Thirty-five years in the making
PLAINS – The Savage Horsemen made history once again at the divisional tournament in Ronan. The team came in second place, with five champions and three more placers.
The last time the team took second place at divisionals was in 1979. Although in the year 2000, the team placed third, second place has been a long time coming.
The victory was one the boys deserved and fought hard for. Their determination brought them within ten points of the first place team, which was the Mission, Charlo co-op.
“It’s a pretty big milestone for us,” said Head Coach Kenny Marjerrison.
Bringing home five champions is a huge deal for anyone and shows the team should be at a great place for the state tournament.
Russell Kujala at 132 pounds, Logan Goodwin at 138 pounds, Kane Lawson at 152 pounds, Joe DeTienne at 160 pounds and Ben Gorham in the heavyweight division brought home the first place hardware.
But that wasn’t all for the team. Brandon Shea at 220 pounds brought home third, while James DeTienne at 126 pounds and Stephen Clinkenbeard at 170 pounds brought home fourth.
In all, eight wrestlers placed. Not only was Coach Marjerrison impressed, but so were the teams surrounding them at the competition.
“Several coaches came to talk to me. It’s been a long time since this has happened in Class B-C wrestling. It’s a huge deal for us,” Coach Marjerrison said.
Although the whole team performed exceptionally well, he said Goodwin’s performance took the cake for the evening.
Goodwin had to beat a kid who has taken him down twice before and he then took the championship in overtime, winning 7-5.
His competition in the championship round had beat Goodwin eight times in the last two years. Redemption was sweet as Goodwin was able to show his competitor what he was really made of.
“That win – it was amazing. He had such a stellar day,” Coach Marjerrison said.
Lawson was also a surprise. As a freshman he beat out competition with more experience and he did it after sitting out the first half of the season with a shoulder injury.
“He wrestled only 20 matches,” Coach Marjerrison said.
He said Lawson had been running over the competition ever since he hit the mat.
The team was excited at their accomplishment and they are ready to take on their opponents at the state tournament in Billings this weekend.
The team will leave Thursday morning and Coach Marjerrison said the goal is to leave with the right mindset.
Practice this week will be light.
“We won’t teach them anything in the next three days they don’t already know,” Coach Marjerrison explained. “We’re trying to keep things light hearted so they are going into state with a real positive mental attitude.”
This year the rest of the team will be able to join Plains at the state tournament even if they did not place as long as their grades allow them to. This will give their teammates an extra boost of morale through the long days ahead of them.
With 12 mats and 14 to 15,000 people lining the stands, the environment will be fired up.
The expectations for each kid vary but Coach Marjerrison expects a good performance from all of them.
“We are hoping on four or five medals this weekend. But there’s no telling, we’ll see,” Coach Marjerrison said.