Glacier seniors wrap up home wrestling duals with wins

It was a fantastic way to send off the seniors.

Glacier freshman Ryder Day pinned Missoula Big Sky’s Chase Cook in the final match of the night to give the Wolfpack a 36-35 win over the Eagles and complete a two-dual sweep on Senior Night.

The Wolfpack, which had led by as much as 30-12 in the dual with Big Sky, lost four consecutive matches and the lead before Day’s match. With Glacier behind 35-30, the freshman needed a pin to win the dual or a technical fall to tie.

“For him to go out there and know that he has to get a pin, that’s a lot of pressure, especially for a freshman,” Glacier coach Mark Fischer said.

What pressure there was didn’t seem to phase Day. The 119-pounder got a pair of takedowns in the first period and dominated early in the second, earning a takedown and a near fall seconds into the round. By the time he got his second advantage, both teams were standing at the edge of the match, screaming out instructions and encouragement before he finally earned the fall 47 seconds in.

“Ryder’s stepped it up these last couple of weeks. He’s getting confidence by leaps and bounds,” Fischer said.

“As you saw, the whole crowd converged on him. That’s a feeling he’ll never forget.”

The final match highlighted a night of spectacular performances from the Wolfpack.

Dawson Day dominated his 189-pound match against Connor Gordon, going up 16-4 midway through the second period before injuring his hand. After a quick meeting with the trainer, a taped-up Day scored a pair of takedowns in the third period to earn a technical fall and five points for the Wolfpack.

“Dawson is bumping up to 189, he’s 171 normally,” Fischer said. “He’s bumping up to 189 for the team. He always goes out there and gets some gutsy performances for us. He did a great job getting through that (injury). Obviously every single match mattered tonight.”

Glacier also got pins from Cody Decker at 125 (3:13), Lucas Mantel at 135 (1:12) and Jackson Barber at 160 (3:00). Kaleb Mitchell earned a major decision in a 14-0 win over Kade Branson and Arik Lybeck scored an 11-4 decision over Keon Gallagher.

“We got a lot of pins out of scrambles,” Fischer said.

“The score was fairly close. Any one of those matches where we don’t get a pin is the difference in the dual. I’m really impressed with the kids in the way that they finished. This is a pretty special group of seniors here that’s leaving and this was a great way for them to finish their last home dual.”

Even in its losses Glacier had performances that helped it win. Heavyweight Zach Dennehy bridged for the final 35 seconds of his match, avoiding a pin to save two points for the Wolfpack. Likewise, Quinn Barber at 130 pounds and Grant Tafoya at 152 each escaped near falls in their matches to keep points off the board for Big Sky.

Glacier ran away with its dual earlier in the day against Hellgate, 67-12. The Wolfpack won the first 10 matches and led 55-0 before giving up a point to the Knights.

The Wolfpack travel to Helena on Saturday for a pair of duals against Capital and Helena High in the last warmups before the state seeding tournament.

Glacier 36, Big Sky 35

98 — Jon Conklin, BS, tf. Ryan Danielson, 16-0; 105 — Ryan Rowe, BS, p. Austin Cheney, 1:29; 112 — open; 119 — Ryder Day, G, p. Chase Cook, 2:47; 125 — Cody Decker, G, p. Josh Brunner, 3:13; 130 — Justin Conklin, BS, maj. dec. Quinn Barber, 11-2; 135 — Lucas Mantel, G, p. Ryan Glenn, 1:12; 140 — Kaleb Mitchell, G, maj. dec. Kade Branson, 14-0; 145 — Arik Lybeck, G, dec. Keon Gallagher, 11-4; 152 — Luke Entzel, BS, maj. dec. Grant Tafoya, 13-4; 160 — Jackson Barber, G, p. Jason Riekena, 3:00; 171 — Aaron Waddle, BS, p. Adam Frandsen, :38; 189 — Dawson Day, G, tf. Connor Gordon, 20-5; 215 — Darby Maier, BS, p. Colby Arbuckle, 2:30; HWT — Colter Miller, maj. dec. Zach Dennehy, 10-2.

Glacier 67, Hellgate 18

98 — Ryan Danielson, G, won by forfeit; 105 — Demetri Koures, H, p. Austin Cheney, :26; 112 — Shawn Olson, H, won by forfeit; 119 — Ryder Day, G, p. Derek Baker, 2:59; 125 — Cody Decker, G, won by forfeit; 130 — Quinn Barber, G, tf. Jack Lewis, 21-3; 135 — Lucas Mantel, G, p. Austin Sant, 1:10; 140 — Kaleb Mitchell, G, p. Dylan Clark, 1:12; 145 — Arik Lybeck, G, dec. Kody Keenan, 9-3; 152 — Grant Tafoya, G, p. Ethan Cheff, 4:29; 160 — Jackson Barber, G, Zach Martin, 3:06; 171 — Adam Frandsen, G, won by forfeit; 189 — Dawson Day, G, p. Zach Bauer, 3:46; 215 — Ryan Wozniak, H, p. AJ Robinson, 3:53; HWT — Zach Dennehy, G, won by forfeit.