State Wrestling: Brawlers advance 10 to semis, Wolfpack 4

BILLINGS — The Thompson Twins are going strong and so are the Flathead Brave Brawlers.

Gunnar and Anders Thompson each advanced to the semifinals as 10 Flathead wrestlers earned in Saturday morning’s key round, while Kaleb Shine is one of four to advance for the Glacier Wolfpack.

The Brawlers know that they will have at least one wrestler in the championship at 205 pounds as Anders Thompson takes on Conor Leduc in their semi.

Also advancing for Flathead is Sawyer Troupe, who took a victory over teammate Xander Winter in the quarterfinal.

“We like to sit back and watch them battle,” said Flathead coach Jeff Thompson on having two teammates facing each other. “Overall it's hard because these guys battle all year long in practice, it makes it even more challenging to have to do it in a match.”

Flatheads’s Day 1 performance put the Brawlers on top in the team standings with 118.5 points. In second place is Great Falls with 108 points, Billings West and Billings Senior sit in a tie for third at 105 points. Glacier sits in sixth in the team standings after day one with 53 points.

“It’s still a tight team race,” Thompson said. “We are going to have to get a couple upsets tomorrow morning in the semifinals, and keep knocking at the door and get some pins. We really feel like we’re wrestling our best wrestling at the state tournament.”

Also earning a spot in the semifinals for Flathead: Kellen Downing, who earned a 19-2 technical fall in his quarterfinal match at 103 pounds; Hunter Arriaga at 120; Diesel Thompson at 126, Aiden Downing at 132; Daniel Evert at 138 and Dane Lake at 145.

Seven more Braves earned a spot on the other side of the bracket for Saturday’s “blood rounds.”

Kaleb Shine kept his impressive season at 145 pounds going, advancing to the semifinals via a 16-5 decision over Belgrade’s Brody Dooley.

“Our kids that were seeded highly were able to punch their way through,” said Glacier coach Ross Dankers. “Need a couple more boys to keep battling to put themselves into the placing rounds.”

Advancing with Shine to the semifinals are Garrett Bosch at 120 pounds, Nikola Coles at 152, Mark Ahner at 170.

Aiden Sweat is still alive for the Wolfpack on the other side of the bracket heading into Saturday.

In the girls competition both Glacier and Flathead advanced a pair of wrestlers to Saturday’s semifinals.

Brook Yeadon at 107 pounds and Kaura Coles at 114 each earned a pair of pins on their way through the bracket Friday.

“The first round tomorrow is going to be huge if we can get them to the finals,” said Dankers. “We just have to keep grinding.”

Bella Downing at 120 pounds and Lucille Libby at 235 advanced for the Bravettes, Libby earning a spot to take on top ranked Tirza Two Teeth from Ronan in the semifinals.

“We are super excited that we were able to bring 15 girls with our team being so young,” said Bravettes coach Amber Downing. “For a lot of these girls it’s their first time in the Metra, and this event can be incredibly intimidating.”

Adi Siegel is still alive for the Bravettes on the other side of the bracket.

Full results can be found at trackwrestling.com