Fighting for a cause

It was a day of redemption for a lot of returning competitors at the fourth annual Crosstown Boxing Smoker. A pair of returning boxers recovered from last year’s losses to record wins and a few more shook off bad starts to leave the ring on top at the Trade Center at Flathead County Fairgrounds on Thursday.

A pair of rematches from last year’s smoker highlighted the night. The main event featured a bout that was called a draw last year, after Flathead’s Cole DeLaughder and Glacier’s Juan Rodriguez bloodied each other up.

This year’s match wasn’t any more conclusive, or any less bloody, with Rodriguez opening the bout with a vicious left-right combination that knocked DeLaughder back. On cue, DeLaughder countered with a string of punches and the fight was back in familiar territory.

It was the second round that opened up the fight for Rodriguez. “The Mexicutioner” landed a flurry of punches in the round and opened up DeLaughder’s nose. In the third round, DeLaughder answered, but the judges ruled a split decision in Rodriguez’s favor.

In the other main event, Flathead’s Cassie Krueger took on Glacier’s Keyawana Larson for the second straight year, after the two swung themselves tired last year in an extremely close split decision for Krueger.

Krueger, used her size to her advantage to start the fight, muscling the shorter Larson into the ropes and landing a series of combos.

But, as she did last year, Larson found her space in between shots from Krueger, landing hard rights to end both the first and second rounds. By the third, Larson tired out, as Krueger landed hard left-right combos to open and close the round. The Flathead senior was awarded a split decision victory for the second straight year.

In the lead up to the main event, there was plenty of excitement. A trio of fighters shook off rough starts to end their opponents in the fights preceding the final bouts.

Glacier’s Conner Trimble was rocked early in his fight against Flathead’s Sean McComb, taking a knee after McComb came out of his corner firing, and landing, haymakers.

Shortly after getting off the mat, Trimble ducked under a big right from McComb and caught him with an upper cut that shook the fast-paced brawler. Trimble attacked with two hard lefts and knocked McComb down, wobbling his knees and ending the fight.

“As soon as his hands dropped I pounced,” Trimble said. “It was a good fight, he’s a great fighter. He did a great job.”

Columbia Falls’ Seth McCall found himself in a hole as well, trading shots with Glacier’s Eric Rodriguez for most of the first two rounds.

McCall’s shots to the body of Rodriguez began to take their toll though, sapping “the Executioner” of his wind. As the bout wore on, McCall took advantage, pelting Rodriguez with combos and body blows, forcing referee Phil Moore to stop the fight in the third round.

In one of the most exciting fights of the night, Flathead’s Paige “Powerhouse” Birky lived up to her electric nickname, dominating her fight with Glacier’s Jordan Griffith.

Birky relentlessly attacked the whole fight, advancing even as she absorbed a few shots from the longer Griffith. Her pace and aggressiveness paid off though, pounding Griffith and keeping her off balance for the entire first two rounds. Birky landed a hard right that wobbled Griffith as the bell rang to end the second round, and the referee called the fight before the third round could begin.

“I planned to pace myself, but that doesn’t really work when you get out there,” Birky said. “She started going at me so I had to return the favor.”

Glacier’s state champion wrestler Kaleb Mitchell won a close match with Bigfork’s Austin Jordt in one of the most anticipated bouts of the night. Mitchell closed strong in the third round to take the advantage and earn a split decision victory.

“I thought I had the bigger reach at first, it didn’t look like it out there,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t want to go out too hard. I knew at the end I could land some punches and do well.”

In bounce back performances from last year, both Glacier’s Brandon Scholz and Flathead’s Robert Heavilin scored wins in their bouts. Other winners included Flathead’s Kaitlin Bradley, Kole Ehrhardt, Aaron Siderius and Austin Martell and Glacier’s Ryder Day and Danny Roe and Columbia Falls’ Cody Walters. Walters, joined Krueger as a repeat winner from last year.

About 1,500 people packed the Trade Center for the bouts, which serve as a fundraiser for the area’s wrestling programs.

Fourth Annual Crosstown Boxing Smoker

Brandon Scholz, G, unan. dec. Will Griswold, F.

Clarke Jones, G, draws Will Clark, F.

Kaitlin Bradley, F, unan. dec. Jayne Lamberson, F.

Ryder Day, G, unan. dec. Mathew Oftedahl, F.

Robert Heavilin, F, unan. dec. Jake Ferkin, G.

Cody Walters, CF, unan. dec. Arik Lybeck, G.

Kole Ehrhardt, F, splt. dec. Ramon Saenz, G.

Danny Roe, G, splt. dec. Wyatt Pehling, F.

Aaron Siderius, F, unan. dec. Dakota Krissie, CF.

Kaleb Mitchell, G, splt. dec. Austin Jordt, BF.

Paige Birky, F, stopped Jordan Griffith, G, 2.

Seth McCall, CF, stopped Eric Rodriguez, G, 3.

Conner Trimble, G, knocked out Sean McComb, F, 1.

Austin Martell, F, unan. dec. Ivan Newby, G.

Cassie Krueger, F, splt. dec. Keyawana Larson, G.

Juan Rodriguez, G, splt. dec. Cole DeLaughder, F.