Among the Brawlers, Poe-Hatten distinguishes himself

People around the Flathead Valley hear Noah Poe-Hatten, a junior standout for the Flathead Brave Brawlers, and think, “That’s a great wrestling name.”

Which is wrong, because it’s two great wrestling names.

“One of my uncles was a state champion,” Poe-Hatten, who wrestles at 182 pounds for Flathead, said last week. He glanced over at the wall in the Brawlers’ wrestling room. “Nineteen eighty-six. Jim Poe.”

His dad, Jason Hatten, also wrestled at Flathead, as did another uncle, and his sister Alyssa was third at state last year when girls wrestling was a brand new MHSA sport. Naturally, Noah Poe-Hatten was going to do what he does.

“I’ve done it since I was 6,” he said. “Born in Kalispell. Been in the same house all my life. Same wrestling room, all my life.”

The rewards have been impressive: He was third at state as a freshman, when Flathead finished second in the team race to Great Falls High. He was second last year, when the Brave Brawlers won their eighth State AA title, and seventh since 2008.

This season he began 32-0, before a tough 2-1 loss in a dual to Butte’s Mason Christian. Docked a point for a (disputed) stall call, Poe-Hatten saw Christian get an escape to win.

At the Western AA Divisional seeding tournament Christian prevailed again, in sudden death, 5-4.

So as the AA portion of the all-class State Wrestling Championships approaches, a possible rematch looms big.

“I beat him 1-0 the first time,” Poe-Hatten noted, then added: “I’m honestly kind of glad that I lost, because I’ve been working that much harder in practice.”

“When you look at any athlete, any team, you want to go undefeated,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said. “But I think you learn so much from a loss.”

The dream is adjusted, but mostly intact. Poe-Hatten is part of a team that has won every dual and tournament it has contested this season. He’s built a 35-2 record on a stoic approach.

“When he was a freshman,” Flathead assistant Dallas Stuker began. “We went to the Best in the West tournament in Pasco, and one of the matches I sat in the corner. I hear somebody say, ‘Hey, guys, come here and watch this kid.’ The match started, and whoever it was said, ‘Watch this kid’s face. It never changes. He’s like — he’s like an assassin.’ ”

“Silent Assassin” — another great name — stuck, or at least did for the coaches.

“He’s calm, he’s collected, and that’s what makes him so good,” Thompson said. “And he never gets tired. He doesn’t let his emotions take control of the match.”

Poe-Hatten points toward a tough wrestling room as key. He can go up and battle 205-pounder Chase Youso, take on the speed of 145-pounder Fin Nadeau, or battle the other guy at his weight, the talented (and ranked) in Sawyer Troupe.

“Fin, he just has that speed and pure skill,” Poe-Hatten said. “He’s a nationally ranked wrestler I get to go against, which is nice (both Nadeau and Poe-Hatten are rated in the top 50 in their classes by Wrestling USA). And Sawyer, he has a size advantage too.”

“He’s a small 182-pounder,” Stuker said of Poe-Hatten. “He could have gone down and wrestled (at 170, which he did for the Rollie Lane Invitational in Boise, which he won). But he kind of filled in that spot for that team, because we were better off with him in that spot.”

The objective now is to get another chance at Christian. Thompson hopes it happens, and that Poe-Hatten gets the early takedown that escaped him before.

“It was just a grind of a match,” Thompson said of the latest battle, which lasted through two 1-minute overtimes and into a 30-second sudden death period — over eight minutes. “Noah had some great opportunities, and got some great shots in on Mason, and just couldn’t finish them.

“We hope to get a takedown early and take that luck aspect out of the match — when you get to overtime, double overtime, it can come down to a little bit of luck.”

Luck is the byproduct of hard work, or so they say. The tide can certainly turn, and either way he’s already made a name for himself. Or two, or three.

“We had a bunch of seconds last year,” Poe-Hatten noted. “I’d really like to have that state championship this year.”