Flathead, Glacier fill up State AA bracket with 40 wrestlers
Flathead has six No. 1 seeds, Glacier has one, and both Kalispell wrestling teams loaded up at Thursday’s seeding meeting ahead of next week’s State AA championships at Flathead High School.
Flathead, ranked No. 3 in the latest Class AA power poll, is bringing 23 wrestlers to the party, which begins next Friday. The list includes unbeaten wrestlers Ethan Freund (126 pounds), Cole Eastwood (126), Cade Troupe (145), Fin Nadeau (152), Chase Youso (170), Mason Doran (170) and Ryan Nelson (182).
Only Doran, who is seeded seventh, and Eastwood, fifth, are not No. 1 seeds out of the Western AA. Asher Kemppainen, who is 8-1 at 132, is also a top seed.
Nadeau, a junior, was second at 145 pounds last year; Nelson, a senior who transferred to Flathead over the summer, was second at 170 pounds for Class 1A in Washington.
Kemppainen and Poe-Hatten were third at State AA a year ago, and Cade Troupe (fourth) and Chase Youso (fifth) also placed at state in 2020.
“We put ourselves in a good spot,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said. “The kids are ready, man. They’re so excited to have the meet here at Flathead High School. We’re tapering right now, in hopes we have fresh minds and fresh legs for next week.”
Thompson noted he’d much prefer a seeding tournament, which was shelved this year due to COVID-19 concerns. He hopes this was the last seeding meeting he attends.
“There’s a couple JV guys that didn’t match up with anybody,” Thompson said. “We would have loved to have them at the tournament, and have them win a match or two. It’s a lot easier to let them wrestle it out, for sure.
“I don’t know if I could do this every year. They had a few tears and so did I, yesterday.”
Flathead brings just three seniors to state, along with eight freshmen and five sophomores.
Glacier is similarly young, and of course led by 120-pounder Teegan Vasquez, who has a 14-0 record in this duals-only season. Vasquez lost once all of last year on the way to the 113-pound state title.
He is one of seven sophomores on the Wolfpack, along with four freshmen.
“We come into the state tournament with a really young crew of guys, with only five of the 17 being juniors or seniors,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said. “So we are going to have to rely heavily on our guys that do have experience to set the tone mindset-wise.
“I think overall we will need some points from our guys that are not seeded to place and get to the placing rounds for the guys that are seeded in the top 3 for us to get above that middle of the pack region.”
Josh Melton is seeded second and Connor Johnson fourth at 113; Grarrett Bosch is fourth at 103, as is fellow freshman T.J. Gannon at 160. Senior Kael Willis seeded third out of the West at 182.
“I am proud of the resilience our crew has shown through shutdowns and schedule changes,” Dankers said. “This group is a tight-knit team and they are poised to wrestle their best when it matters the most.”
Glacier
103 - Garrett Bosch, 7-7 (No. 4 seed)
113 - Josh Melton, 10-1 (2); Connor Johnson, 6-2 (4)
120 - Teegan Vasquez, 14-0 (1)
126 - Thomas Putnam, 4-5 (8)
132 - Kaleb Shine, 6-5 (6)
138 - Seth Doolan, 2-10 (8); Hunter Magness, 1-4 (10)
145 - Lance Fretwell, 8-6 (5)
152 - Kyle McCollam, 3-7 (6)
160 - TJ Gannon, 6-7 (4); Grayson Barcus, 0-1 (9)
170 - Aiden Krause, 1-9 (9)
182 - Kael Willis, 8-3 (3)
205 - Ethan Dimaio, 4-6 (7)
285 - Rocco Beccari, 8-6 (5); Colton Vergeront, 0-0 (9).
Flathead
103 - David Naldret, 7-3 (3); Will Barnes, 5-1 (5).
113 - Aden Kleinhenz, 4-1 (70)
120 - Logan Stansberry, 3-1 (4); Cade Gardner, 5-1 (6).
126 - Ethan Freund, 12-0 (1); Cole Eastwood, 8-0 (5)
132 - Asher Kemppainen, 8-1 (1); Gunnard Thompson, 7-1 (4)
138 - Anders Thompson, 9-1 (2)
145 - Cade Troupe, 8-0 (10); Gabe Lake, 10-2 (4)
152 - Fin Nadeau, 9-0 (1)
160 - Noah Poe-Hattn, 10-1 (2); Sawyer Troupe, 11-1 (5)
170 - Chase Youso, 12-0 (1); Mason Doran, 9-0 (7)
182 - Ryan Nelson, 8-0 (1); Xan Winter, 9-1 (7)
205 - Gaige Winter, 8-4 (4); Brandon Manley, 6-1 (7)
285 - Timber Richberg, 6-3 (4); Logan Lang, 7-1 (6)