Class A state wrestling: Mat Cats tied for third

BILLINGS — Northwestern A divisional champions Shonn Roberts of Columbia Falls and Craig Feistner of Polson cruised through the first two rounds of the Class A state wrestling tournament Friday at Rimrock Auto Arena while Whitefish heavyweight Wolf Zinke was the victim of the biggest upset of the first round.

Feistner, a senior 140-pounder, is a three-time state placer, but he’s never won a title, placing third as a freshman and junior and second as a sophomore. He lost to Glendive’s Tyler Kinn all three years, but with Kinn wrestling at 145 pounds this year, the 140-pound title is up for grabs.

“I’ve been working for this for a long time and I want something to finally pay off,” Feistner said.

Feistner pinned his first-round opponent in 1 minute and 10 seconds, then stuck his second-round foe in 1:45, and Polson coach Bob Owen said he looks primed for a state title run.

“We’re really excited about his chances,” Owen said. “We talked about moving his weight class (to 145 pounds), but we’re glad we didn’t.”

His aggressive style gives opponents little time to plot their next move and he excels getting takedowns from a neutral position.

“He doesn’t give you any breathing room,” Owen said. “He’s up in your grill all the time.”

Feistner will take on Sidney’s Jordan Stevens in today’s semifinal.

“I’m just going hard,” he said. “I’m not here to play games.”

Roberts, a 112-pound sophomore, made even quicker work of his first day opponents, winning by pinfall in 38 seconds in the first round and 47 seconds in the second. He won the 98-pound state title as a freshman.

“I’m just trying to get it done as fast as I can,” he said. “There’s no messing around here.”

Zinke was a finalist at heavyweight a year ago as a junior and entered this year’s tournament ranked No. 1, but a costly slip cost him his last chance at a state title. He was in control early in his first-round match against Hardin’s Robert Becker, scoring a first-period takedown and piling up 45 seconds of riding time in the second before Becker slipped out of his grasp. In a span of four seconds, Becker scored a reversal and secured the pin.

Returning state champion Mitch Haugen of Libby, 135, also made it through to the semifinals, despite twisting his knee in the second round and finishing the match, a 4-2 decision, with a pained grimace on his face. He is joined in the semifinals by teammates Zach Crace, 125, who advanced with a first-round pin and a 9-7 decision, and Austin Bailey, 171, who pinned both of his opponents.

Columbia Falls’ Cameron Linstead, 105, and Bryan Shaffer, 145, also reached the semifinals but as a whole the second round was disappointing for the Mat Cats, who are tied for third in the team standings with Glendive at 85 points. Havre leads with 129.5 points and Sidney is second with 95.

“The first round we came out and wrestled tough,” Columbia Falls coach Jessie Schaeffer said. “We got aggressive and we felt like we had our feet underneath us. In that second round, we struggled. We lost a lot of matches we thought we could win.”

Libby is 11th in the team standings with 46.5 points. Polson is 14th with 36 and Whitefish is 19th with 12.

Polson’s Carlos Quinones, 119, and Dylan Moll, 125, join Feistner in the semifinals. Quinones pinned both his opponents while Moll won via pinfall in the first round and a 6-0 decision in the second.

 “He wrestled as solid as he ever has,” Owen said of Moll. “Often times when Dylan gets beat he beats himself, but he didn’t make any mistakes today.”

Whitefish 140-pounder Matthew Sampson lost in the second round after advancing through the first on a forfeit. He was the only Whitefish wrestler to make it out of the first round.

In Class B-C, Eureka’s Garrett White, 112, and Zach Durden, 119, each made it through to the semifinals while Josh Schmidt, 112, and Nikko Bakkila, 135, lost in the second round.

White advanced with a pin and a 15-0 technical fall while Durden won with two technical falls.

“They wrestled solid,” Eureka coach Dan Lemer said of White and Durden. “They controlled their matches and they were both on with their takedowns.”

The state tournament resumes today at 9 a.m.