Braves powering path to Metra

The pre-holiday portion of the mat schedule is all about one thing.

“We are really focused on them getting tough matches so they are ready for the postseason,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said.

That was accomplished with an ambitious offering of dual and invitational tournaments. Now the focus for coaches and athletes shifts to three main events as action resumes this week — the Rocky Mountain Classic Jan. 13-14 in Missoula followed by divisional action for all three classes — AA, A and B-C — the first weekend in February and the all-class state tournament in Billings Feb. 10-11.

Flathead, a third-place finisher at the AA state tournament a year ago, is off to a blazing start with veteran coach Jeff Thompson back in charge of the program.

Columbia Falls and Eureka have also flexed their muscles with strong tournament showings in December.

The Braves easily won the CMR Holiday Classic and had four individual champions — Hunter Rush (103), Bryce Shaffer (113), Hunter Wellcome (152) and Matt Gash-Gilder (205). Payton Hume (152) and Tucker Nadeau (170) were both second for Flathead in the Great Falls competition.

Earlier, the Braves went 3-0 at the Capital City Duals and placed third at the Mining City Duals in Butte.

Thompson, who was named the head coach in late September after Rich Vasquez suddenly stepped down after a successful three-year run, made the Braves a state power in his eight-year tour from 2001-2008. Flathead won four state titles (2004, 2006, 2006, and 2008) on his stay, was second in 2005 and third in 2003.

Flathead’s dual record during that stretch was a dominating 126-19.

The Braves had 107 state placers, 48 state finalists and 11 champions with Thompson in charge.

“We are raising the bar and are focused on bringing home another team trophy,” he said.

“Yes, we set our goals high and are putting the focus on the main event (2017 state championships), but also on setting a statement of how tough wrestling is here in Kalispell.”

Class AA

Flathead

The Braves have a two-time state champion — Trae Vasquez, a junior, at 132 — and five state placers back on the mats for what is shaping up to be an exciting season.

Rush, a senior, finished second at state last year, juniors Nadeau and Michael Lee (heavyweight) were fifth along with Gash-Gilder, a senior.

Cody DeVall (120), a senior, was sixth.

Hume, a junior, placed third in 2015.

“This year should be a lot of fun with a core group of very talented athletes returning and such a strong freshman class coming in,” Thompson said.

“On paper, there are not a lot of holes in our lineup. We seem to be pretty salty from top to bottom with a lot of experience from our lightweights to our upper weights.”

Vasquez is currently 12-0. The team’s other undefeated wrestler at this point is Shaffer. He is 10-0.

Gash-Gilder and Nadeau are tied for the most wins with 16-1 marks.

Lee and Hume check in with 15-3 records while Rush is 11-2 and DeVall 11-5.

Wellcome, a junior, owns a 12-3 mark. Freshmen Tanner Russell (126) and Garett Reike (160) are both 12-5.

“This team has the potential to win a Montana AA state championship and be the team to bring Flathead wrestling back on top, but we need to stay focused on improvement and not to get overconfident,” Thompson said.

“We need to stay healthy and work on just getting better every day and every practice.”

Glacier

The individual bright spot for the Wolfpack thus far has been 138-pounder Justin Gibson.

The senior and two-time state placer won the Polson Invitational, pinning three of four opponents, to kick off the season and was third at the CMR Holiday Classic.

He is 16-1 thus far, the loss coming in the semifinals at the Holiday Classic to Kai Stewart of CMR in the semifinals, 11-7.

“I have not seen a high school kid work as hard as Justin has,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said.

“That’s the honest truth. He puts more time in, in the offseason, and works harder than anybody in the season.”

An injury forced Gibson to miss divisionals and state last year. He finished fifth at state as a freshman at 98 and was fourth his sophomore year at 103.

Dankers, in his fourth season as head coach, is also expecting big things from seniors Sam Barber (170) and Brandon Olson (182). Barber missed the end of last season with a concussion.

“He’s a little rusty,” Dankers said of Barber right now.

“I saw some good flashes last year.”

