Braves, Bravettes again sweep state wrestling; Nadeau, Halverson win titles

Billings Senior’s boys gave it their all in front of a loud bunch of local wrestling fans at First Interstate Arena Saturday, but in the end the Brave Brawlers had too much.

And if they had too much, the Bravettes had way too much.

The Flathead Braves and Bravettes swept wrestling crowns for a second straight season, outpointing the local Broncs in both team races.

Flathead’s boys piled up 289 points to Senior’s 270 (Billings West was third at 199). The Bravettes scored 205 points to lead Senior (157) and the rest of the field far behind.

“We were on our toes, you know?” said Hania Halverson, the Bravettes’ lone finalist and champion, after she won the 120-pound bracket. “We were ready for anything. But I think our girls — and our boys — really pulled it out in the end. It turned out better than I think we were expecting.”

The Flathead boys had the bigger drama, with Senior matching their nine semifinalists. The morning round started loudly in favor of the Broncs, but the Brave Brawlers took off behind their higher weights: Fin Nadeau (145), Gabe Lake (160), Anders Thompson (170) and Chase Youso (205) all made their finals.

Nadeau was the only one to leave with the bracket — he edged Missoula Big Sky’s Izzy Moreno 5-3 for the title, his first after three runner-up finishes.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” said the Binghamton-bound wrestler. “It’s sucked that the last three years I’ve gotten second. I just had to mentally push through. And to finally get it this year, It’s just a great feeling. I can’t explain it. I’m really happy right now.”

You can look at the Brave Brawlers’ depth for their 17-point margin. Raenan Allumbaugh, for example, scored 12 points while placing fifth at 132. Forest Howell was fifth at heavyweight, winning last-gap decisions in the second consolation round and the fifth-place match.

Things looked especially bleak in the latter, but he got a takedown and 3-point nearfall in the last 15 seconds of an 8-6 win over Hellgate wrestler Layne Cooney.

“I didn’t think I’d won it,” Howell said. “I thought I barely didn’t get enough. I have so many matches, like situations where it’s just coming down to the end, and I just hit something.”

“Our team just had some great matches,” Nadeau said. “We had some guys fall short of what they wanted to do, and other guys step up. Like Davin (Naldret) taking third at 103. What a great finish for him.”

Senior Asher Kemppainen was fourth at 138; Aiden Downing took fourth at 113, Diesel Thompson was sixth at 120; Cade Troupe was fifth at 152; Mason Doran was fifth at 170, and Sawyer Troupe was fifth at 182.

For the second straight year the boys had just one titlist. Poe-Hatten lost a third straight tight battle to Butte’s Mason Christian, another junior who proved once again tough to score on. It ended 3-2, with the two fighting to five stalemates; the two reportedly had 12 in their 8-minute marathon at the seeding tournament.

“Noah really pushed the pace, especially at the beginning there,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said. “And maybe it cost him with that one takedown. But he’s got to open that kid up. He just shoots in and grabs the elbow and really doesn’t do anything with it, so we tried to open him up a little bit, and — it’s just a tough loss. That one really hurts. Noah is a fantastic wrestler.”

Flathead is full of them, including Bella Arriaga, sixth at 120 pounds on the girls’ side; Lily McMahon, third at 126; Lily Conover, sixth at 132; Lucille Libby, fifth at 205; Alliyah Stevens and Boston Howell, third and fifth at 285; and Alivia Rinehart, fifth at 138.

“She’s a freshman, and this is her first year wrestling,” Halverson said of Rinehart. “Her placing is really phenomenal.”

“This weekend was an absolute marathon,” Coach Thompson said. “The highs and the lows were absolutely intense. It was a lot of fun. I’m going to sleep well for two weeks.

“It’s almost a once in a lifetime opportunity for us as a coaching staff to win two in a row. … It could have been really tough, if we had this fantastic year, where we win all these tournaments and go unbeaten in duals, and not take home two state championships.

“It’s a great finish.”

State AA Boys

Team scores — 1, Flathead 289; 2, Billings Senior 270; 3, Billings West 199; 4, Butte 175.5; 5, Great Falls High 152.5; 6, Helena Capital 110; 7, Billings Skyview 94.5; 8, Belgrade 89; 9, Glacier 74.5; 10, Bozeman 69.5; 11, Great Falls CMR 67; 12, Missoula Big Sky 54; 13, Gallatin 48; 14, Missoula Sentinel 15; 15, Helena 12.5; 16, Missoula Hellgate 12.

Individual results

103

Championship —Morse, West, p. Spolar, Cap, 3:33.

Third-fourth — Devin Naldredt, Flathead, p. Vladic, Senior, 2:41.

Fifth-sixth — Blomquist, West, md. Whitlock, Butte, 8-0.

