C-Falls, Polson eye top 3 finishes at state A wrestling

BILLINGS — Local Class A schools bring five divisional champions into the state wrestling tournament, which begins today at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings.

Polson, Columbia Falls and Whitefish each have at least one divisional champ, but all three figure to be looking up in the team standings at Class A powerhouse Havre, which has won three straight state championships and seven of the last nine.

While reaching the top of the mountain may be daunting, both Columbia Falls and Polson enter with realistic shots at a top-three finish.

The Pirates were ranked second in the state entering last week’s divisional in Whitefish, but suffered a mild upset at the hands of Columbia Falls. The Mat Cats had only one individual champion to Polson’s three, but easily won a fourth consecutive team title on the strength of a balanced lineup.

Columbia Falls’ Mason Fetters enters the state tournament as the top seed at 145 pounds thanks to a first place finish last week. He sits opposite Belgrade’s Jarrett Begen in the bracket, which could set the stage for a championship match between the No. 1 (Begen) and 2 (Fetters) ranked grapplers in the state.

Teammate Kaleb Gravelin entered the divisional tournament ranked No. 1 in the state but was upset in the championship match at 138 pounds. The senior will look to bounce back this weekend and improve on his second-place finish at 132 pounds in last year’s state tourney.

The Mat Cats qualified 17 wrestlers for state.

Polson’s strength comes at the lower weight classes, where the Pirates boast top seeds at 103, 120 and 132 pounds. In fact, the top two divisional finishers at 103 pounds were teammates. Mateo Quinones won a decision over fellow Pirate R.J. Pierre in that final, handing Pierre — the top-ranked 103-pounder in Class A — just his second loss of the season.

Freshman Bridger Wenzel won the Jug Beck quick pin award at the divisional and brings an unblemished record into the state tournament. Wrestling at 120 pounds, Wenzel won all three of his matches last week by pin.

Polson sophomore Cameron Brown is also unbeaten, going 17-0 thus far. The top seed at 132 pounds, he ranked third in the most recent coaches poll. The Pirates will also look for a strong finish out of Mike Corrigan at 205 pounds. Corrigan finished second at the divisional and fourth at last year’s state tournament.

Whitefish is not as deep as its two region counterparts, but the Bulldogs did claim a sectional champion. Senior Steven Quimby won the heavyweight title last weekend and notched a pair of wins at last year’s state tournament to finish just outside the top six.

The Bulldogs are also hoping for a strong placement out of Travis Catina at 205 pounds. The junior also won twice at last year’s state tournament.

Wrestling begins today at 10:20 a.m. at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark and concludes Saturday evening.

CLASS A WRESTLING

At Billings

First-round matchups

Thursday

COLUMBIA FALLS

103 — Austin Nelson, Columbia Falls, So. (12-4) vs. Austin Rollins, Belgrade, Fr. (4-23)

113 — Winfield West, Columbia Falls, Jr. (11-3) vs. Kon Speelmon, Miles City, So. (19-26)

120 — Aden Role, Columbia Falls, Fr. (6-8) vs. Bridger Grove, Lewiston, So. (21-10)

126 — Ben Windauer, Columbia Falls, So. (11-4) vs. Lane Poulson, Havre, Fr. (11-10)

132 — Hunter Peterson, Columbia Falls, Jr. (8-2) vs. Hunter Popetasitke, Hardin, Fr. (20-21)

132 — Brandon Thomas, Columbia Falls, So. (11-4) vs. Chase Farrar, Lewistown, So. (33-14)

138 — Nathan Hader, Columbia Falls, So. (7-4) vs. Pat Comstock, Billings Central, Sr. (26-11)

138 — Kaleb Gravelin, Columbia Falls, Sr. (14-1) vs. Jordan Shovar, Laurel, Sr. (19-18)

145 — Mason Fetters, Columbia Falls, Jr. (11-2) vs. Jazz Schroeder, Havre, So. (21-24)

152 — Colton Sweeney, Columbia Falls (9-8) vs. Cade Dockter, Glendive, So. (25-21)

160 — Troy Meyer, Columbia Falls, Sr. (10-4) vs. Tyler Clapp, Glendive, So. (39-10)

160 — Colten McPhee, Columbia Falls, Fr. (8-6) vs. Quinton Dirette, Livingston, Jr. (18-12)

170 — Storm Kemppainen, Columbia Falls, Jr. (7-2) vs. Matt Kale, Billings Central, Sr. (28-17)

182 — Dale Meyer, Columbia Falls, So. (2-5) vs. Jon Jares, Laurel, Sr. (27-14)

182 — Miguel Garate, Columbia Falls (3-13) vs. Brady Boyce, Lewistown, So. (12-11)

205 — Jakob Freeman, Columbia Falls, Fr. (12-7) vs. Caid Dickman, Miles City, Jr. (23-15)

285 — Kyler Koski, Columbia Falls, So. (9-7) vs. Brandon Connolly, Laurel, Sr. (27-6)

POLSON

103 — Mateo Quinones, Polson, So. (15-4) vs. BYE

103 — R.J. Pierre, Polson, Fr. (15-2) vs. BYE

120 — Bridger Wenzel, Polson, Fr. (17-0) vs. Cole Vandelinder, Billings Central, So. (3-16)

126 — Thunder Morales, Polson, Sr. (8-6) vs. Ethan Boyce, Billings Central, Fr. (18-29)

132 — Cameron Brown, Polson, So. (17-0) vs. Jacob Swope, Miles City, Jr. (18-18)

138 — Jaben Wenzel, Polson, Sr. (13-7) vs. Torrey Watts, Miles City, Sr. (35-17)

145 — Parker Adler, Polson, So. (14-1) vs. AJ Ullmer, Sidney, Fr. (24-18)

152 — Colton Cote, Polson, So. (15-5) vs. Justin Zier, Hardin, So. (34-18)

160 — Koby Garcia, Polson, Fr. (9-6) vs. Tyler Laverty, Livingston, So. (28-23)

182 — Noah Humphrey, Polson, So. (10-7) vs. Jase Stokes, Havre, Jr. (40-3)

205 — Mike Corrigan, Polson, Sr. (13-4) vs. JayR Caplette, Havre, So. (3-4)

285 — Nick Marquardt, Polson, Sr. (8-8) vs. Grant Scalpcane, Hardin, Jr. (15-25)

WHITEFISH

113 — Taisuke Matuso, Whitefish, Sr. (6-11) vs. Ryan Stewart, Havre, So. (30-13)

120 — Eli Taylor, Whitefish, Jr. (4-7) vs. Caleb Birdwell, Lewistown, So. (34-9)

120 — Sidney Cooke, Whitefish, Fr. (1-7) vs. Martin Wilkie, Havre, Fr. (40-7)

126 — Dillon Thorsteinson, Whitefish, Sr. (4-7) vs. Anthony James, Glendive, Sr. (22-19)

132 — Robert Bertelsen, Whitefish, Fr. (4-10) vs. Logan Pleninger, Havre, Sr. (45-6)

138 — James Buckley, Whitefish, Sr. (9-10) vs. Jace Johnson, Sidney, So. (32-31)

160 — Malik Heydon, Whitefish, Fr. (3-9) vs. Dane Flammond, Havre, Jr. (32-9)

170 — Konrad Zinke, Whitefish, Sr. (12-3) vs. Brett McBurney, Laurel, Jr. (25-22)

205 — Travis Catina, Whitefish, Jr. (5-3) vs. Devyn Towner, Belgrade, Sr. (11-19)

285 — Steven Quimby, Whitefish, Sr. (12-2) vs. Mason Roberts, Billings Central, Jr. (11-25)