Lion-Blue Hawk mat battle lining up again for State B-C
While the Kalispell schools gear up for the State AA wrestling meet coming to Flathead High Friday and Saturday, area teams could make noise at the State A and State B-C championships.
Of note at the B-C meet in Shelby is the 132-pound class, where Eureka’s Gunnar Smith and Thompson Falls’ Trae Thilmony have squared off twice. The two, who have four state titles between them (three by Smith), split their matches.
Smith won the first meeting 10-2, and accounts for Thilmony’s only loss in 31 matches. Thilmony prevailed 12-10 in overtime at last week’s Western Divisional in Cut Bank, dropping Smith to 30-2.
Smith’s other loss came to Lewistown standout Cooper Birdwell at a mixer in Shelby a few weeks back. Which is no crime. “He’s special,” Eureka coach Dan Lemer said of Birdwell.
Smith is one of seven Eureka Lions heading to state, while Thilmony is among seven Blue Hawks headed that way.
The Lions’ list includes unbeaten Kyle Durden at 126, Johnny Fehr at 205 and Riley Hume, a freshman with 22 wins at 285.
Durden was second at 132 last year, and is down one weight class from the crowded 132, where Smith would like another shot at Thilmony, who got the win with a takedown in OT.
“Gunnar was in deep on a leg and got a little off-balance,” Lemer said. “Made a fundamental error and it cost him.
“We’re putting it behind us. We learned from it, and we worked on a few things to improve for this week and we’re pretty confident.”
The state team race seems to be coming down to Huntley Project and defending champion Glasgow, who went 1-2 at the Eastern Divisional and pushed 14 wrestlers each to Shelby. Western champion Boulder, by comparison, advanced eight.
Bigfork and Plains-Hot Springs are two more teams that advanced seven. Eureka may have a chance at a state trophy. The Lions were third last year.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Lemer said. “Show up and wrestle to our potential and we should be right in there for third place.”
Braves head to Butte
Both Flathead’s basketball programs have to pull out road wins to qualify for next week’s State AA, though the Braves had a couple shots at their Thursday opponent, Butte.
The first meeting, a 77-74 loss in the Mining City, has the distinction of being the highest-scoring Western AA game of the year. The second featured a Bulldogs rally from a 30-19 halftime deficit to win 60-49.
Jake Olson, Butte’s 6-foot-8 center, hurt Flathead both games, but reserve guard Billy Kelly was a major thorn in the second matchup with 17 points.
Each squad had three players among the top 23 in the Western AA in scoring. Flathead senior Gabe Adams has surged of late, upping his scoring average 10.1 points a game, to with his league-leading 7.3 rebounds a game.
Bravettes tough draw
Flathead’s girls were either going to have to take on 13-1 Helena Capital or 13-1 Missoula Hellgate, and the coin-flip went Hellgate’s way.
The Bruins won the regular-season meetings by 21 and 19 points and the duo of Dani and Paige Bartsch ranked first and third in the Western AA in scoring and 1-2 in rebounding.
Junior Claire Converse leads the 2-12 Bravettes in scoring at 7.8 points a game; senior Bridget Crowley is the top rebounder at 5.4 a night. Freshman Kennedy Moore has averaged 12.5 points and six rebounds in the last two games.