Vanderwall, Thilmony earn titles at Choteau Classic

Two Sanders County high school wrestlers captured championships and four others were also medal winners at the Choteau Classic last Friday and Saturday.

Josiah Vanderwall, a Plains/Hot Springs senior, won the 138-pound title. Teammate Peter Carey was fifth at 120 pounds, and Conrad Vanderwall earned sixth at 132.

Thompson Falls/Noxon’s Trae Thilmony continues his outstanding freshman season, winning the 113-pound crown at Choteau. It was his third tournament title. Roman Sparks had his best finish this season, coming in second at 120 pounds while Bluehawk teammate Dakota Irvine was runner-up at 182.

Plains/Hot Springs and T-Falls/Noxon teams competed in the Superior Quad last Tuesday, Jan. 8.

Despite covering only five of the 13 weight classes, Thompson Falls/Noxon finished 10th in the 31-team Choteau Classic. Plains/Hot Springs was 13th.

Poplar took the team title. Columbus/Absarokee was second, Townsend third and Whitehall fourth. Mission/Charlo placed fifth.

“I’m pretty happy with how the kids wrestled and how many kids we took (to the Choteau Classic) and where we placed,” Plains/Hot Springs head coach Jeff Kujala said. “It was really nice to get over there and see some of the other kids and what we’ll see at state. They performed well overall.”

With his title, Josiah Vanderwall could be the first-ever three-time champion from Plains at the Choteau Classic, according to Kujala. “Josiah had a good day. He really controlled with a purpose,” the coach said.

After a bye, Vanderwall won his next four matches by fall. He stuck Jonny Chamberlain of Florence-Carlton to the mat in just 1:07 in the semifinals, then pinned Pete Henderson of Choteau in 4:41 to take the title.

“We were behind Choteau in the team race,” explained Kujala. “When we won that put us in front of them.”

Carey lost in the quarterfinals, then won twice to get to the consolation semifinals. There he was pinned by Cody St. Clair of Boulder Jefferson, and bounced back to pin Kierrin Rooney of Cut Bank in 3:23 to win the fifth-place medal at 120 pounds.

“He’s wrestling extremely well,” Kujala said of Carey. “There is a lot of promise with him. The big thing now is increasing his strength, so he can use his moves. You have to have the strength to run those moves.”

Conrad Vanderwall advanced to the championship semifinals, but was pinned by Logan Broadle of Poplar in 3:00 — after leading the match 8-4. Vanderwall then was pinned by Ty Curry of Valier before a loss by fall in 1:59 to Cole Gilleard of Mission/Charlo in the battle for fifth place.

Kujala said Vanderwall had beaten Gilleard earlier in the season and “he’ll get another chance at him … There are a few things we can work on.”

Also wrestling for Plains/Hot Springs at the tournament were Taylor Angle (103), Kenzie Angle (138), Bert DeTienne (145), Jesse Uski (160) and Steven Yother (HWT).

THILMONY CONTINUES his success on the mat during his first high school season.

After two byes, Thilmony went 3-0 in the matches he wrestled — winning by fall in the quarterfinals and by a 17-0 technical fall over Brady Ellison of Columbus/Absarokee in the semifinals. In the title match at 113, Thilmony disposed of Jase Frederick of Poplar in 3 minutes, 7 seconds. That brings his season record to 24-2.

Thompson Falls/Noxon teammate Sparks reached the 120-pound championship match with a win by fall in the quarterfinals and an 11-0 major decision in the semis. Despite a strong effort, Sparks lost a 7-4 decision to Riley Richtmyer of Townsend in the finals.

Irvine won a hard-fought 5-3 decision in the quarterfinals at 182, then edged Justin Denton of Townsend 3-2 in the semifinals. Andres Lopez of Malta took a 9-5 decision over Irvine in the finals.

Lucan Anderson (138), and Dane Cjobnacky (160) also wrestled for T-Falls/Noxon at the Choteau Classic.

ACCORDING TO Kujala, the Savage Horsemen “were a little flat” during the Superior Quad on Jan. 8.

“We had a few kids who did not make weight and had to wrestle up (a class),” the Plains/Hot Springs coach said. “We went about 50-50 in matches (winning half). We turned it around and had a good (Choteau) tournament.”

Thompson Falls/Noxon was slated to host the Flathead junior varsity on Tuesday this week. The Bluehawks will host the annual Ted Kato Invitational this Saturday, Jan. 19 at Thompson Falls High School. Eight schools are expected, and action begins at 10 a.m.

Team Scores

1. Poplar 149.0. 2.Columbus - Absarokee 137.0. 3. Townsend 123.5. 4. Whitehall 115.05. Mission/Charlo 108.0. 6. Cut Bank 105.0. 7. Malta 97.5. 8. Florence 80.0. 9. Boulder Jefferson 78.5. 10. Thompson Falls/Noxon 77.5. 11. Valier 66.5. 12. Fairfield 61.0. 13. Plains/Hot Springs 59.5. 14. Choteau 56.0. 15.tie, Cascade and Manhatten 48.0. 17. Deer Lodge 43.0. 18. Anaconda 42.0. 19. Shelby 37.0. 20. Arlee 34.0. 21. Conrad 31.0. 22. Chinook 30.0. 23. Chester Joplin Inverness 24.0. 24. Simms 22.0. 25. tie, Fort Benton/ Big Sandy and Great Falls Central 21.0. 27. Harlem 9.0. 28. Bigfork 6.0. 29. tie, Highwood and Wolf Point 4.0. 31. Belt 3.0.