Young Braves down Butte in wrestling opener
<p>Flathead’s Hunter Rush (right) looks to his bench for advice as he tries to pin Butte’s Tyler Casey Friday afternoon during a wrestling dual at Flathead High School. Rush won the 98-pound match by a technical fall, 18-2. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
A pair of freshman delivered big wins and Flathead’s wrestling season got off to a promising start with a 46-34 dual win over Butte Friday at Flathead High School.
Freshman 98-pounder Hunter Rush scored a technical fall win over Butte’s Tyler Casey to give the Braves a 17-9 lead and freshman 160-pounder Cameron Mantel clinched the win by fighting off his back to pin Butte senior Nick Challeen.
“I’m real excited with it,” first-year Flathead coach Rich Vasquez said. “Butte’s a lot like us. We’re pretty equal age-wise. They have a lot of club kids up and we have some club kids up this year, so it was neat to see that matchup.”
Flathead tallied five pins, won two technical falls and won by forfeit at heavyweight. Butte had four pins, won one decision and two major decisions.
Mantel’s match provided the most drama as the freshman looked done in the second period. Challeen stuck one shoulder and looked to finish the match with an arm bar but Mantel rolled out of the hold and rode out the second period trailing 7-6.
“I don’t really know (how I got out of that),” Mantel said. “I just flipped over and got on top of him.”
Mantel scored a reversal early in the third period and pinned Challeen with 27 seconds remaining in the bout.
“That’s kind of Cameron’s style,” Vasquez said. “He’s a tough kid. He’s not going to ever quit on you. He has a lot of experience and he’s just a kid you expect to come out ahead. If it’s going to be a scramble, I usually expect him to win that scramble.
“When he went to his back, obviously it makes you a little nervous, but you can always count on him to come out of it and finish a match.”
Rush, who took part in the 2020 Junior Olympic Training Program during the summer, was in control from the start of his match. He scored a takedown and eight back points in the first period to take a 10-0 lead and quickly escaped in the second period after Casey scored a reversal. Rush nearly had Casey pinned late in the third period but had to settle for a near fall.
“It was pretty exciting,” Rush said. “Lots of emotion, really intense. I mostly felt like whatever he tried to do, he couldn’t really get away or do anything.
“If I would’ve adjusted my hands or done some little technique things, I think I could’ve (pinned him).”
While Rush’s win gave Flathead a 17-9 lead, the Braves fell behind after back-to-back losses at 106 and 113 pounds. Then Flathead took a commanding lead with four consecutive victories.
Junior 120-pounder Dyan Guzman won a technical fall and Gavyn Wilson, Tyler Davis and Daniel DeVall scored pins. Flathead’s other pin came from 182-pounder Payton Boyce, who stuck Butte’s Quinn Cunneen in the first match.
Flathead senior 195-pounder Mitchell Stivers lost a narrow 3-1 decision to Lee Cannon, who placed fourth at last year’s Class AA state tournament in the 171-pound weight class.
“The big one for me was Stivers’ match,” Vasquez said. “He lost a close one, but that kid won a Western Regional tournament in Pocatello (Idaho), so he’s a real tough kid and Stivers was up a weight class.”
Stivers scored his only point with an escape in the second period.
“I was actually happy to wrestle him because I knew he was tough,” Stivers said. “I learned a lot from it. I’ve just got to watch out for tying up with him and learn how he does his stuff. Next time it will be a different story.”
Flathead freshmen Cody DeVall, 106 pounds, and Michael Schmeusser, 113, both lost their matches, but Vasquez said both were wrestling up a weight class.
“We asked Cody to move up and that kid was big,” Vasquez said. “It looked like Butte had cut a little more (weight) than us. With most of our guys, we’re trying to keep them up early in the season. We’re just trying to focus on getting our technique rather than trying to worry about cutting weight. After Christmas we’ll start shoring up our lineup and getting our guys where they need to be. Right now we’re just worried about technique and getting better.”
Flathead def. Butte 46-34
98 - Hunter Rush, F, tech. fall Tyler Casey, 18-2. 106 - Tyler Vetter, B, maj dec. Cody DeVall, 15-5. 113 - Bryson Henningson, B, p. Michael Schmeusser, 2:36. 120 - Dyan Guzman, F, tech. fall Tyler Osello, 20-5. 126 - Gavyn Wilson, F, p. Kelly Merrick, 1:11. 132 - Tyler Davis, F, p. Ax Henningson, 0:38. 138 - Daniel DeVall, F, p. Willy Anderson, 0:35. 145 - Kaleb Ferriter, B, p. Cody Wood, 1:42. 152 - Kadin Schonsberg, B, p. Jacob Ridgeway, 1:56. 160 - Cameron Mantel, F, p. Nick Challeen, 4:27. 170 - Cian Randall, B, dec. Logan Wilson, 11-4. 182 - Payton Boyce, F, p. Quinn Cunneen, 3:45. 195 - Lee Cannon, B, dec. Mitchell Stivers, 3-1. 220 - Konnor O’Neil, B, p. Cody Howe, 1:58. 285 - Axel Bladholm, F, win by forfeit.