Flathead rules the roost
Flathead's Hunter Arriaga wrestles Helena Capital's Cashton Spolar in the 132 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Kaura Coles wrestles Flathead's Bella Downing in the 115 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Nico Coles wrestles Flathead's Lane Chivers in the 165 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lane Chivers wrestles Glacier's Nico Coles in the 165 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Daniel Evert wrestles Butte's Ryder McEwen in the 138 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Brooke Yeadon pins Flathead's Lillian La Notte in the 110 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Kellen Downing wrestles Helena Capital's Wyatt Shull in the 118 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Katelyn Sphuler wrestles Butte's Peyton Liva in the 100 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Diesel Thompson wrestles Missoula Sentinel's Jayce Kolendich in the 126 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Aiden Sweat wrestles Flathead's Caleb Poe-Hatten in the 110 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Brooke Yeadon pins Flathead's Lillian La Notte in the 110 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead wrestling held serve at home.
The Brave Brawlers and Bravettes came away from Saturday’s Western AA wrestling divisional with a pair of team titles and qualified a combined 43 athletes for state.
The boys tied a school record with 26 wrestlers earning a berth in Billings out of 27 who competed. The Bravettes added 17.
“We are excited to take that army of 26 on to the Metra and see what we can do,” Flathead boys coach Jeff Thompson said. “I was happy with how we battled, you could see the heart and wrestling at home gave us that advantage.”
“We performed really well,” Bravettes coach Amber Downing said. “There were a few spots where we were kind of questionable about how we would come out, if we would qualify a girl or not, and we ended up coming out on the top end of that deal.”
The Brave Brawlers finished with 332.5 points, ahead of Butte with 279.5 and Missoula Sentinel at 236.5. Glacier finished fifth in the team standings with 155.5 points.
Five Braves brought home individual championships: Kellen Downing at 118 pounds, Diesel Thompson at 126, Hunter Arriaga at 132, Daniel Evert at 138 and Loki Bigras at 175.
Bigras claimed the title over teammate Clifford Nance.
In all 11 Braves reached the championship match and another three claimed victories in their third-place matches.
Eighteen of the Braves’ 26 qualifiers are underclassman.
“That’s huge, building that confidence for next year,” Thompson said. “A lot of times it is just getting there into the Metra and getting the feeling and the butterflies out of your system.
“Going into the season I think a lot of people thought this was a rebuilding year, but we reloaded this year.”
Glacier saw a trio of divisional champions, starting with Jerin Coles (150) downing Flathead’s Dane Lake with a technical fall and brother Niko Coles (165) beating the Brawlers’ Lane Chivers in a 7-3 decision.
“An exciting day for the pack,” Glacier coach Ross Dankers said. “Great to have nine finalists overall, that sets us up in a great spot for state.”
Aiden Sweat continued his impressive season with an 8-2 decision over Flathead’s Caleb Poe-Hatten.
“Aiden continues to put together a dominant year,” Dankers said. “Super excited for his opportunities at state.”
Flathead’s girls took the crown with 363.5 points, with Missoula Big Sky in second at 184.5 and Butte in third at 178. Glacier followed in fourth with 134.5 points.
“We brought 25 girls into the divisional tournament, and I think we had a fantastic showing and it’s going to pay off in the long run when we hit Billings,” Downing said.
Ten Bravettes reached the championship round and three claimed titles.
Juliette Cuevas defeated Flathead teammate Danica Hennell at 105, Kiera Lackey picked up the win over Big Sky’s Skadi Smith and Aspen Smart downed Rylee Radcliffe of Butte.
Glacier also saw three champions as Katelyn Sphuler defeated Butte’s Peyton Liva, Brooke Yeadon pinned Flathead’s Lillian La Notte and Kaura Coles downed Flathead’s Bella Downing.
“Kaura dominating a returning state champ was exciting to see,” Dankers said. “Shout out to Katelyn for taking out the number three girl in the state and flipping that match from earlier in the season. Brooke did a great job fighting through an injury to win another divisional title.”
Six Wolfpack girls qualified for the state meet.
Complete results can be found on trackwrestling.com.
Glacier's Kaura Coles wrestles Flathead's Bella Downing in the 115 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Nico Coles wrestles Flathead's Lane Chivers in the 165 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lane Chivers wrestles Glacier's Nico Coles in the 165 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Daniel Evert wrestles Butte's Ryder McEwen in the 138 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Brooke Yeadon pins Flathead's Lillian La Notte in the 110 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Kellen Downing wrestles Helena Capital's Wyatt Shull in the 118 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Katelyn Sphuler wrestles Butte's Peyton Liva in the 100 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Diesel Thompson wrestles Missoula Sentinel's Jayce Kolendich in the 126 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Aiden Sweat wrestles Flathead's Caleb Poe-Hatten in the 110 lb. final at the AA Western Divisional at Flathead High School on Saturday, Feb. 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider