Brave Brawlers take home Jug Beck crown
MISSOULA — Flathead’s Brave Brawlers shook off an injury, saw a couple sophomores reach the top of the podium and won the Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic wrestling tournament Saturday.
With 10 placers, led by Kellen Downing’s title at 118 pounds and Hunter Arriaga’s at 132, the Brawlers scored 233 points to 196.5 for Mead High out of Spokane. Great Falls High was next at 194.
“Bittersweet tournament win for us,” Flathead coach Jeff Thompson said. “It’s one of those tournaments that is always circled on our calendar to make some noise, and to win the Rocky again this year was something special.
“Possibly losing 103-pounder Aiden Lake for the season due to a dislocated elbow stings. Aiden is just so tough, though, so you just don’t know. There is a chance he’s back for divisionals.”
Downing won his title with a 7-0 decision over Mead wrestler Kaysic Lundquist; Arriaga earned a 10-4 decision over Gallatin’s Ryder Crawford.
Diesel Thompson (126), Caleb Poe-Hatten (110), Daniel Evert (138) and Lane Chivers (165) all had top-four finishes for Flathead. The meet, which brought in 30 schools, placed eight wrestlers in each weight class. Clifford Nance was seventh at 175 pounds.
“Kellen and Hunter just love the fight and showed that they will be in contention come February,” Thompson said. “Daniel Evert and Diesel Thompson both got wins over opponents that they previously lost to earlier in the year.”
Glacier was 11th in the team standings with 119 points. A lot of those came from junior Aiden Sweat, who won the 110-pound title with a 5-1 decision over Belgrade standout Cody Westlake.
Behind him, Niko Coles was second at 165 pounds and Jerin Coles was third at 150. The latter beat Browning’s Tahl Wells in the third-place match. Mark Ahner finished fourth at 175 for the Pack.
"Big-time performance from Sweat this weekend, going out and really controlling the entire match against the No. 1-rated kid in the state was a real statement," Glacier coach Ross Dankers said. "His hard work throughout the years is really paying off.
"Overall, a good weekend, just need to turn around some tight matches to get to where we want to be.”
Columbia Falls saw Rowdy Crump (190) and Dylan Delorme (157) lose to AA competition in their bracket finals; Winslow Peter edged Glacier’s Ahner for third at 175 for the MatCats, who were 18th with 76 points.
Ronan had three placers, led by Ridge Cote’s third-place finish at 132. Koda King lost to Flathead’s Chivers in the 165 third-place match.
Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic
Friday and Saturday
Missoula Sentinel
Team scores: 1, Flathead 233; 2, Spokane Mead 196.5; 3, Great Falls 194; 4, Coeur d’Alene 191; 5, Butte 172; 6, Spokane University 158.5; 7, Missoula Sentinel 143.5; 8, Gallatin 128; 9, Belgrade 127.5; 10, Powell, Wyo. 123; 11, Glacier 119; 12, Helena Capital 116; 13, Lake City, Idaho 107; 14, Great Falls CMR 103.5; 15, Ronan 96; 16, Havre 86.5; 17, Mt. Spokane 85; 18, Columbia Falls 76; 19, Missoula Big Sky 66.5; 20, Corvallis 63; 21, Frenchtown 56.5; 22, Browning 51; 23, Mission-Charlo 32; 24, Hamilton 30; 25 (tie3), Helena and Libby, 23.5; 27, Superior 21; 28, Bozeman 19; 29, Polson 13; 30, Whitefish 4.5.
103
Fifth: Tucker Styles, Havre, dec. Mathias Johnson, Cap, 7-0.
Third: Maddox Taft, Mt.Spokane, dec. Chase Davis, Corv, 14-8.
First: Keegan Hunt, Butte, p. Nash Larson, CdA, 1:24.
110
Fifth: Ben Tierney, Butte, p. Jonathan Hine, Powell, :34.
Third: Rocco White, CdA, dec. Caleb Poe-Hattne, Flathead, 6-2.
First: Aiden Sweat, Glacier, dec. Cody Westlake, Belgrade, 5-1.
118
Fifth: Collin Hire, Sentinel, tech.fall Joseph Cronk, Mission, 15-0.
Third: Will Rossi, CdA, maj.dec. Wyatt Shull, Capital, 14-1.
First: Kellen Downing, Flathead, dec. Kaysic Lundquist, Mead, 7-0.
126
Fifth: Jayce Kolendich, Sentinel, dec. Billy Weisgerber, Mead, 5-4.
Third: Nolan Brown, Belgrade, tech.fall Diesel Thompson, Flathead, 17-1.
First: Czar Quintanilla, Univ., dec. Cael Floerchinger, GFH, 5-2.
132
Fifth: Ross Tolliver, GFH, maj.dec. Tanner George, CdA, 9-1.
Third: Ridge Cote, Ronan, forf. James Mason, Mead.
First: Hunter Arriaga, Flathead, dec. Ryder Crawford, Gallatin, 10-4.
138
Fifth: Madden Jesnen, CMR, dec. Josh Macdonald, Lake City, 7-6.
Third: Daniel Evert, Flathead, dec. Matt Lemer, Havre, 13-10 OT.
First: Bode Hazlett, Butte, dec. Gage Clothier, GFH, 10-8.
144
Fifth: Landon De La Garza, CMR, dec. Labraun Shooter, Browning, 11-6.
Third: Logan Bradley, CdA, p. John Montclair, Belgrade, 4:12.
First: Kade Wallace, Sentinel, maj.dec. Jayson Bennett, Mt.Spokane 13-4.
150
Fifth: Will Stepan, Butte, p. Dane Lake, Flathead 4:43.
Third: Jerin Coles, Glacier, maj.dec. Tahl Wells, Browning, 17-3.
First: Colton Tucker, CdA, dec. Jace Komac, GFH, 8-3.
157
Fifth: Turner Milender, Superior, dec. Luke Widman, Sentinel, 5-1.
Third: Teagan Dixon, CMR, dec. Ty Laslovich, Gallatin, 6-2.
First: Kale Baumann, GFH, tech.fall Dylan Delorme, C-Falls, 18-3.
165
Fifth: Samuel Thomas, Univ., tech.fall McKale Foley, Powell, 17-1.
Third: Lane Chivers, Flathead, dec. Koda King, Ronan, 7-3.
First: Brock Armstrong, CdA, dec. Niko Coles, Glacier, 13-6.
175
Fifth: Jaxon Lefler, Univ., p. Caden Brooks, Mead, 4:57.
Third: Winslow Peter, C-Falls, dec. Mark Ahner, Glacier, 10-7 OT
First: Nathan Booth, Lake City, dec. Carson Shaw, Gallatin, 6-2.
190
Fifth: Kohen Riley, Flathead, inj.default over Quincy King, Big Sky.
Third: Gage Allen, CMR, maj.dec. Ethan Harvey, Mead, 13-1.
First: Cole Graham, Capital, maj.dec. Rowdy Crump, C-Falls, 13-3.
215
Fifth: Tommy Springman, Gallatin, p. Conor Leduc, Flathead, 1:22.
Third: Ryan Sulpizio, Univ., tech.fall Ben Rodgers, Belgrade.
First: Garett Leonard, Lake City, dec. Braeden Harvey, Mead, 8-5.
285
Fifth: Noah Horn, Glacier, dec. Jackson Davis, Ronan, 2-0.
Third: Isaac Tolan, GFH, p. Tyler Wells, Mead, 1:51.
First: Tommy Lewis, Havre, dec. Doug Bettger, Powell, 6-4.0