Banner day for Glacier at state wrestling

BILLINGS - Quite the comeback.

Friday's start wasn't quite what the Glacier Wolfpack had envisioned coming into the All Class Wrestling Tournament.

But after a short meeting, the Wolfpack bounced back with an awesome second round - and by the time the wrestlers left Billings' MetraPark, the Wolfpack had jetted into first place.

Going into today's action, Glacier is in first place with 137 points, Billings Skyview has 117 points, Billings Senior has 116.5 and Great Falls is fourth at 113.

Flathead is in 10th place with 50.5 points.

Glacier has 10 in this morning's semifinals and five others still alive in the wrestlebacks.

Flathead has two in the semifinals and four alive in the backdoor.

Billings Skyview also has 10 semifinalists. Billings Senior has six and Great Falls High eight.

Glacier semifinalists are Christian Knopp (119), Kaleb Mitchell (130), Lucas Mantel (135), Zach Barber (135), Cooper Sipe (145), Shane St. Onge (160), Dawson Day (171), Lane Armstrong (189), Jake Tudahl (215) and Mack Sutherland (heavyweight).

Flathead's semifinalists are Jacob Egley (152) and Larry Francis (171).

"The first round didn't go quite as we had scored it on the bracket sheet coming into the tournament, but we had probably the best second round we possibly could have," said Glacier coach Mark Fischer.

"We had kids knock off kids they had never beaten before. It was just a huge round for us. We were clicking one after another," he said.

The Wolfpack wasn't just winning, either, it got pins.

"That really spread the score out a little bit. That was great for our kids," Fischer said.

"I just said some of us aren't where we want to be. Your job changes. Some of us, our job is to make it through the front door. Some of us, our job is to make it through the backdoor," Fischer said of the midday talk with the team.

"They just went out and got it done. It wasn't anything I said or anything we did as coaches. They wanted it, so they went out and got it," he said.

"We are sitting in good shape for (today). It's still going to be up in the air, but I think our kids want it. And they definitely deserve it. I can never talk enough about how hard these kids work," Fischer added.

The only downer on the day for Glacier is that 125-pounder Alek Mitchell lost out.

"He's one of the hardest workers in the room and he came up a little bit short. I feel really bad for Alek right now. He puts so much into it. It's heartbreaking to see," Fischer said.

The day didn't go quite as Flathead had hoped, either.

"It wasn't what we wanted, but a lot of our kids showed a lot of heart and bounced back from some tough losses," said Flathead coach Matt Owen.

"That's what we're going to take away from this day ... and hopefully move on and get some good competition (today)," he said.

"We still have two in the front door and four in the backdoor. They still have great chances."

If those guys can all top out "we'll still come out of the weekend happy. It's definitely not what we wanted, but that's wrestling. It's not always what you plan," Owen said.

"It was not the ideal first day, but we're going to hopefully bounce back and have a great tomorrow."