Brawlers, Bravettes leading Western AA wrestling races

Twenty-six Braves Brawlers are still alive at the Western AA wrestling divisional, and Flathead leads both the boys and girls team competitions after the first day of divisionals, Friday at Flathead High School.

The Braves Brawlers sit at 128 points, ahead of Butte (124.5) and Missoula Sentinel (106). Glacier sits in sixth with 60.5 points. 

Flathead sees 16 wrestlers still alive for individual divisional titles, including two wresters at 110 (Dayton Naldrett and Caleb Poe-Hatton), 132 (Hunter Arriaga and Coy Miller), 144 (Brett Chivers and Aiden Downing) and 175 pounds (Clifford Nance and Loki Bigras). At 132, Arriaga and Miller meet in the semifinals, guaranteeing the Braves a spot in the finals. 

Glacier places seven wrestlers into Saturday’s semifinals, with brothers Jerin and Niko Coles, as well as Matthew and Mark Ahner earning their spots. 

Niko Coles and Matthew Ahner will meet for a spot in the 165 final.  

Mark Ahner squares off with Flathead’s Bigras at 175 while Dayton Naldrett battles with Aiden Sweat at 110. 

On the girls side, Flathead leads the team competition with 119 points, ahead of Butte (56) and Helena Capital (44.5). Glacier is in fifth at 36.5 points. 

Nineteen Bravettes remain alive for individual crowns, with five weight classes (105, 125, 130, 135 and 155) still with two Flathead wrestlers on the winner's side of the bracket. Flathead also has two wrestlers in the competition at 145 which did not start competition Friday. Kiera Lackey and Ava James meet in Saturday’s semifinals at 135. 

Glacier sees six girls in the semifinals on Saturday, including previous state champion Kaura Coles at 115. 

The Wolfpack’s Kylie Shine faces off with Flathead’s Brynn Mailman in the semifinals at 125 and Glacier’s Mikaela Julius battles against the Bravettes’ Kyra McMahon. 

Day two is set to start at 9 a.m.