Barber was one match away from placing at state his sophomore year.

His is currently 8-5 on the season.

Dankers calls Olson “a steady-Eddy figure in our program. I’m excited to see what he will do this year.”

His match record is 5-8.

“I’m excited to have three seniors,” Dankers said.

“They know what the program is about. Now that we have a big number of juniors, the culture and expectations will spread quickly.”

Glacier finished 14th at state last year.

Class A

Columbia Falls

The MatCats, led by veteran coach Jessie Schaeffer, just missed out on a state trophy last year, placing fourth with a 113 score. Hardin finished third at 114 1/2.

All six wrestlers who placed are back — Mason Fetters was second (145), Ben Windauer finished third (126), Hunter Peterson was fourth (132), Winfield West placed fifth (113), Colten McPhee was sixth (160) and Storm Kemppainen was fifth (170).

Windauer, Fetters and Kemppainen started the season by winning individual titles at the Owen Invitational in Polson. Columbia Falls placed second behind Missoula Sentinel in the team scoring.

At the other big pre-holiday event, the MatCats were fifth at the 36-team CMR Holiday Classic. Jakob Freeman (182) had a superb showing, placing second.

“He had a great tournament,” Schaeffer said of Freeman in a quote in the Hungry Horse News.

“He took advantage of the way he was seeded.”

Windauer and McPhee were both third and West fourth.

“The kids competed well,” Schaeffer said.

“We’re pleased with the outcome.”

Polson

There has been a change at the top, but that will not alter action on the mat for the tradition-rich Pirates program.

Bob Owen, who is in his 42nd season of coaching, is stepping into an assistant role this winter. The head duties now belong to his son Kevin.

The Pirates return five place winners from the 2016 state runner-up squad. Placing third were junior Mateo Quinones (138), sophomore Bridger Wenzel (126), and junior Cameron Brown (132). Finishing fourth were sophomore RJ Pierre (103) and junior Parker Adler (138).

Noah Humphrey (205), a junior, was one win away from earning a medal at state last year.

“Those kids with experience are all doing very well,” Bob Owen said.

“That’s exciting. They are very good leaders and hopefully their influence will be good for the younger kids to get them ready when state rolls around.”

Brown’s status for the year is up in the air. He suffered a leg wound in a pre-hunting gun accident.

“It’s tragic,” Owen said.

“He’s very fortunate that it wasn’t more serious.”

Owen said Brown “has made some positive strides recently. We’re optimistic we’ll get him back.”

Owen had seven kids at the Tri-State Tournament in Idaho before the holidays with five placing. Quinones was fifth, Hunter Fritsch, a sophomore, sixth, Adler sixth, Kedrick Baker, a freshman, was eighth and Wenzel seventh. The Pirates, despite not fielding a full team, still finished 15th in the team standings, its best showing in that event in more than 10 years.

Polson will again contend for a state trophy along with favorite Havre, Columbia Falls and Glendive.

Polson won back to back state titles in 1995-96.

Havre won last year’s title with a 213 score. Polson finished with 147 1/2.

Whitefish

Ryan Boyle, in his sixth season as head coach, continues his hard work to turn the program around.

The Bulldogs had two state placers a year ago, but both graduated. They do return five who qualified, but did not place — Sidney Cooke (132), Eli Taylor (132), Robert Bertelson (145), Malik Heydon (160) and Travis Catina (205).

“I’m looking forward to January to see what they can do,” Boyle said.

“I’m starting to see some leadership from them.”

Catina wrestled most of last year with a shoulder injury.

“Football stuff,” Boyle said.

“He never had much rest.”

This year he’s 100 percent health-wise and looks sharp, ready to contend.

“He’s been a captain for us for three years now,” Boyle said.

“A great kid, tough wrestler. He’s super quick, as fast as our 103-pounder.”

Catina, who has been academically accepted by the Naval Academy, is 7-2 on the season. His two losses were at the always talent-rich Tri-State Tournament.

Also competing at Tri-State for Whitefish were Dakota Flannary (132) and Jack Eisenbarth (132).

