14 advance to state
Ben Gorham of Plains battle Noxon's J.T. Onofrey in a 215 pound bout during the divisional tournament in Arlee last weekend.
Thompson Falls Junior Erik Milner competing at Divisionals last weekend in Arlee. Milner would finsih sixth in his 171 pound weight class.
Kolby Chisholm, a 140 sophomore, qualified for state after being selected as an alternate thanks to his fifth place finish at divisionals.
Fourteen Sanders County wrestlers will advance to the State Tournament next weekend in Hamilton after impressive showings at the Divisional meet last weekend in Arlee.
Florence won it’s second divisional title in three years, beating out the host school, Arlee, and last year’s defending champs, Thompson Falls. Florence racked up 154 points, Arlee 144, and Thompson Falls 136. Noxon scored 63 points to finish ninth and Plain-Hot Springs finished eleventh with 41.5.
Eight Bluehawks placed in the top four and will advance to wrestle at state next weekend. Wade Gason, 98 pounds, finished first. In second place were Tyler Addy, 105 pounds, John Gunderson, 119, Shawn Sacchi, and Nick Adler, 285. Kenny Roxbury placed third at 112 pounds, and Peter Vickers, 98, and Rod Carew, 112, placed fourth.
Jared Abbot, 152 pounds, Andrew Cox, 125, Tyler Garrison, 130, Zach Lyons, 145, and Eric Milner, 171, all placed six.
Thompson Falls head coach Colby Cline is excited about his teams chances to perform well at state.
“All the kids have a chance to place, but we have probably four that have a really good chance at placing,” he said. “If we have a good tournament we should be in the top ten.”
Noxon had two wrestlers win their respective weight classes in Adam Moore, 189 pounds, and Cody Martens, 285. Taylor Scott finished fourth at 285 and will move on to state in his first year of wrestling. Although Caleb Fickus, 160, wrestled well, placing sixth, he did not place high enough to advance.
Red Devil head coach Kelly Moore was happy with his team’s overall performance considering they only had six wrestlers competing in five different weight divisions and they still managed to score more points than two other teams.
“It’s neat that we can have two champions, a fourth place wrestler and have a freshman place sixth,” he said. “Overall I think we’ve done a good job.”
The Savage-Horsemen will send three wrestlers to Hamilton next weekend. Kenneth Beech, 125 pounds, placed second, Cole Goodwin, 135, finished fourth and sophomore Kolby Chisholm, 140, was selected as an alternate after his fifth-place finish.
Ben Gorham, 215 pounds, and Caleb Connolly, 189, placed sixth.
“It was a pretty good weekend,” Plains-Hot Springs head coach Kenny Marjerrison said. “We had anticipated doing a little better on our placing than we did, but that’s the way it goes.”
Marjerrison was pleased that his athletes will have a chance to compete so close to home, as the state tournament is usually in Billings, and he welcomed fans to come watch his wrestlers compete.
“It may never be this close ever again,” he said.” “It’ll probably be in Billings from here on out so the more people that show up down there the better.”