroeck, HHS, dec. Alek Mitchell, Gla, 5-1; 119 - Caleb Piasecki, Flat, pinned Holden Gagnor, MH, 5:25; 125 - Cody Tally, Flat, dec. Suny Cheff, Flat, 6-3; 130 - Lucas Mantel, Gla, pinned Luke Davenport, MS, 3:27; 135 - Dewayne Montgomery, MS, dec. Trey Kokoruda, HHS, 8-5; 140 - Tyler Christians, HHS, tech. fall Joey Hiett, MS, 18-1; 145 - Sean King, MS, dec. Jeremiah Gaiser, Flat, 3-2; 152 - Steel Hahn, HHS, maj. dec. Josh Seeberger, MS, 11-3; 160 - Larry Francis, Flat, dec. Riley Pisk, Gla, 5-2; 171 - Josh Erickson, Flat, pinned Kale Kamerzel, HHS, 4:54; 189 - Boyce Ballard, Gla, dec. Silas Easterling, CHS, 9-7 (2 OT); 215 - Mack Sutherland, Gla, dec. Tyler Alsup, MS, 11-4; Hvwt - Connor Thomas, Flat, dec. Tucker Erickson, HHS, 3-1.

Consolation Finals

98 - Christian Knopp, Gla, pinned Jake Marr, MS, 2:37; 105 - Emilio Romero, HHS, dec. Jayden Moyes, HHS, 9-4; 112 - Jordan hegel, MS, dec. Lawrence Lesofski, CHS, 9-0; 119 - Alex Markle, CHS, tech. fall Matt West-Reed, HHS, 16-1; 125 - Brandon Edwards, MS, dec. Zack Barber, Gla, 8-1; 130 - Coty Piasecki, Flat, dec. Jackson Barber, Gla, 8-5; 135 - Gabe Lacroix, MS, dec. Jake Stueben, Flat, 7-5; 140 - Cooper Sipe, Gla, pinned Jacob Egley, Flat, 4:10; 145 - Brayden Roberts, Gla, pinned Sam Whisonant, MH, 3:20; 152 - Shane St. Onge, Gla, dec. Paul Iavicolli, Gla, 7-1; 160 - Matt Iavocilli, Gla, dec. Michael Cloud, MS, 5-3; 171 - Sawyer Depee, MS, maj. dec. Dawson Day, Gla, 13-3; 189 - Darby Maier, MBS, maj. dec. Jaydn Wilson, MS, 10-0; 215 - Ben Mead, MH, pinned Jake Nachtigal, MBS, 1:35; Hvwt - Joel Horn, Gla, won default Chad Sickles, MBS.

Fifth place

98 - Trevor Ball, CHS, pinned Chase Cook, MBS, 1:40; 112 - Doug McDonald, MBS, pinned Easton Terry, Flat, 4:00; 119 - Billy Allen, Flat, dec. Stan Ortel, Gla, 7-2; 125 - Cooper Ryan, HHS, won forfeit Brady Bertagnolli, HHS; 130 - Jackson Haider, CHS, dec. Jake Kinkle, Flat, 9-4; 135 - Steve Emge, CHS, dec. Sam Asay, CHS, 7-4; 140 - Scotty Morgan, MBS, pinned Brock Steller, Flat, :55; 145 - Grant Tafoya, Gla, pinned Casey McMillon, MBS, :40; 152 - Nick Iavicolli, Flat, dec. Chase Linton, MBS, 13-4; 160 - Brandon Olean, MH, dec. Bryce Dahl, MS, 8-4; 171 - Lane Armstrong, Gla, dec. Tanner Orr, MBS, 5-0; 189 - Jake Tudahl, Gla, dec. Alex Rudolph, Flat, 6-3; 215 - Travis Ozegovich, Flat, pinned A.J. Bellon, MBS, :42; Hvwt - Jacob Moderie, MH, pinned Nick Widdicombe, MBS, 2:51.

