Little Guys qualify for state finals at Missoula
Photo by Paul Sievers Kane Lawson of Plains-Hot Springs is thrown into the mat by Noxon’s Steven Palmer in the beginner 65-pound class. Kane lost Saturday’s match to Palmer, who nabbed first place. Lawson finished second. Both qualified for the finals at Arlee Friday.
Just over 40 athletes from Sanders County will be heading to the Little Guy Wrestling State Championships at Arlee and Missoula at the end of this week after qualifying at the Inter Valley Tournament at Libby Saturday.
Nine wrestlers from the Plains-Hot Springs Wildhorse Wrestling Club's beginner class will compete at Arlee Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Arlee High School gymnasium, including Aisha Nava of the Savage Horsemen, who once again defeated his twin brother Izhar for the championship in the 130-pound class at Libby. Aisha Nava was the only Plains-Hot Springs beginner to finish at first place. The other eight wrestlers from Plains-Hot Springs placed second to fourth place, said Lisa Brown, president of the Wildhorse Wrestling Club.
A dozen wrestlers from the Wildhorse Wrestling Club's novice, middle and junior classes qualified for the state finals, which will be held at Sentinel High School's gym Saturday starting at 9 a.m. No Plains-Hot Springs wrestlers finished in first place at Libby.
Middle class wrestlers are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Juniors will start at 1 p.m.
Thompson Falls will be sending between 15 to 20 wrestlers to the finals Friday and Saturday, said Colby Cline, head coach for the Bluehawks team. Bluehawk Kaleb Frank, who took third place the previous week, battled his way to the top slot in the beginner 50-pound class Saturday. In the novice 85-pounder class, Warren Wood maintained his undefeated season record by claiming three victories at Libby, said Cline.
Bluehawk Joe Bowden, competing in the middle 187 class, had a 2-0 record Saturday for first place. Teammate Erik Milner finished first in the junior 152-pound class with a 2-0 record and taking the championship for the second consecutive week.
The Trout Creek Eagles, coached by Shane Barnes, will be sending two wrestlers to the state finals. Of the four he took to the Inter Valley Tournament, one placed second and the other took third. Both competed in the novice class.
The Noxon Red Devils, coached by Kelly Moore, will send 13 wrestlers to the finals - seven to Arlee and six to Missoula. Noxon's only first placer was Steven Palmer, who nabbed the championship in the beginner 65 class, going 3-0 Saturday, including one pin. Palmer finished Saturday with a 13-1 record for the season. Two novice class, two middles and two juniors will head to the finals, said Cindy Moore, who keeps track of the wrestlers' statistics for Noxon. Red Devil Clay King, who competed in the beginner 70-pound class, broke his undefeated record Saturday with one loss for the season and 17 victories.
A dozen teams and 393 wrestlers competed at the Libby tournament, which went from 9 a.m. to shortly after 4 p.m. More than 20 teams are slated to compete at Missoula.