WRESTLING: Glacier headed to Flathead Thursday for crosstown battle

The Glacier Wolfpack need not look far to see what a young, inexperienced group of wrestlers can blossom into before the season-ending state tournament.

In fact, tonight they’ll be staring at them from across the mat.

The youthful Pack is facing a tall task this evening when it visits Flathead at 7 p.m. for the annual crosstown match against a battle-tested Braves team that features some of the state’s top grapplers.

A year ago, with one of the youngest rosters in the state, Flathead still managed a sixth place finish and four state placers at the state tournament.

This year, with a team that remains fairly young and has four state placers back, the Braves have collected 12 dual wins and put forward an effort that coach Rich Vasquez called “about the best I’ve ever seen” at last weekend’s Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Invitational in Missoula.

Flathead started the year 5-0 in duals and is anchored by the state’s top-ranked 120-pound wrestler, sophomore Trae Vasquez. The defending 113-pound state champion, Vasquez is undefeated this season.

Vasquez’s classmate, Payton Hume at 138 pounds, lost in the finals at Jug Beck last weekend and is himself a state title contender. The Braves also boast talented senior Logan Wilson (182) and junior Matt Gash-Gilder, who is back healthy after missing the entire first half of the season while battling mononucleosis.

“I think it’s a building process,” Rich Vasquez said of his team’s continued development. “There are always ways we can get better. We’re never as good as we can be.”

Glacier’s year, meanwhile, got off to a predictably bumpy start as they worked to incorporate a bevy of new wrestlers. The Wolfpack has only one state placer from last season on its roster, but there have been promising signs of late.

“We’ve seen a lot of progress,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said. “Some of it is paying off with wins and losses and some of them are waiting for that pop to happen.”

Just last week, senior Eli Horn earned his first placement at a tournament, finishing eighth at 285 pounds at the Jug Beck, and Justin Gibson, Glacier’s only returning state placer, has started to pile up wins at 126 pounds.

The Braves have won the last two crosstown duals, including a 36-18 win a year ago, and lead the all-time series 5-3. While this year’s edition looks one-sided there is always something different about the feelings that accompany a crosstown battle.

“(The atmosphere) is always something we have to talk about because there are going to be emotions and a really different kind of energy,” Rich Vasquez said.

“If you try and pretend like (the emotions) are not going to be there then you’re making a mistake. Take a deep breath, go through your technique … and at that point it’s like throwing a switch and you’re ready to wrestle.”

Both coaches said the emotions of crosstown are the closest thing the teams will experience to the electric atmosphere at the 12,000-seat Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings, which will host this year’s state tournament Feb. 12-13.

“(This match) is great timing to get us some experience with that level of intensity,” Dankers said. “Whatever the results, it will be good a experience for us to get ready for state.”