Crosstown Wrestling Braves entertain Wolfpack
The crosstown wrestling duals — Flathead vs. Glacier — have heavily favored Flathead.
Look for that to continue tonight when the two schools take the mats at 6 at Flathead High School. Junior varsity action begins at 4.
The Braves lead the series between the two schools 7-3 and have dominated the last two matchups 66-3 a year ago at Glacier and 62-6 in 2016 at Flathead.
The Braves enter this home event as the top-ranked team in Class AA and sporting an impressive 16-1 dual record. Its the first home dual of the season for the Braves.
Flathead, tournament wise thus far, finished second behind Havre at the Mining City Duals, placed second at the 47th annual Tri-State Tournament in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, while winning the Helena Dual Meet Tournament, Best of the West Duals in Pasco, Washington, and the Pacific Northwest Classic in Spokane, last weekend.
The defending Class AA state champs have 12 wrestlers ranked in the top six of their respective weight classes in the AA coaches poll. The only weight class FHS does not have a ranked grappler is at 126.
Tucker Nadeau (182) and Payton Hume (170) are both ranked first in their weight classes. Nadeau is 32-0 while Hume owns a 29-3 mark.
Flathead’s other 30-win wrestler is Brendan Barnes (103) at 30-2.
Seven other Braves have won at least 22 matches — Bryce Schaffer (113) is 23-6, Dominic Battello (120) 22-9; Jaden MacNeil (132) 22-7, Tanner Russell (145) 26-6, Kenyon Fretwell (152) 22-6, Hunter Welcome (205) 23-6 and Michael Lee (285) 22-4.
Glacier has two talented grapplers on each of its weight chart. Dylan Miller holds a 12-1 mark at 103 while Tre Krause is 23-7 at 285. Both have won their last six matches.
Caden Willis (132) is approaching the 20-win mark for the Wolfpack with his 17-10 mark.
After the crosstown, both teams head to Missoula for the Rocky Mountain Classic on Friday and Saturday. Flathead is the defending champion of that event. Hume and Nadeau both finished second at Rocky a year ago.
Crosstown Lineup
Flathead Weight Glacier
Brendan Barnes, 30-2 103 Dylan Miller, 12-1
Bryce Schaffer, 23-6 113 Kael Willis, 8-11
Dominic Battello, 22-9 120 Tristan Little, 15-12
Braden Comer, 11-11 126 Lane Wilson, 10-12
Jaden MacNeil, 22-7 132 Caden Willis, 17-10
Bo Meyer, 19-9 138 Trey Mitchell, 9-15
Tanner Russell, 26-6 145 Andrew Dixon, 1-6
Kenyon Fretwell, 22-6 152 Andrew Glynn, 15-10
Garrett Rieke, 18-5 160 Caden Gilmond, 8-16
Payton Hume, 29-3 170 Mason Torrez, 7-1
Tucker Nadeau, 32-0 182 Wes Palmer, 7-16
Hunter Wellcome, 23-6 205 Connor DeReu, 12-11
Michael Lee, 22-4 285 Tre Krause, 23-7
Subject to change