Mountain Cat wrestlers enjoy solid weekend at Western Duals
Clark Fork 145-pounder Isaiah Kovalsky has Thompson Falls Bluehawk wrestler Derek Andersen on his back at the edge of the mat during the Western Duals in Ronan Saturday. Kovalsky didn't score the pin in that sequence, but a bit later in the match at the 2:52 mark he finished it with a fall. (Scott Shindledecker/Mineral Independent)
Clark Fork Mountain Cats 152-pounder Hunter Haskins, top, controls Thompson Falls wrestler Lucas Andersen during their match Saturday at the Western Duals in Ronan. Haskins won by fall in 1:40. (Scott Shindledecker/Mineral Independent)
With the big boys continuing to wrack up wins in the heavy weight classes, and solid support throughout the roster, the Clark Fork wrestling team had by all accounts a good weekend.
The Mountain Cats grapplers won five of eight dual meets during last weekend’s Western Montana Duals meet held in Ronan.
Led by senior standouts Jacob Lapinski and Trey Green, who both went unbeaten during the meet featuring schools from throughout the region, Clark Fork established itself as a force to be reckoned with during the Montana Class C season.
Lapinski won seven of his eight 285-pound matches by pins and finished the tournament 8-0. The lone win that wasn’t a pin was on a forfeit win against Corvallis.
Green also went 8-0, with five pins and three wins by forfeit in the 182-pound classification.
Freshman 205-pounder Chanden Vulles recorded six wins, including one by forfeit and lost only to Thompson Falls senior Dakota Irvine by a 10-1 major decision.
Other standouts for the Mountain Cats were 103-pound Ryder Hansen, who was 6-1 with three wins by fall, three wins by forfeit and one loss in the match against Libby; Decker Milender, who had two wins by pin and three by forfeit; and 145-
pounder Welsey Buchanan who had six wins by fall, including a stunning pin in seven seconds against his opponent from Hamilton.
Clark Fork opened its part of the wrestling extravaganza with a 43-18 rout of Bigfork before falling 42-36 to host Ronan in the Cats second match. They ended the first day of competition 2-2 after losing a close match to Columbia Falls, 42-
36, then overwhelming Hamilton 48-18, a match in which Lapinski recorded a pin in just 22 seconds.
On day two of the event, the Mountain Cats squared off against Thompson Falls and came out on top, 42-28. Lapinski decked his opponent in 20 seconds and Green flattened Seth Alarcon 41 seconds into their match.
At 205 pounds, Irvine won for the second time this year against Vulles.
The Cats then lost another 42-36 match to Corvallis before closing out the tournament with an impressive 42-33 win over Flathead of Kalispell, then beating Libby 36-24.
In the match against the Loggers, Milender recorded at pin in 45 seconds, a feat that was matched by Buchanan, who likewise pinned his opponent at the 45-second mark.
Clark Fork returned to the mats yesterday, hosting a quad meet of its own.
Results of that match were not available before press time. The Cats travel to Cut Bank this weekend for a tournament Friday and Saturday.