Sentinel surprises Flathead

It's been a long time.

The last time Missoula Sentinel coach Jeremy LaPorte remembers the Spartans defeating the Flathead Braves in a wrestling dual, it was 1995 - and LaPorte was a freshman member of the Flathead team.

But the Spartans got it done on Tuesday night, dropping host Flathead 39-36 in a Western AA dual.

"I don't think it's happened since then," LaPorte said.

"It's been awhile, so I'm pretty happy. There were a couple kids that I think could have wrestled better ... but all in all, I'm happy. I've got kind of a young team and it's fun watching them get better every week," he said.

Flathead, coming off a tough weekend in Spokane, had to wrestle most of its kids up one weight class.

Weight issues and injuries meant forfeits at 98 pounds, 125 and 215. Sentinel forfeited heavyweight.

"That's the tough thing about Tuesday duals. We had competition on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so it's really tough for them to come back and make scratch," said Flathead coach Matt Owen.

"We had to adjust the lineup a little bit and we ended up having three holes. We spotted them 12 points. That's tough to come back from ... but we almost did it. I thought the kids went out there and wrestled great," he said.

"The biggest thing for us is we need to get kids healthy. We'd love to win these (duals), but this isn't what we are working for," Owen said.

The dual started at 98 pounds. Between a forfeit and two Sentinel pins, the Braves were down 18-0 after the first three matches.

Caleb Piasecki finally got Flathead on the board with a pin at 119 and Cody Tally won an 8-2 decision at 130. The Braves claimed 135 and 140 to close to 24-15, but gave up a pin at 145 and a decision at 160 to fall behind by 15 points. Both Larry Francis and Josh Erickson pinned their Sentinel opponents at 171 and 189, but Sentinel's Tyler Alsup, ranked No. 4 in Class AA at 215, got a pin at 215.

Flathead got its only forfeit at heavyweight, but the dual was out of reach after 215.

"We don't have our full lineup. We have a great 215-pounder (Travis Ozegovich) and we haven't had him for awhile," Owen said.

Ozegovich injured his knee in last Thursday's crosstown dual.

"We had some JV kids step in the lineup and all of them competed hard. They went out there and did what we asked them to, which is to try to win a match," the coach said.

He complimented the effort of Mitchell Stivers at 215.

"He went out there and wrestled one of the best kids in the state. Took him down right away," Owen said of Stivers.

There were some terrific matches.

Jacob Egley and Jeremiah Gaiser were a point away each from major decisions at 140 and 152. Egley won his match 8-1 and Gaiser picked up a 10-3 decision.

"Every time he steps out there, he gets a little bit tougher," Owen said of Gaiser.

"He beat an extremely tough kid and had him on his back for pretty much an entire period. I thought we were going to get a pin there - and that would have been a difference-maker for us," Owen said.

The coach also had good things to say about Josh Erickson at 189.

"Every weekend he's getting a little bit better. He's always in the match," he said.

98 - Jake Marr, S, won by forfeit; 105 - Dylan Schulte, S, p. Gavyn Wilson, 3:15; 112 - Jordan Hegel, S, p. Easton Terry, 1:47; 119 - Caleb Piasecki, F, p. Julian Preston, 1:51; 125 - Austin Kinzer, S, won by forfeit; 130 - Cody Tally, F, dec. Brandon Edwards, 8-2; 135 - Coty Piasecki, F, dec. Luke Davenport, 4-3; 140 - Jacob Egley, F, dec. Gabe Lacroix, 8-1; 145 - Joey Hiett, S, p. Brock Stellar, 2:22; 152 - Jeremiah Gaiser, F, dec. Sean King, 10-3; 160 - Josh Seeburger, S, dec. Steel Hahn, 6-2; 171 - Larry Francis, F, p. Michael Cloud, :30; 189 - Josh Erickson, F, p. Sawyer Depee,3:24; 215 - Tyler Alsup, S, p. Mitchell Stivers, :43; Hwt: Connor Thomas, F, won by forfeit.