Mountain Cat grapplers perform well at Jug Beck Classic

Clark Fork wrestlers continue to show they may be the class of Class C.

Led by Trey Green and Jacob Lapinski, the Mountain Cats grapplers amassed 58 team points and a 22nd place finish in the prestigious Jug Beck Rocky Mountain Classic last weekend in Missoula.

Finishing 22nd may not seem impressive, but given the fact Clark Fork was the only Class C team in the meet which was littered with much larger schools from three states, this was a good showing.

Green, the 182-pound Mountain Cats standout, scored 23 of his team’s total points with a third-place finish. Heading into the finals round, Green faced a tough opponent from Kalispell’s Flathead, Paxton Boyce, and lost a close 7-4 decision.

However, he bounced back in the third place match later in the day and pinned Matt Whitcomb of Lake City High in Coeur d’Alene in just 55 seconds. The win upped Green’s season record to 25-3.

Lapinski, who has won several tournaments this year mostly by pins, lost by pin at the 1:24 mark in his semi-final match in the 285-pound classification, falling to a wrestler from Mead High School in Spokane.

He then faced another Spokane wrestler, this one from Ferris High, in the match for third and fourth place and lost in a sudden victory thriller by a 9-7 score.

Lapinski’s fourth place finish was good for 22 team points and left him with a 30-5 individual record for the year.

Clark Fork freshman Decker Milender at 113 pounds was among three other wrestlers who scored team points for the Cats. Milender, who is now 24-9 for the year, advanced to the quarterfinals before being pinned by Caden Hess of Lake City in 37 seconds. His earlier action at the meet helped him earn seven team points.

Two other Mountain Cats wrestlers scored three team points each, including Thomas Anderson at 152 pounds and Chandon Vulles in the 205-pound division.

The Cats 58 points left them tied with Washington Class 4A Ferris High. Great Falls High won the team title with 213 points, followed by Flathead High in second with 198 points and Mead High third with 180 points.

The meet attracted major school teams from throughout Western Montana, Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington and one team, Powell, from Wyoming.

Clark Fork hosted a quad meet Tuesday night (results not available at press time) and travel to Thompson Falls this weekend for the Ted Kato Invitational.