Durden gets gold, Smith silver for Lions at State B wrestling

SHELBY — Eureka’s Kyle Durden capped an unbeaten senior season with his first state wrestling title Saturday, while the Lions finished seventh at the State B-C wrestling tournament.

Durden followed pins in his first three matches at state with a 9-5 decision over Fairfield’s Miguel Ramos in the 126-pound final. He finished 41-0.

Glasgow repeated as team champion with 181 points, followed by Huntley Project at 151. Circle was third with 96, followed by Three Forks (91), Fairfield 78) and Cut Bank (73).

Eureka had 72.5 points, and Thompson Falls was ninth at 70. Bigfork, which had no state placers, scored 23 points.

The 132-pound showdown between Eureka’s Gunnar Smith and Thompson Falls’ Trae Thilmony went Thilmony’s way for a second straight time.

The junior won his second individual title with a 7-4 decision. He denied Smith a fourth straight state crown, something that’s happened just 37 times in Montana high school wrestling.

Smith got to the final with an 11-6 win over Whitehall wrestler Dawson Powers, while Shepherd’s Tyler Niles was an injury default in the other semifinal.

Thompson Falls’ Eli Ratliff lost to Colstrip’s Zach Valdez in the 145 semifinals and finished fourth; Max Hannum finished fourth at 160 and Dane Chojnacky was fifth at 182 for the Bluehawks.

Eureka’s Johnny Fehr was sixth at 205. Peter Carey of Plains took fourth at 126.

Class A

MILES CITY — Justin Windauer’s bid for a state title ended with a 6-1 loss to Sidney’s Zander Dean in the 126-pound finals Saturday, and the Columbia Falls MatCats took seventh at the State A wrestling tournament.

Sidney keeps rolling along, this time scoring 326.5 ponts to 188 for second-place Laurel and 182.5 for Lewistown. Frenchtown was fourth with 162.5.

Counting Dean, the Eagles had six of their nine finalists win individual titles. Sidney has 12 team titles, including the last four.

Lewistown’s trophy-winning trip included a fourth straight state title from 133-pounder Cooper Birdwell, who pinned four opponents in 4 minutes, 27 seconds.

Columbia Falls scored 82.5 points, and saw Lucas Thacker (160) and Josh Bertram (182) take third in their weight classes.

Libby was 11th at 54 points and Polson was 13th with 40. The Loggers’ Cody Crace was sixth at 152 pounds, while Tucker Masters was fourth at 182 and Aydan Williamson was fifth at 285.

Polson’s Ryley Knutson was fifth at 103.

Whitefish’s Nathan Sproul placed fifth at 113. The Bulldogs scored 29 points.