Strong returners give Clark Fork wrestling team optimism for 2021

Last year was a banner year for the Clark Fork wrestling team.

Banner as in lots of wins and a pair of wrestlers who placed at divisional and state tournaments.

While some of those championship-caliber grapplers have graduated, an up-and-coming group of underclassmen promise to make 2021 another good year for the Mountain Cats.

Gone to graduation were two mainstays of the team, 185-pound Trey Green and heavyweight Jacob Lapinski. Both were leading point-scorers, won 20-plus matches and both finished fourth in the state championships last year.

“We lost a real good group of seniors, led by state placers Green and Lapinksi”, said head coach Charlie Crabb, the long-time wrestling coach.

But Crabb’s squad features several returning wrestlers who placed at Divisionals, shifting their team strength more to the lighter weights in many cases.

Key returnees include Hunter Haskins, Silas Acker, Carter Woodson, Decker Milender, Ryder Hansen and Chandon Vulles, all of whom placed in the Divisional tournament. Haskins is the lone senior of that group, while Acker and Woodson will be competing as juniors.

Milender, Hansen and Vulles, all now sophomores, provided the Mountain Cats with valuable team points throughout last season.

Despite the youth of the squad, many gained valuable mat time and experience, with Milender, Hansen and Vulles all placing high in matches toward the end of the year.

“Our returning kids and incoming wrestlers are pretty smart and technical,” Crabb said. “We have some good toughness to go along with that. We just need to build on that and improve throughout the year.”

Vulles is expected to help fill the void left by the graduation of Lapinski, a 270-pounder who dominated many opponents with lightning quick pins last year. Vulles is listed at 230 pounds for this season.

Milender and Hansen, both sophomores this year, gave the team points in the 105 and 112 pound classifications last year. Milender played football this year at 130 pounds.

Haskins is listed at 160 pounds.

“I’m excited for this year, we have a lot of young kids, but I believe that by the end they will be in the running for state places,” Crabb said. “They work hard and are easy to coach.”

Schedules for wrestling matches this year have already been altered by Covid-19 concerns. Many schedules remain up in the air and tournament style meets have been put on hold so far.

“It will be different without tournaments this year but I think it will still be pretty fun,” Crabb said.

The Mountain Cats kick off their season at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 2 when they travel to Arlee for a three-team match with the hosts and Eureka.