Glacier qualifies 19 wrestlers for state; Flathead 15

Jackson Barber is going to the state wrestling tournament.

That's no surprise to most wrestling fans. The Glacier junior entered the Western AA Seeding Tournament on Friday as the No. 2 seed at 140 pounds.

But his first match at Flathead High School changed everything - he had to injury default, make a quick trip to the doctor and get back to the tournament in time to try and win a do-or-die consolation match.

With his coaches worrying in the chairs and his teammates lining one side of the mat, Barber got a second period pin. He will be one of 19 Glacier wrestlers at next weekend's state tournament.

But it was drama-filled.

Barber has wrestled with a torn meniscus in his knee for awhile now, trying to finish out the season before having it repaired.

"(Wrestling) is really important to me. It's kind of my thing. My brothers and I have worked year-round for these two weeks.

"I came back a few weeks ago and it was feeling great," he said.

It chose the middle of his first match on Friday (against Gabe Lacroix of Missoula Sentinel) to pop out.

Barber's knee locked and nobody at the venue could get it to go back. He was forced to injury default. Teammates and coaches carried him to his parents' car.

"Dr. (Donald) Ericksen ... I don't think he was working at the time, but he came and met us," Barber said.

Barber and the Glacier coaches want to thank him for doing that, Glacier coach Mark Fischer said.

"It took awhile and we finally got it back in and we rushed back over here."

"He just shows a lot of heart. I feel for the kid. He's put in so much work this year. It's really tough," said Fischer.

"But it's uplifting, too, to see him come back. He comes out with practically one leg and gets it done. That's just impressive. That's just a lot of heart," Fischer said.

"He's still in there. We got him through and that's huge. If we get him ready to go next week ... I think he's one of the top kids in the state," the coach said.

It seems injury and illness have followed Barber for awhile now.

"Last year I had mono. It took me out for half a year. It's just kind of a bummer," he said.

"Sometimes luck doesn't come your way. (State) is going to be tough now. I'll probably be the last seed going in, but at least I get to wrestle," he said.

That was just one downer for the Wolfpack.

It lost six of the 25 wrestlers it took to Flathead and will take 19 to state.

The Flathead Braves will take 15 wrestlers. They had hoped for 16 to 18, but coach Matt Owen wasn't unhappy with much of what he saw Friday. Flathead put eight into this morning's semis.

"We had a pretty strong day. This last round (of consolation) didn't go quite like we wanted it to. We lost some kids we were hoping to get to state.

"We could have finished a little stronger, but I felt like the beginning of the day we wrestled really well. All the guys still in the championship side of things did an excellent job," Owen added.

"We won a lot of great matches, we were aggressive and did some great things. Hopefully, we'll punch some through to the finals."

Owen complimented the efforts of Flathead 160-pounder Nick Iavicoli.

Iavicoli returned two weeks ago from injury and had to face No. 1 seed Shane St. Onge of Glacier in the second round.

St. Onge won, but Owen was proud of Iavicoli's effort.

"He went 4-0 with (St. Onge) and was right in the match. That's promising. If he can take a third seed out of this (tournament), it would be great," Owen said.

"The first round was not a great round for us," Fischer said.

"I think we won one match. That's really hard to see those kids not going with us to the state tournament," Fischer said.

"They've put so much time into this and made such a commitment. They made some small mistakes," he said.

The good news is 15 of those 19 are in this morning's semifinals (9 a.m.) - with the possibility of sending 12 to the finals tonight.

"We still have 19 kids in there. They are all going to do some damage at the state tournament. We're just going to go after it and wrestle," the coach said.

Championship First Round

119: Zach Burckhard, Sen, p. Cody Settle, G, 3:59; Dylan Lewis, Hell, p. Tanner Olson, BS, 3:45; Jake Marr, Sen, Eric Emge, Cap, 17-0; Ryan Reed, HH, p. Haze Bell, F, 4:53.

