Windauer, MatCats wrestle their way to Western A title

by Daily Inter Lake
| February 4, 2023 11:55 PM

POLSON — Columbia Falls wrestlers Tyler Gilfrey, Winslow Peters, Josiah Kilman and Justin Windauer all won their weight classes, and the Matcats won the Western A Divisional Saturday.

Columbia Falls scored 290 points to 275.5 for Frenchtown; Ronan was third at 220, and Libby/Troy was fifth.

Windauer, the defending State A champion at 138 pounds, cruised to the 160 title with three pins ahead of a forfeit win in the title match over Ronan’s Landon Bishop. He is now 44-0 on the year.

Aside from titles from Kilman (152), Peters (138) and Gilfry, the MatCats saw Traic Fainter (103), Dylan Delorme (132), Blaise Cronk (152) and Brandon Role (182) take second. Cronk lost to his teammate Kilman 4-3 in the 152 final.

Chris Rathjen (138), Billy Gustafson (145) and Rowdy Crump (170) all took third in their classes for Columbia Falls as well. The MatCats qualified 14 wrestlers, and having 11 top-four finishers could have them chasing the Northwest A’s first state trophy since Polson was third in 2019.

Northwest A wrestlers that excelled included Libby’s Josh DeShazer: The defending 182 state champ picked up two wins ahead of a major decision while winning a divisional title at 205.

Ronan’s Ridge Cote is the Western A champion at 120; Brendyn Whiteman (285) and Tahj Wells (145) brought home their brackets to Browning.

Western A Boys

Team scores — Columbia Falls 290, Frenchtown 275.5, Ronan 220, Corvallis 149, Libby/Troy 138, Hamilton 131.5, Dillon 102, Browning 89, Whitefish 74, East Helena 56, Polson 31, Stevensville 28, Butte Central 17.

103: Championship — Isaac Stewart (Frenchtown) dec. Traic Fainter (Columbia Falls) 9-3. 3rd Place Match — August Courville (Ronan) p. Riley Osborn (Libby) 2:39. 5th Place Match — Andrew Frecker (Dillon) forfeit over Ian Dillard (Ronan). 7th Place Match — Jaxson Sterling (Columbia Falls) dec. Jack Holmes (Butte Central) 7-4.

113: Championship — Logan Barnes (Dillon) major dec. Corbin Long (Frenchtown) 13-2. 3rd Place Match — Kadin Brown (Whitefish) p. Luc Cheff (Ronan) 2:20. 5th Place Match — Travis Nygard (Frenchtown) dec Prestin Connelly (Browning) 4-0. 7th — Cameron Beall (Hamilton) p. Bridger Bache (Libby) 2:11.

120: Championship — Ridge Cote (Ronan) p. Ryder Hansen (Frenchtown) 1:32. 3rd Place Match — Todd Whitescarver (Stevi) dec. Pita Fish (Browning) 6-2. 5th Place Match — Neal Brandon (Dillon) major dec. Tyson Lake (Ronan) 9-0. 7th Place Match — Max Ramesar (Polson) p. Boone Venema (Corvallis) :59.

126: Championship — Tyler Gilfry (Columbia Falls) injury def. over Hunter Barnes (Dillon) 2:28. 3rd Place Match — Ben White (Corvallis) forfeit over Cole Johnson (Frenchtown). 5th Place Match — Sean Davis (Corvallis) forfeit over Landree Aurand (Whitefish). 7th Place Match — William Chiavarini (Stevensville) dec. Jairyn Krause (Ronan) 6-0.

132: Championship — Jesse Anson (Hamilton) major dec. Dylan Delorme (Columbia Falls) 12-2. 3rd Place Match — Seth Allen (Corvallis) dec. Marley Erickson (Libby) 6-4 OT. 5th Place Match — Blake Hoerner (Columbia Falls) p. James Holmes (Butte Central) :56. 7th Place Match — Jordan Warner (Frenchtown) p. Jack Monroe (Browning) 1:56.

138: Championship — Winslow Peters (Columbia Falls) dec. Jason Davis (Corvallis) 9-6. 3rd Place Math — Chris Rathjen (Columbia Falls) p. James Kenelty (Ronan) 4:55. 5th Place Match — Zekiah Meyers (Libby) forfeit over Fortino Silva (Ronan). 7th Place Match — Bradyn Rate (Frenchtown) p. Xavier Reatz (Libby) 1:43.

145: Championship — Tahj Wells (Browning) dec. Koda King (Ronan) 8-5. 3rd Place Match — Billy Gustafson (Columbia Falls) dec/ Will James Courville (Ronan) 8-3. 5th Place Match — Nate Davis (Corvallis) dec. Connor Benson (Libby) 4-2. 7th Place Match — Jackson Dorvall (Whitefish) p. Cael Schwindt (Libby) 2:09.

152: Championship — Josiah Kilman (Columbia Falls) dec. Blaise Cronk (Columbia Falls) 4-3. 3rd Place Match — Hank Hagenbarth (Dillon) p. Brody Hardy (Frenchtown) :22. 5th Place Match — Daniel Peterson (Polson) dec. Dominque McKay (Ronan) 8-6. 7th Place Match — Ian Thom (Libby) p. Isaac Flamand (Browning) 4:28.

160: Championship — Justin Windauer (Columbia Falls) forfeit over Landon Bishop (Ronan). 3rd Place Match — Jonny Williams (Corvallis) p. Branch Martin (Frenchtown) 4:44. 5th Place Match — Henry Bennetts (Whitefish) dec. Tel Holland (Dillon) 4-0. 7th Place Match — Brady Schmill (Frenchtown) p. Sam Gordon (Browning) :44.

170: Champ;ionship — Andrew Frederick (Hamilton) p. Dillon Warner (Frenchtown) :47. 3rd Place Match — Rowdy Crump (Columbia Falls) p. James Warner (Libby) 1:28. 5th Place Match — Brady Hout (Ronan) p. Aiden Toniazzo (Hamilton) 2:29. 7th Place Match — Bodee Davis (Corvallis) major dec. Kyrin Doty (Polson) 14-2.

182: Championship — Noah Rausch (Frenchtown) major dec. Brandon Role (Columbia Falls) 15-3. 3rd Place Match — Matthew Niemi (Libby) p. Clayton Beall (Hamilton) 1:50. 5th Place Match — Nathan Hansen (Frenchtown) p. Kitar Olsen (Whitefish) 2:16. 7th Place Match — Cole Dalke (Ronan) p. Noah Guisinger (Hamilton) :20.

205: Championship — Jace DeShazer (Libby) major dec. Derrick Saltzman (Hamilton) 18-6. 3rd Place Match — Bryce Weidow (Corvallis) p. Trevor Lewis (Hamilton) :59. 5th Place Match — Brody Harris (Frenchtown) p. Kai Nash (Whitefish) 2:03. 7th Place Match — Tucker Gonzales (Columbia Falls) p. Durai Mahkuk (Polson) :53.

285: Championship — Brendyn Whiteman (Browning) dec. Philip Herald (Frenchtown) 7-1. 3rd Place Match — Austin Brush (Frenchtown) p. Layne Powers (East Helena) 1:44. 5th Place Match — Adam Shirley (East Helena) p. Jackson Davis (Ronan) 2:44. 7th Place Match — Zachary Sannar (Stevensville) dec. James Whitcomb (Browning) 5-1.

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