“Get them experience and just to see where we fit, what we have,” Boyle said of the Tri-State trip.

“Are we getting close? What do we still have to work on?”

Whitefish finished 16th at state.

Class B

Bigfork

The Vikings have a pair of talented grapplers with Matt Farrier, a senior at 170, and Castor Conley, a junior at 132.

Both had strong showings at the Buzz Lucey Invitational in Eureka on Dec. 17. Farrier was an individual champ while Conley placed third.

Bigfork, however, continues to struggle with numbers and filling a lineup card, but does have eight boys and three girls on this year’s roster.

“I’m happy for the kids we have there,” coach David Laird, in his second season, said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.”

Bigfork tied for 30th place last year at state.

Eureka

The Lions captured their first state trophy in 25 years last winter by placing second behind Colstrip.

This year, they hope to claim their first state title.

“We’re definitely looking to overtake Colstrip,” Eureka coach Danny Lemer said.

“They are the favored team. We feel we can do it.”

Colstrip’s winning total in 2016 was 211 1/2. Eureka finished with 127 1/2.

Seven state participants are back for the Lions.

Kahden Bakkila, a senior at 120, placed sixth at state as a sophomore.

Jonathan Smith, a junior at 138 or 145, was fourth at state as a freshman and third last year.

James Dunn, a senior at 138 or 145, was fifth at state his sophomore season. He suffered a concussion in wrestling last year, which forced him to miss divisionals.

Cannon Smith, a senior at 152, was a state runner-up a year ago at 145.

Garrett Graves, a junior at 182, was a state runner-up last year at 170.

Joe Fehr, a senior at 205, was a state runner-up a year ago at 205. He finished sixth a state the year before that.

Kaelan Yanak, a junior at 285, was sixth last year and fifth as a freshman. He missed his sophomore year with a broken leg.

“They just work,” Lemer, who is in his 12th season, said of his mat crew.

“Grind every day. They are one year older and more confident.”

He said eight members of the 2016 Class B state championship football team are on the mats.

“The momentum is on their side,” he said.

“They will continue to roll with that in wrestling.”

He said most of the seniors are closing in on 100 career victories.

Eureka’s last state individual champion was Howard Mee in 1998. Lemer was a state champ for the Lions at 112 in 1996.

“I am excited about the season with these guys,” Lemer said.

“They are a special group.”

At its Buzz Lucey Invitational on Dec. 17, Hank Dunn (126), Jonathan Smith, Cannan Smith, Graves, Fehr and Yanak were individual champions.

Nathan Schmidt (113), Levi Garcia (160), Colby Hammack (170) and Austyn Sherwood (182) were all second.

Graves and Yanak were winners at the Owen Invitational in Polson to open the season Dec. 2-3 while Bakkila and Fehr were both second.

Libby

Coach Kelly Morford is pleased with the efforts turned in by his Greenchain prior to the break for the holidays.

“Third place at Havre and winning Superior,” he said of tournament showings thus far.

At Superior, the Loggers had five in the finals and two champions — Buddy Doolin (103) and Reed Christensen (132). Placing second were Dillon Yeadon (113), Laine Young (138), Tanner Wood (160) and Clancy Gout (205).

At Havre, Tim Carver (152) was first with Doolin, Mason Sams (120) and Christensen finishing second.

Doolin is the team’s lone returning state placer. He was second last year.

Christensen, Young, Gout and Sams all qualified for state, but did not place.

“We’ve got a team that I think can make some noise throughout the season,” Morford, in his seventh season, said.

“They will have to wrestle to their potential (to achieve that).”

With just 12 wrestlers on the roster, Morford said keeping them healthy will be a challenge.

“Doolin will make a run at a state title,” he predicted.

“Bunch of the other guys will be able to place and place well.”

He said the Loggers will be able to cover the lineup with the exception of heavyweight (285).

“We have two 113s and two 132s,” he said.

“We’ll have to bump some kids around.”

Libby finished 20th at state last year.