125: Kalieb Liehr, F, p. Chandon Hamel, Hell, 5:00; Ben Sheldahl, HH, p. Kevin Talcott, G, 3:55; Matt West-Reed, HH, p. Westley Acosta, BS, 1:59; Sam FRank, Sen, p. Levi Anderson, F, 3:57; Jack Lewis, Hell, p. Rachel Schmidt, BS, 5:00.

130: Andrew Obst, F, won by forfeit; Kade Branson, BS, tech. fall James Donaldson, Cap, 17-2.

135: Sam Asay, Cap, p. Shane Dudden, BS, 1:08; Gunnar Hilborn, HH, p. Ryan Glenn, BS, 1:37, Evan Eickert, F, de. Cody Thomas, Sen, 12-5.

140: Tanner Stupak, G, p. Kole Ehrhardt, F, 5:44; Keon Gallagher, BS, T-fall Lane Clark, CAP, 15-0; Jacob Van Dyke, HH, p. James English, CAP, 1:44; Gabe Lacroix, SEN, p. Cole Delaughder, F, 1:07.

145: Jess Beaman, F, p. Leroy Harris, HH, 1:23; Justin Harbison, SEN, p. Nick Argento, CAP, 3:41; Jackson Haider, CAP, p. Matt Merritt, BS, :45; Jason Riekena, BS, T-fall Drew Waldorf, HELL, 16-0.

152: Ben Clark, CAP, p. Reid Benson, SEN, 1:57; Tucker Moe, F, p. Jacob Harris, BS, 5:01; Ethan Cheff, HELL, p. Wyatt Clay, G, 4:51; Chase Thurston, HH, p. Gavin Greaney, CAP, 2:40; Chase Linton, BS, p. Colby Arbuckle, G, 3:32.

160: Nick Iavicoli, F, p. Brock Steller, F, 3:19; Sabin Parmiter, BS, p. Byron Rollins, SEN, 1:47; Shig Hilborn, HH, dec. Addison Boyer, CAP, 10-3.

171: Jack Riekena, BS, p. Justin Duffy, BS, 1:50; Josh Diaz, HH, p. Jack Shevalier, CAP, 4:48; Dillon Koffman, CAP, p. Zeno Speieser, HELL, 1:50.

185: Zach Bauer, HELL, p. Tyler Brewer, BS, 3:10; TJ Borndner, SEN, dec. Connor Gordon, BS, 6-4.

215: Tanner Price, SEN, p. Ryan Wozniak, HELL, 2:24; Conner Hagel, F, dec. Zach Dennehy, G, 4-2.

285: Axel Bladholm, F, p. Clark Ruf, G, 1:21.

Championship Second Round

98: Quin Barber, G, dec. Emilio Romero, HH, 10-3.

105: Gavyn Wilson, F, p. Jaden La Bare, Hell, :31.

112: Grant Boggs, HH, p. Dylan Lindsley, BS, :22; Trevor Ball, Cap, p. Daniel Devall, F, :52; Justin Conklin, BS, p. Brodie Long, HH, 1:32; Dylan Schulte, Sen, p. Kelly Eller, Cap, 2:35.

119: Gabe Schroeck, HH, p. Zach Burckhard, Sen, :32; Tyler Davis, F, p. Dylan Lewis, Hell, :59; Christian Knopp, G, p. Jake Marr, Sen, 1:05; Tucker Schmidt, BS, dec. Ryan Reed, Hell, 7-6.

125: Jordan Hegel, p. Kalieb Liehr, 4:24; Matt West-Reed, HH, p. Ben Sheldahl, HH, 5:35; Alek Mitchell, G, p. Sam Frank, Sen, 1;07; Alex Markle, Cap, p. Jack Lewis, 5:00.

130: Kaleb Mitchell, p. Jeremy Van Dyke, HH, :42; Lawrence Lesofski, Cap, p. Andrew Obst, F, :38; Cooper Ryan, HH, p. Kade Branson, BS, 3:36; Brandon Edwards, Sen, tech fall Chance Momberg, Hell, 16-0.

