Rough medal round for Flathead, Glacier

BILLINGS — It was a grueling medal round for Flathead Valley grapplers at the All-Class State wrestling tournament on Saturday at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark.

Glacier’s Justin Gibson (103) kicked things off with tough loss to Billings Skyview’s Brayden Schwalbe. After an early escape in the final period, Gibson trailed 5-3 before ultimately falling 10-3 for fourth place.

Next was Flathead’s Dyan Guzman (126).

After defeating two-time state champion Jarren Komac of Great Falls 7-5 to reach the semifinals, the two met again in the third-place match. A narrow 2-1 decision gave Komac redemption and Guzman a fourth-place medal.

Freshman Payton Hume (132) was up next for the Braves.

His opponent was former state champion Jace Kovalicky of Missoula Sentinel. Hume had never defeated the senior. He reversed Kovalicky with 35 seconds left in the match for a 6-5 advantage. As time was winding down, Kovalicky never reversed Hume, but earned near-fall points as the ref awarded him control with Hume rolling to his back while still holding onto Kovalicky as time expired for 7-6 win. Hume also earned fourth place.

Glacier’s Quinn Barber (152) was the next heartbroken wrestler.

The senior trailed Skyview’s Max Miller 3-2 before being awarded a point for Miller’s stalling. Miller then elected to release Barber only to take him down, dragging his feet as Barber fell out of bounds with six seconds to go. Miller held on for a 5-3 victory, giving Barber the fourth-place medal.

Flathead finished sixth in the team standings with 112.5 points. Glacier placed 13th with 56.

Great Falls rolled up 233.5 points to claim the team title. Billings Senior, 194.5, was second.