Little Guy season finishes in Missoula

More than 500 matches were conducted at the Western Montana State Little Guy Wrestling Championships in Missoula Saturday, and by the time the gymnasium at Sentinel High School was cleared, the names of 10 Sanders County athletes ended up in the top four placements.

Thompson Falls Bluehawk Warren Wood, competing in the 85-pound novice class, who went undefeated the entire season, met his match at the state finals and was bumped from the competition, said Colby Cline, head coach for the Thompson Falls Little Guy team, one of four Sanders County teams to participate in the state finals. Colby took 16 athletes to the day-long tournament. Four placed in the top four slots, though none took first.

Three Thompson Falls wrestlers and one Trout Creek grappler missed top honors by one match. Sam Arnold, a Plains resident wrestling on the Trout Creek Eagles team, finished in second place in the novice 190-pound weight class. Trout Creek had only two wrestlers at the tournament and both placed. Eagle David Kneer, competing in the novice 140-pound class, finished fourth.

Wrestling in the middle 95-pound class, Wyatt Clay of the Bluehawks took second place, as did teammate Joe Bowden in the middle 187 class. Eric Milner of Thompson Falls won his first two matches and had one of the best records on the team, said Colby. However, in the championship round, Milner, competing in the 152-pound junior high class, lost 7-2 to Sawyer DePee of the Florence Falcons. Colby said Milner is an excellent wrestler and hopes he will be on the Bluehawks high school wrestling team next season.

More than 400 wrestlers from 22 teams took part in the state finals, which ran from 9 a.m. to almost 7 p.m. The tournament included only novice, middle and junior wrestling classes and comprised 25 weight classes, although five had two groups due to the large number of competitors in those classes. Throughout most of the day, there were eight matches going on at one time. It went down to six matches late in the afternoon.

A beginner championship tournament was held in Arlee Friday evening when 164 wrestlers battled it out on 10 mats. Ken Hill, the chief organizer of the event and head coach for the Arlee Warriors team, said they held 244 matches during the four hours of competition.

The Wildhorse Wrestling Club, which included Plains and Hot Springs athletes, took more than a dozen wrestlers to Saturday's competition. Two Savage Horsemen placed. Kaleb Beech, wrestling in the middle 110-pound class, took fourth place. In the middle 166 class, John Wallers finished the day with a fourth place position.

However, at the beginners state tournament, Aisha Nava finished at the top by once again defeating his twin brother Izhar Nava in the beginner 130-pound championship match. Teammate Anthony Neal, wrestling in the beginner 70 class, took third place. Kenny Marjerrison, one of the coaches for the Plains-Hot Springs team, said Neal had one of the best records on the team and seldom lost a match.

“They wrestled hard and fought hard and didn't give up,” said Marjerrison, who had 15 boys at Missoula and eight at Arlee. He said the team continued to show improvement all season.

Noxon and Trout Creek were two of the smallest schools at the tournament Saturday and were up against teams, such as Missoula, Kalispell and Hamilton, which averaged 30 to 40 wrestlers. In the small school team category, Trout Creek finished in sixth place with six points and Noxon had seventh with four. Lolo took first with 25 points, followed by Arlee with 22 and Superior in third with 20 points. Thompson Falls took fifth place with 16 points. At the Inter Valley Tournament at Libby the week before, Thompson Falls took first place. Noxon finished second and Plains-Hot Springs took third.

In the large school category Saturday, Corvallis took first with 79 points. Kalispell finished second with 77 points, and in third was Columbia Falls with 58. Evergreen, a team out of Kalispell, took first in the medium class with 45 points. Second place went to Mission/Charlo/Dixon with 41 points, followed by Eureka one point behind.

For the Noxon Red Devils, Oliver Grupenhoff finished with a third place in the middle 187-pound class. Teammate Brandon Piazzola took fourth place in the middle 105 class. Coaches Kelly Moore and Ben Ulrick had seven kids at Saturday's tourney and six at Arlee. Red Devil Stephen Palmer of the beginner 65 class went 4-0 and walked away with a first place triumph at Arlee.

Wrestlers who get to the state championships are up against stiff competition, said Moore, who added that he was proud of his entire team. “We've definitely seen some improvement through the year,” said Ulrick. “And that's all we can ask for.”

Cline hopes to get all three wrestlers in the junior high class - Milner, and twins Dakotta and Austin Kinser - for next year's Bluehawks' high school team. Cline favors the sport of wrestling because he said it's one where an individual can excel. Winning is especially a highlight in wrestling, said Cline, because it's all based on the individual. “But that means you have no one to blame if you lose,” said Cline. The coach added that wrestling is a way for kids to use their aggression in a positive way, and it teaches self control.