135: Coty Piasecki, F, p. Andrew Wall, Sen; Brady Bertagnolli, HH, p. Sam Asay, Cap, 2:30; Lucas Mantel, G, p. Gunnar Hilborn, HH, :36; Zach Barber, G, p. Evan Eickert, F, 1:05.

140: Luke Davenport, SEN, p. Tanner Stupak, G, 2:22; Noah Rivers, HH, p. Keon Gallagher, BS, :43; Luke Entzel, BS, dec. Jacob Van Dyke, HH, 9-2; Gabe Lacroix, SEN, def. Jackson Barber, inj. def.

145: Cooper Sipe, G, p. Jess Beaman, F, 1:53; Grant Tafoya, G, p. Justin Harbison, SEN, :50; Suny Cheff, F, dec. Jackson Haider, CAP, 5-4; Joey Hiett, SEN, dec. Jason Riekena, BS, 7-3.

152: Jonathan Mandy, HH, maj. dec. Ben Clark, CAP, 21-8; Ethan Cheff, HELL, p. Tucker Moe, F, :17; Michael Cloud, SEN, p. Chase Thurston, HH, 2:34; Jacob Egley, F, p. Chase Linton, BS, 5:25.

160: Shane St. Onge, G, dec. Nick Iavicoli, F, 4-0; Chaz McGurn, CAP, p. Sabin Parmiter, BS, 1:28; Robert Thomas, BS, p. Shig Hilborn, HH, 1:08; Erik Dewing, HELL, p. Andrew Wheeler, G, 1:38.

171: Larry Francis, F, p. Jack Riekena, BS, :50; Bryce Dahl, SEN, p. Josh Diaz, HH, 2:50; Riley Pisk, G, maj. dec. Dillon Koffman, CAP, 12-1; Dawson Day, G, p. Collin Hammock, SEN, :39.

189: Lane Armstrong, G, p. Adam Frandsen, G, 1:20; Alan Schmitz, CAP, dec. Zach bauer, HELL, 13-6; Sawyer Depee, SEN, p. Michael Hanke, HH, :30; Nate Caldwell, HH, dec. TJ Borndner, SEN, 4-0.

215: Darby Maier, BS, p. Dan Davis, BS, 3:14; Jake Bernard, CAP, p. Tanner Price, SEN, 1:12; Jake Tudahl, G, p. Kellen Maharg, CAP, :35; Jaydn Wilson, SEN, p. Conner Hagel, F, 1:15.

285: Tucker Erickson, HH, p. Axel Bladholm, F, :27; Bowen Smith, F, p. Garrett Schild, SEN, 1:13; Matt Brownlow, SEN, dec. Colter Miller, BS, 5-3; Mack Sutherland, G, p. Derek Petrie, HH, 3:19.

Consolation First Round

125: Westley Acosta, BS, maj. dec. Kevin Talcott, G, 13-3

152: Wyatt Clay, G, def. Jacob Harris, BS, fft.

Consolation Second Round

119: Ryan Reed, p. Cody Settle, G, 4:07; Jake Marr, Sen, p. Tanner Olson, BS, :40; Dylan Lewis, Hell, p. Eric Emge, Cap, 3:25; Zach Burckhard, Sen, p. Haze Bell, F, 1:40.

125: Chandon Hamel, Hell, p. Jack Lewis, Hell, 2:06; Ben Sheldahl, Hell, p. Levi Anderson, F, 1:30; Kalieb Liehr, F, p. Rachel Schmidt, BS, 1:40.

130: Kade Branson, BS, won by forfeit; James Donaldson, Cap, p. Andrew Obst, F, 1:16.

135: Gunnar Hilborn, HH, p. Shane Dudden, BS, 1:27; Sam Asay, Cap, p. Ryan Glenn, BSk, 3:42; Cody Thomas, Sen, maj. dec. Andrew Wall, Sen, 15-4.