Semifinals — Spolar, Cap, d. Vladic, Senior, 3-2; Morse, West, p. Naldret, Flathead, 2:40.

113

Championship — Keyen Hernandez, est, md. Krutzfeldt, Senior, 8-0.

Third-fourth — Youkin, CMR, p. Aiden Downing, Flathead, 2:37.

Fifth-sixth — Whitlock, Butte, d. Garrett Bosch, Glacier, 7-4.

Semifinals — Krutzfeldt, Senior, p. Downing, Flathead, 3:20; Hernandez, West, p. Younkin, CMR, 1:18.

120

Championship — Mason Gutenberger, Bel, p. Van Pelt, West, 4:30.

Third-fourth — Howe, Senior, p. Raiha, Butte, 4:00.

Fifth-sixth — Forshee, Senior, p. Diesel Thompson, Flathead, 1:59.

Semifinals — Van Pelt, West, d. Raiha, Butte, 5-2; Gutenberger, Bel, p. Thompson, Flathead, 3:11.

126

Championship — Carter Schmidt, Bel, md. Baumann, GFH, 9-0.

Third-fourth —Saliaris, Senior, d. Ayers, Big Sky, 2-1.

Fifth-sixth — Cotton, GFH, d. Pumnea, Butte, 15-8.

Semifinals — Baumann, GH, p. Ayers, Big Sky, 1:35; Schmidt, Bel, p. Saliaris, Senior, 2:20.

132

Championship — Teegan Vasquez, Glacier, p. Idren Peak, Senior, 1:28.

Third-fourth — Ketchem, Skyview, p. Pumnea, Butte, 5:00.

Fifth-sixth — Raenen Allumbaugh, Flathead, p. Amenda, Gall, 2:44.

Semifinals — Vasquez, Glacier, d. Ketchem, 8-1; Peak, Senior, p. Pumnea, 4:31.

138

Championship — Jesse Aarness, West, d. Vladic, Senior, 1-0.

Third-fourth — DesRosier, Cap, p. Asher Kemppainen, Flathead, 2:22.

Fifth-sixth — Barrington, Skyview, d. Rodriguez, Senior, 2-1.

Semifinals — Awareness, West, d. DesRosier, Cap, 8-6; Vladic, Senior, md. Kemppainen, Flathead, 15-4.

145

Championship — Fin Nadeau, Flathead, d. Izzy Moreno, Big Sky, 5-3.

Third-fourth — Furthmyre, GFH, d. McEwen, Butte, 5-4.

Fifth-sixth — Roan, Senior, p. McGovern, Gall, 5-1.

Semifinals — Nadeau, Flathead, p. Roan, Senior, :35; Moreno, Big Sky, d. Furthmyre, 5-1.

152

Championship — Avery Allen, Boz, t.fall Block, GFH, 15-0.

Third-fourth — Carroll, CMR, d. Cole, Senior, 6-2.

Fifth-sixth — Linn, Bel, d. Cade Troupe, Flathead, 6-4.

Semifinals — Block, GFH, p. Cole, Senior, 1:57; Allen, Boz, p. Carroll, CMR, 2:52.

160

Championship — Drake Rhodes, West, p. Gabe Lake, Flathead, 3:07.

Third-fourth — Kovick, Cap, d. Lafurge, CMR, 10-6.

Fifth-sixth — Peterson, Gall, d. Vetter, Butte, 11-5.

Semifinals — Lake, Flathead, d. Lafurge, CMR, 8-6; Rhodes, West, p. Kovick, Cap, 1:49.

170

Championship — Paolo Salminen, Skyview, t.fall Anders Thompson, Flathead, 17-1.

Third-fourth — Miller, Senior, p. Freitag, West, 1:25.

Fifth-sixth — Mason Doran, Flathead, d. Downey, Butte, 4-3.

Semifinals — Thompson, Flathead, d. MIller, Senior, 12-5; Salminen, Skyview, p. Freitag, West, 2:26.

182

Championship — Mason Christian, Butte, d. Noah Poe-Hatten, Flathead, 3-2.

Third-fourth — Millard, Boz, p. Garcia, West, 4:20.

Fifth-sixth — Sawyer Troupe, Flathead, p. Aiden Krause, Glacier, 4:56.

Semifinals — Christian, Butte, p. Garcia, West, 5:35; Poe-Hatten, Flathead, p. Millard, Boz, 1:09.

205

Championship — Brendan Lockart, GFH, p. Chase Youso, Flathead, 2:59.

Third-fourth — Barrington, Skyview, d. Desmarais, Senior, 2-1.

Fifth-sixth — Cunningham, Bel, d. Curtiss, Big Sky, 11-4.

Semifinals —Youso, Flathead, md. Barrington, 10-0; Lockart, GFH, p. Desmarais, 4:27.

285

Championship — Talon Marsh, Cap, p. Hensley, GFH, 1:50.

