Fight night packs house

The fifth annual Crosstown Boxing Smoker was a smashing success Thursday night as 28 Flathead Valley high school students squared off in the ring with the proceeds going to the area’s wrestlingd programs.

The fighters’ were put through three boxing classes before the event and took to the ring for three one-minute rounds in front of a packed house inside the Flathead County Fairgrounds Trade Center.

The first bout of the night featured Jason Williams of Columbia Falls High School and Matt Gash-Gilder of Flathead High.

The first two rounds saw Gash-Gilder keep Williams at bay with consistent jabs, causing Williams’ nose to bleed. Williams swung several swooping haymakers with few landing across Gash-Gilder’s face.

Gash-Gilder won by unanimous decision.

The second bout saw Justin Gibson of Glacier High face Cody DeVall of Flathead. The two had faced each other in the fifth-place match at the MHSA State Wrestling Tournament this past February with Gibson squeaking out a decision.

Looking for redemption, DeVall used his speed to dodge Gibson’s early jabs and landed several of his own to take control of the first round.

Gibson, much taller than DeVall, capitalized on his reach advantage and continued with his jabs to keep DeVall away from any type of attack.

In the end, Gibson won on a split decision in one of the closest bouts of the night.

“I was just trying to block punches the best I can and get out of there,” Gibson said. “Boxing is probably the hardest sport out there, next to wrestling.”

Bout three was one of the most vicious of the night as Glacier’s Tyler Burton squared off against Colton Grove of Columbia Falls.

Both fighters came out with high intensity, trading giant right hooks throughout the first round. Grove connected two consecutive punches that dismantled Burton and drew shouts of awe form the crowd.

Grove knocked Burton down twice during the next two rounds and nearly lost his balance on several of his exaggerated blows.

Grove won by unanimous decision.

The only two females in the event fought in bout four. Kystan Jones of Columbia Falls went toe-to-toe with Flathead’s Ashlie Wise.

Jones bloodied Wise’s nose in the first round with several giant right hooks. Wise responded with her jabs and conditioning in the next two rounds and wore down Jones to win by unanimous decision.

“I waited to see where she was open at. I dodge, I blocked a little bit better. It was fun,” Wise said.

The rookie boxer Wise was overwhelmed by the support surrounding the event.

“Everybody was really excited; the turn out was great. Everybody was really nice. It was super fun and I’ll definitely be doing it again next year.”

Dancing into the ring for the night’s fifth fight was Glacier’s A.J. Robinson, who faced Will Clark of Flathead.

Robinson didn’t stop punching throughout the entire first round, suffocating Clark with his violent swings.

Blood dripping from his nose, Clark responded in the second round as Robinson tried to catch his breath.

Both fighters were exhausted in the third round. The crowd started chanting “A.J.! A.J!” in perfect “Rocky” fashion.

He won by unanimous decision and then made it to the garbage can as his wild flurries of punches caught up to him.

“I was just out there to have fun and I only had a few minutes to do it so I had to get it in,” Robinson said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Glacier’s Isaac Saens met the bigger bodied Dominique Olsen of Columbia Falls in the sixth bout.

Olsen knocked Saens down in the first round, but his fatigue got the best of him, and Saens continued to connect his punches, prompting the judge to give the Glacier student a unanimous decision.

The night’s only technical knockout came in the seventh bout.

Brandon Scholz of Glacier knocked down Flathead’s Daniel DeVall with a gruesome body shot that stunned the crowd.

DeVall gathered his feet and faced Scholz again. Scholz worked DeVall to the corner where he landed a ferocious upper cut as DeVall was ducking for cover. DeVall tumbled to the canvas, giving Scholz a first round TKO.

Flathead’s Austin Gabert caught Glacier’s Ran Danielson off guard in the first round of bout eight.

Gabert’s flurries were unmatched and he knocked Danielson down in the third for crucial points. Gabert earned a unanimous decision.

Dyan Guzman of Flathead proved to be the most elusive boxer of the night. In bout nine, he faced Connor Trimble of Glacier and consistently ducked Trimble’s effort.

Guzman flawlessly sidestepped jabs and countered with a vengeance through three rounds.

The bout was scored a split decsion in favor of Guzman, and the announcement was met with boos from the rowdy crowd inside the Trade Center.

Bigfork’s Cameron Nissen traded punch after punch with Columbia Falls’ Dakota Krissie.

Through three rounds the fight was even, and Nissen used his stamina to outlast Krissie for a split decision.

The 11th fight saw Glacier’s Juan Rodriques use his third round elusiveness to avoid the final effort of Flathead’s Wyatt Pehling.

Both fighter landed several punches and both were bloodied by the end of the fight.

Rodriques earned a unanimous decision.

In bout 12, the long and lengthy Cody Walters, fighting for Columbia Falls, used jabs to keep Flathead’s Austin Martel away from an attacking position.

Martel broke though in the second and third rounds. Walters landed a powerful right hook at the second-round bell, but Martel’s head-to-body combinations were enough for a unanimous decision

Bout 13 was between Glacier’s Logan Jones and Flathead’s Payton Boyce.

Jones landed two solid body shots that could be heard from the back row of the arena. Boyce remained composed and jabbed his way out of the round.

After landing a third body shot in the second, Jones was met with a flurry of hooks from Boyce who landed several.

The judges ruled the fight a draw and the fighters congratulated each other as the crowd let the judges know how they felt about the decision.

The night’s grand finale put Columbia Falls’ Spencer Ross against Axel Bladholm of Flathead.

“I trained over spring break and I know how to do the stuff that I was taught,” Ross said, while catching his breath after the fight.

“You get so nervous once you step into the ring your whole game plan changes and you think you’re going to go out there and knock him out in the first round. Worst decision ever.

“It was pretty cool out there, though. One of the greatest experiences for me tonight.”

Ross’ violent hooks were blocked by Bladholm. Bladholm landed an emphatic right hook that knocked Ross’ mouthpiece to the canvas. Ross remained composed and responded with several jabs before the end of the first round.

The rest of the fight was all Bladholm, who knocked Ross down in the second and connected twice in the third to win unanimously.

“I thought after wrestling I’d be in shape for boxing,” Bladholm said.

“I’m so tired right now. This was definitely on of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”

RESULTS

Bout 1: Gash-GIlder, F, unanimous dec., Jason Williams, CF

Bout 2: Gibson, G, split dec., DeVall, F

Bout 3: Grove, CF, unanimous dec., Burton, G

Bout 4: Wise, F, unanimous dec., Jones, CF

Bout 5: Robinson, G, unanimous dec., Clark, F

Bout 6: Saens, G, unanimous dec., Olson CF

Bout 7: Scholz, G, TKO, DeVall, F

Bout 8: Gabert, unanimous dec., Danielson, G

Bout 9: Guzman, F, split dec., Trimbe, G

Bout 10: Nissen, B, split dec., Krissie, CF

Bout 11: Rodriques, G, unanimous dec., Pehling, F

Bout 12: Martel, F, unanimous dec. Walters CF

Bout 13: Boyce, F, draw, Jones, G

Bout 14: Bladholm, F, uanimous dec., Ross, CF