Hawks take 6th place at Superior Invitational

Of the 17 Thompson Falls Bluehawks at the Superior Invitational Wrestling Tournament Saturday, only one went undefeated.

Senior Matt Hojem, competing in the 119-pound weight class, defeated four wrestlers to nab top honors in his weight class at the all-day tournament. Hojem squeaked by to win his final match 8-7, but he claimed victory with pins on his other three battles on the mat, including a 34-second pin in his second match of the day against Tim Bird Rattler of the Browning Indians.

Hojem started out the day with a 57-second pin against Cassandra Schmidt of the Big Sky Eagles. He went on to topple Arlee Warrior Cole Rice in 5:42, before defeating Curt Sprague of the Frenchtown Broncs 8-7. Hojem is bound for the state championships, according to head coach Colby Cline, who said the Bluehawk grappler finished fourth at state last year and second place the year before.

Thirteen schools and 153 wrestlers competed at Superior, where the Ronan Chiefs, which had 13 wrestlers at the meet, took first place with 213.5 points. Frenchtown and their dozen Broncs grapplers nabbed second with 184 points. In third were the Libby Loggers with 109 points. Libby had 29 wrestlers, the highest number at the tournament. Arlee, which had 10 wrestlers, finished fourth, only two points behind Libby. Big Sky took fifth with 99 points.

Thompson Falls took sixth place with 89 points, earning nearly twice as many points as their last meet at Polson the week before. The Plains-Hot Springs Savage Horsemen finished in 11th place with 46 points, 20 more than the Superior Bobcats. In last place were the Noxon Red Devils.

Most wrestlers in the 15 weight classes from 98 pounds to 275 pounds went four rounds. The tournament ran from about 9:30 a.m. to almost 8 p.m.

Five Bluehawks finished in the top four slots at the competition, including a first place, one second, two third places, and one fourth.

Competing in the 145-pound class, Logan Clay picked up a second place. He claimed a 7-5 win against Cody Berget of Libby, won 12-5 over Dean Willey, also of the Loggers, but lost in a 4:25 pin against Cole McArthur of Ronan. Teammate Richard Lyons, wrestling at 140 pounds, first lost to Cut Bank Wolf Josh Dusterhoff, but came back and pinned Adam Moore of Noxon in 1:22, pinned Logger Morgan Peak in 40 seconds, then Charlie Berget of Libby in 2:31 before losing to Logger Kyle Sweedman 6-4 in overtime.

The Hawks' heavyweight wrestler Jason Shaw finished third. In his first match, he pinned Justin Posio of Big Sky in 3:36, then lost to Keith Brant of Frenchtown 7-2. His third round went to Shaw when he claimed a 5-0 victory over Libby's Brandon Mills, followed by a 5-4 win over Dan Keller of Browning.

In fourth place was Tanner Gascon in the 119-pound class. Gascon first pinned Bobcat Garrett Stephens in 4:45, but then lost when Bronco Kurt Sprague pinned him in 4:53. He picked up a 16-4 major decision over Cut Bank's Justin VandenBoss, but lost to Arlee's Cole Rice 15-0.

Cline said his team is young and inexperienced, but overall they're getting better with each competition. He hopes to have Tate Cavill back on the team at the beginning of the year. Cavill was injured at the end of the football season.

Three Savage Horsemen placed at the tournament. Freshman Kenneth Beech finished third place in the 105-pound class. Beech had one of the fastest pins at the tourney when he beat Mission-Charlo Bulldog Brandon Bontrager in 14 seconds. He lost to a Ronan wrestler in the third period, but came back to defeat teammate Conner Stobie in a 1:20 pin. In his fourth match of the day, he beat Eric Roe of Eureka 9-6.

Competing in the 145-pound class, Kyle Steinebach of Plains-Hot Springs defeated Scott Hawkins of Frenchtown in a 59-second pin, then went on to defeat Dean Willey of Libby 15-2 before losing to Big Sky Eagle Keenan Moreau 11-4.

Rio Crismore, one of two girls on the Savage Horsemen team, went home with a fourth place. Wrestling at 98 pounds, Crismore, a sophomore, defeated Cass Kline with a 2:50 pin. She lost by pin to Jesse Robertson of Ronan in the second round, but bounced back to pin Jesse Robinson, also of Ronan, in 3:44. In her final match, she lost to Superior's Taylor Gatchell 12-4.

"She'll beat him the next time for sure," said Kenny Marjerrison, head coach for the Plains-Hot Springs team. "I was very impressed with her. It's difficult being a girl in a boy's sport," he added. Zoe Banovich, competing in the 112-pound class, is also a member of the team, but didn't place Saturday.

Marjerrison said the Savage Horsemen had a "very tough" first round against Class A and AA teams. Mike Hines and Austin Thompson, both wrestling in the 189 class, were one match away from placing, said Marjerrison.

Kelly Moore, head coach for the Red Devils, was disappointed that none of his wrestlers placed, but nevertheless he said they were in good spirits and were looking forward to the next meet, which will be at Eureka Thursday and Saturday. Noxon is scheduled for Plains Saturday, Dec. 22. "I'm not discouraged," said Moore. "All we can do is keep working hard." Noxon had the smallest team at the tournament, including three who are freshmen.

Thompson Falls will compete in Deer Lodge Friday. On Saturday, the Bluehawks and Savage Horsemen will be in Deer Lodge.