Season winding down for wrestlers

The final push for wrestlers begins today with seeding and divisional tournaments to be followed by the grand finale — the All-Class State Tournament — Feb. 14-15 in Billings.

Flathead and Glacier head to Helena for the Western AA seeding event. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class will advance to state.

No team totals are kept.

Grappling begins at 11 a.m. at Helena High.

Libby entertains Columbia Falls, Frenchtown, Polson and Whitefish for the Northwestern A divisional. Action begins at 11 a.m. in the Ralph Tate Gymnasium. The championship round is set for 4 p.m.

There will be matches for 5th-6th place, 3rd-4th place and 1st-2nd.

All session tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students.

Championship-round tickets (after 4 p.m.) are $5 for adults and $4 for students.

Bigfork and Eureka will participate in the Western B-C divisional at Ronan High School. Action begins at 9 a.m.

For Class A and B-C, the top four finishers in all weight classes advance to state. Those placing fifth or sixth will advance to state if there are byes in their respective weight classes at state.

The Class A and B-C divisionals are scored.

Flathead qualified 15 wrestlers for state in 2013 while Glacier advanced 19. Neither the Braves or Wolfpack, however, have returning divisional champs. Flathead does return three runners-up in Dyan Guzman at 105, Gavyn Wilson at 112 and Axel Bladholm at heavyweight. Guzman and Wilson have wrestled at 120 and 126 for much of the season. Bladholm is back at heavyweight.

Glacier’s top divisional returner is Quinn Barger (132). He was third last year at 130.

Flathead and Glacier were not ranked team-wise in the latest Class AA coaches poll.

In Class A, Shonn Roberts will be shooting for his third-straight divisional title. The junior is having another banner season, this time at 126/132. He took first place at the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic and the Polson Invitational. He won five matches over two days at the Rocky.

For the season, he has won 33 times.

Roberts has lost just four matches during his prep career.

Last year he won by pin in the state final at 112. The year before, he won by decision at 98.

Roberts has been the top-ranked individual at 126 in the Class A coaches poll this winter. Columbia Falls is ranked No. 4 on the team front.

Other returning divisional champs are Libby’s Zach Crace at 125 and Carlos Quinones of Polson at 119. Crace has moved up to 132, where he is ranked fourth in the state, and Quinones is at 126, where he is third in the latest poll.

Also ranked from Columbia Falls, the defending Northwestern A divisional champs, are: Manny Guzman, sixth at 98; Mason Fetters, third at 113; Kaleb Gravelin, fifth at 120; Wyatt Green, sixth at 132; Colton Gove, fourth at 138; Zane Brunz, third at 145; Bryan Shaffer, third at 152; Cody Walters, fourth at 160; Jason Willians, fifth at 170; and Spencer Ross, fourth at heavyweight.

In Western B-C, Eureka returns both divisional champs from a year ago. Garrett White, who won at 112, is at 113 this year and ranked No. 1 while Zach Durden, a winner at 119, is at 120. Durden is ranked No. 4 in the state this year.

Eureka, as a team, is list No. 8 in the poll.

One Bigfork wrestler to watch for this weekend is Vinnie Quirk. He checks in at 182 pounds and has been a leader for the Vikings in their return to wrestling after a lengthy absence.