Seventh place

98 - Gavyn Wilson, Flat, pinned Chris Abrego, HHS, 2:19; 112 - Caden Lockhart, MH, won default Josiah Benson, CHS; 119 - Julian Preston, MS, pinned Zach Charette, MH, :19; 125 - Marx Kemmer, MBS, pinned Cody Murphy, CHS, 1:41; 130 - Erik Mason, MS, pinned Gunner Hilborn, HHS, 3:18; 135 - Tanner Stupack, Gla., pinned Sam Patera, HHS, 2:55; 140 - Matt Merritt, MBS, tech. fall Dylan Meyer, MS, 16-1; 145 - Joey Jeffrey, HHS, dec. Jonathan mandy, HHS, 12-5; 152 - Casey Kazimi, HHS, won default, Kenny Smith, CHS; 160 - Joe Lesofski, HHS, pinned Dillon Koffman, CHS, 4:18; 171 - Nate Caldwell, HHS, pinned Carl Levell, CHS, 1:40; 189 - Jammer Halverson, HHS, dec. Mitch Stivers, Flat, 6-3; 215 - Tim Yang, HHS, pinned Ryan Wozniak, MH, :52; Hvwt - Breque Shepard, CHS, pinned Derek Petrie, HHS, 1:23.

Western AA Wrestling Seeding Tourney, Day 2

Championship Semi-finals

98 - Grant Boggs, HHS, pinned Jake Marr, MS, 1:35; Dylan Schulte, MS, dec. Christian Knopp, Gla, 6-0.

105 - Caleb Mitchell, Gla, pinned Jayden Moyes, HHS, :41; Tucker Schmidt, MBS, pinned Emilio Romero, HHS, 1:19.

112 - Gabe Schroeck, HHS, pinned Lawrence Lesofski, CHS, 2:51; Alek Mitchell, Gla, pinned Jordan Hegel, MBS, 1:59.

119 - Holden Gagnor, MH, dec. Matt West-Reed, HHS, 5-1; Caleb Piasecki, Gla, maj. dec. Alex Markle, CHS, 15-4.

125 - Cody Tally, Flat, pinned Cooper Ryan, HHS, 3:10; Suny Cheff, Flat, pinned Brady Bertagnolli, HHS, 5:02.

130 - Lucas Mantel, Gla, dec. Jackson Barber, Gla, 10-4; Luke Davenport, MS, pinned Coty Piasecki, Flat, 5:04.

135 - Dewayne Montgomery, MS, dec. Steve Emge, CHS, 3-2; Trey Kokoruda, HHS, dec. Gabe LaCroix, MS, 9-8.

140 - Joey Hiett, MS, dec. Jacob Egley, Flat, 8-6; Tyler Christians, HHS, dec. Cooper Sipe, Gla, 10-3.

145 - Jeremiah Gaiser, Flat, pinned Grant Tofoya, Gla, 4:30; Sean King, MS, dec. Samuel Whisonant, MH, 6-0.

152 - Josh Seeberger, MS, dec. Nick Iavicolli, Flat, 9-2; Steel Hahn, Flat, dec. Shane St. Onge, Gla, 5-2.

160 - Larry Francis, Flat, pinned Michael Cloud, MS, 2:22; Riley Pisk, Gla, dec. Brandon Olean, MH, 5-3.

171 - Josh Erickson, Flat, pinned Sawyer Depee, MS, 1:01; Kale Kamerzel, HHS, pinned Dawson Day, Gla, 1:44.

189 - Boyce Ballard, Gla, dec. Darby Maier, MBS, 7-5; Silas Easterling, CHS, pinned Jaydn Wilson, MS, 2:44.

215 - Mack Sutherland, Gla, pinned Travis Ozegovich, Flat, 5:19; Tyler Alsup, MBS, pinned A.J. Bellon, MBS, 3:59.

Hvwt - Connor Thomas, Flat, dec. Joel Horn, Gla, 8-4; Tucker Erickson, HHS, dec. Chad Sickles, MBS, 1-0.