140: Jackson Barber, G, p. Kole Ehrhardt, F, 3:33; Jacob Van Dyke, HH, maj. dec. Lane Clark, CAP, 10-0; Keon Gallagher, BS, dec. James English, CAP, 9-2; Tanner Stupak, G, p. Cole Delaughder, F, 1:27.

145: Jason Riekena, BS, p. Leroy Harris, HH, 2:13; Jackson Haider, CAP, p. Nick Argento, CAP, 2:14; Matt Merritt, BS, p. Justin Harbison, SEN, :59; Jess Beanman, F, p. Drew Waldorf, HELL, 2:30.

152: Chase Linton, BS, p. Reid Benson, SEN, 1:38; Chase Thurston, HH, p. Wyatt Clay, G, 1:54; Gavin Greaney, CAP, p. Tucker Moe, F, :35; Ben Clark, CAP, p. Colby Arbuckle, G, 2:45.

160: Andrew Wheeler, G, p. Brock Steller, F, 2:53; Shig Hilborn, HH, p. Byron Rollins, SEN, 4:02; Addison Boyer, CAP, p. Sabin Parmiter, BS, 1:48.

171: Justin Duffy, BS, dec. Collin Hammock, SEN, 4-0; Dillon Koffman, CAP, p. Jack Shevalier, CAP, :27; Josh Diaz, HH, p. Zeno Speieser, HELL, 1:34.

189: Tyler Brewer, BS, p. Michael Hanke, HH, 1:38; Connor Gordon, BS, p. Adam Frandsen, G, 1:00.

215: Ryan Wozniak, HELL, p. Kellen Maharg, CAP, 1:40; Zach Dennehy, G, p. Dan Davis, BS, 2:21.

285: Derek Petrie, HH, p. Clark Ruf, G, :15.

Today

Semifinals

98: Demetri Koures, Hell, vs. Alex Caldwell, HH; Dyan Guzman, F, vs. Quinn Barber, G.

105: Landon Bailey, HH, vs. Jayden Moyes, HH; Gavyn Wilson, F, vs. Cody Decker, G.

112: Grant Boggs, HH, vs. Trevor Ball, Cap; Justin Conklin, BS, vs. Dylan Schulte, Sen.

119: Gabe Schroeck, HH, vs. Tyler Davis, F; Christian Knopp, G, vs. Tucker Schmidt, BS.

125: Jordan Hegel, Sen, vs. Matt West-Reed, HH; Alek Mitchell, G, vs. Alex Markle, Cap.

130: Kaleb Mitchell, G, vs. Lawrence Lesofski, Cap; Cooper Ryan, HH, vs. Brandon Edwards, Sen.

135: Coty Piasecki, F, vs. Brady Bertagnolli, HH; Lucas Mantel, G, vs. Zach Barber, G.

140: Luke Davenport, SEN, vs. Noah Rivers, HH; Luke Entzel, BS, vs. Gabe Lacroix, SEN.

145: Cooper Sipe, G, vs. Grant Tafoya, G; Suny Cheff, F, vs. Joey, Hiett, SEN.

152: Jonathan Mandy, HH, vs. Ethan Cheff, HELL; Michael Cloud, SEN, vs. Jacob Egley, F.

160: Shane St. Onge, G, vs. Chaz Mcurn, CAP; Robert Thomas, BS, vs. Erik Dewing, HELL.

171: Larry Francis, F, vs. Bryce Dahl, SEN; Riley Pisk, G, vs. Dawson Day, G.

189: Lane Armstrong, G, vs. Alan Schmitz, CAP; Sawyer Depee, SEN, vs, Nate Caldwell, HH.

215: Darby Maier, BS, vs. Jake Bernard, CAP; Jake Tudahl, G, vs. Jaydn Wilson, SEN.

285: Tucker Erickson, HH, vs. Bowen Smith, F; Matt Brownlow, SEN, vs. Mack Sutherland, G.