Third-fourth — Weins, Boz, p. Lee, Senior, 1:33.

Fifth-sixth — Forrest Howell, Flathead, d. Cooney, Hgt, 8-6.

Semifinals — Marsh, Cap, p. Weins, Boz, 3:55; Hensley, GFH, p. Cooney, Hgt, :29.

Girls All-Class

Team scores — 1, Flathead 205; 2, Billings Senior 157; 3, Billings Skyview 115.5; 4, Glacier 90; 5, Poplar 88; 6, Butte 81; 7, Gallatin 71; 8, Plains-Hot Springs 69; 9, Belgrade 65; 10 (tie), Ronan and Sidney, 64; 2, Miles City 62; 13, Cut Bank 59; 14, Billings West 53; 15, Simms 49; 16, Baker 46; 17, Frenchtown 43; 18, Cascade 42; 19, Dillon 40; 20, East Helena 39; 42 (tie) Browning and Chinook, 10.

Individual results

103

Championship — Angelina Escarcega, Poplar, p. Brooke Yeadon, 3:50.

Third-fourth — Wade, Simms, p. Davis, Cor, 2;42.

Fifth-sixth — Birdwell, Lew, p. Hugs, Ronan, 1:44.

Semifinals — Yeadon, Glacier, p. Wade, Simms, 3:59.

113

Championship — Jazmin Gorder, Poplar, p. Grismer, Cascade, 5:55.

Third-fourth — Taylor, GFH, d. Hurst, Ham, 10-4.

Fifth-sixth — Leidholt, MC, d. Pesanti, Ana, 4-2.

120

Championship — Hania Halverson, Glacier, p. Kary, Sidney, :55.

Third-fourth — Brower, Skvyiew, p. Afrank, 2:50.

Fifth-sixth — Riggin, CJI, p. Bella Arriaga, Flathead, 3:43.

Semifinals — Halverson, Flathead, p. Brower, Skyview, 2:47; Kary, Sid, md. Afrank,

126

Championship — Amaiya Kim, Sidney, p. Schultz, Gall, 2:41.

Third-fourth — Lily McMahon, Flathead, d. Angle, PHS, 4-2.

Fifth-sixth — Hernandez, West, d. Schubarth, Sims, 4-2.

Semifinals — Kim, Sidney, p. Angle, PHS, :59; Schultz, Gall, d. McMahon, Flathead, 15-9.

132

Championship — Jessica Gubler, Liv, p. Brynn Courville, PHS, 1:58.

Third-fourth — Cagle, Skyview, d. Dolence, Ronan, 6-4.

Fifth-sixth — Barrus, Hysham, p. Conover, Flathead, 1:58.

Semifinals — Gubler, Liv, p. Conover, Flathead, :59; Courville, PHS, md. Barrus, Chin, 16-5.

138

Championship — Mariah Wahl, Cut Bank, d. Neal, West, 2-0.

Third-fourth — Anson, Butte, p. Matosich, Gall, 2:56.

Fifth-sixth — Alivia Rinehart, Flathead, p. Houlihan, Ftn, 2:49.

Semifinals — Wahl, CB, p. Rinehart, Flathead, 1:24; Neal, West, p. Anson, Butte 3:00.

145

Championship — Gretchen Donally, HP, d. Gilmore, MC, 8-5.

Third-fourth — Jones, SEnior, d. Peteresen, EH, 9-6.

Fifth-sixth — Keiser, Pop, p. Clagg, EH, 3:49.

152

Championship — Kendal Tucker, Senior, p. MacDonald, PHS, 1:29.

Third-fourth — Lunceford, DL, p. Gushi, Bel, 1:46.

Fifth-sixth — Maxwell, Lew, p. Zickefoose, Choteau, 1:50.

170

Championship — Cabry Taylor, WSS, d. Lindsley, Senior, 7-3.

Third-fourth — Kogolshak, Senior, p. Monroe, Valier, 2:36.

Fifth-sixth — Jones, Boz, p. Goodsell, Glacier, :36.

205

Championship — Kassidee Savaria, Skyview, p. Tirza Two Teeth, Ronan, 1:53.

Third-fourth — Hoffma, d. Stiffarm, Havre, 6-5 OT.

Fifth-sixth — Lucille Libby, Flathead, p. Jaeger, Senior, 1:54.

Semifinals — Two Teeth, Ronan, p. Hoffma, Dil.

285

Championship — Kali Hood, Col-Abs, p. Fetters, CB, 1:02.

Third-fourth — Alliyah Stevens, Flathead, p. Bazo, Dil, 1:30.

Fifth-sixth — Boston Howell, Flathead, p. Smith, Cas, 4:39.

Semifinals — Fetters, CB, p. Stevens, 2:19; Hood, Col-Abs, p. Howell, 3:13.