Glacier starts fast, pins FHS in crosstown mat dual

The score was lopsided in the Wolfpack's favor, but Tuesday's Flathead-Glacier crosstown dual was a hard-fought affair.

The Wolfpack left Flathead High School with a 63-13 win, but there were some positives for the Braves as well.

Flathead was ahead in several early matches, but the Wolfpack got reversals and came away with a decision and two pins.

"I think the difference in this dual ... we won a few scrambles," said Glacier coach Mark Fischer.

He pointed to Lucas Mantel (135) Jackson Barber (140). Both came out ahead in scrambles and both finished with pins.

"That's what sets duals apart," Fischer said.

Those wins, along with a pin by Alek Mitchell at 125, a Flathead forfeit at 130 and a technical fall by Cooper Sipe (145), put the Wolfpack ahead 32-0 after six matches.

Flathead's wins were a major decision at 152 by Jacob Egley and a 3-1 decision at 171 by Larry Francis. The Braves received a forfeit at 112.

"This was a great win for us. I'm proud of all the kids. Flathead has a team that looks a lot like us a couple years ago," Fischer said.

"They're a lot better team than what the score shows."

Glacier also got pins from Jake Tudahl (215) and Mack Sutherland (285) and also picked up forfeits at 160 and 189.

"I thought it was a hard-fought dual. There were some great matches. Glacier has a great team and this was a good experience for us," said Flathead coach Matt Owen.

"There were just a couple of times we had a couple leads and got caught on our back. That's just a part of wrestling. We'll learn from that and hopefully not make those mistakes again.

"There were a lot of close matches. If that's going on, even if you are not coming out on top, it's still a positive," he said.

For Owen, the night's opening match (119) was the match of the night.

Flathead freshman Tyler Davis took on Glacier's Christian Knopp at that weight.

"(Davis) gave Knopp all he could handle. Really positive match for him," Owen said.

He also complimented the efforts of Egley and Francis.

"They looked solid, didn't make any mistakes," he said.

Both Glacier and Flathead will be at the Pacific Northwest Classic this weekend in Spokane.

Glacier 63, Flathead 13

Dual started at 119

98: Quinn Barber, G, dec. Dyan Guzman, 9-4; 105: Cody Decker, G, maj. dec. Daniel Devall, 15-5; 112: Gavyn Wilson, F, won by forfeit; 119: Christian Knopp, G, dec. Tyler Davis, 9-7; 125: Alek Mitchell, G, p. Kalieb Liehr, 5:18; 130: Kaleb Mitchell, G, won by forfeit; 135: Lucas Mantel, G, p. Coty Piasecki, 3:33; 140: Jackson Barber, G, p. Suny Cheff, 3:30; 145: Cooper Sipe, G, tech fall Jess Beaman, 16-0; 152: Jacob Egley,F, maj. dec. Grant Tafoya, 14-2; 160: Shane St. Onge, G, won by forfeit; 171: Larry Francis, F, dec. Riley Pisk, 3-1; 189: Lane Armstrong, G, won by forfeit; 215: Jake Tudahl, G, p. Connor Hagel, 3:36; 285: Mack Sutherland, G, p. Axel Bladholm, :42.