Five Bobcats make state

Seven Bobcat wrestlers competed at divisionals last weekend and five of them stamped tickets to the state competition to be held this Friday and Saturday.

“It went real good,” Coach Charlie Crabb said of the divisional tournament.

At 105 pounds, Rivers Sides won his weight class to secure himself a place at state. He defeated Tyler Addy from Thompson Falls in the championship match, 19-8. Sides also wrestled at state last year.

Anthony Parkin took home a third place finish at 98 pounds. Crabb said that it was going to be real important for him to make weight prior to the divisional competition. Parkin pinned Peter Vickers, Thompson Falls, in the third place match to secure a ticket to state. This will be his first showing at state.

At 112 pounds, wrestling in his first tournament, Matt Campbell took home a second place finish. He got pinned by a wrestler from Eureka in the championship match, but will be competing this weekend at state for the first time.

Senior Josh Wright also earned a ticket to state. He placed third in the 145 pound division. Wright defeated a wrestler from Charlo, 16-6, to garner a return trip to state.

Finally, Dan Taron will also be wrestling in the state competition again. At 135 pounds, he grabbed a third place finish defeating Plains/Hot Springs wrestler Cole Goodwin, 12-2.

Crabb said divisionals turned out the way he sort of expected.

“They wrestled their best. They did what they could,” he said.

Crabb said that to do well at state the wrestlers need to stay focused this week.

“They need to build on the momentum from last weekend and stay sharp,” Crabb said. “There’s nothing to lose. We’re there. We’re going to compete at state. They need to wrestle hard.”