Superior Bobcats 2nd at Bob Kinney Classic

Three first place finishes along with three second place showings helped the Superior Bobcats to a second place finish in the Bob Kinney Classic wrestling tournament Saturday in Superior.

The Bobcats amassed 132 points to claim the runner-up spot in the 11-team field behind traditional wrestling power Libby, which took home top team honors with 152.5 points.

Corvallis finished third with 100 points, just ahead of Thompson Falls with 94.5 points, good for fourth.

The Plains/Hot Springs team came in sixth with 85 points.

Taking home top honors in their weight class for Superior were Silas Acker at 182 pounds, Decker Milender, 126 pounds, and Micah Acker in the 113 pound category.

Micah Acker pinned Brody Smith of Arlee in 1:13 to win his class. He advanced to the final round with a hard-fought 7-2 decision over Libby’s Xavier Reatz.

Milender finished first at 126 pound with a pin over Plains/Hot Springs’ John Waterbury at the 4:33 mark of their match. Milender reached the finals with a rapid win by fall over Shelby wrestler Jace May in :22 seconds.

Silas Acker won his title with a 2:55 pinning of Whitefish’s Tanner Harmon. Acker reached the championship round via a pin of Deago Hostetler, St. Ignatius, in 1:04.

The Bobcats also took home fourth place in the 182 pound classification as Charles Woodson fell to Libby’s Matthew Niemi by pin in the battle for third place.

Including fans, wrestlers and coaches there were more than 100 people who braved approaching snow storms to watch the action of the annual tournament which is named in honor of long-time wrestling supporter, coach and fan Bob Kinney.

Lucas Kovalsky finished second for Superior at 132 pounds, keeping alive the recent trend of strength in the lower weight classes the Bobcats have enjoyed for the past few years. He finished runner-up to Logan Hayne of Whitefish, who pinned Kovalsky in 2:52.

But the Bobcats also got big points from the top two weight classes, heavyweight and 205 pounds. Chandon Vulles reached the championship round in the heavyweight class, only to fall to Libby’s Aydan Williamson by pin at 1:09

And Superior’s Carter Woodson took second at 205 pounds, losing in the final round to Luke Maki of Florence also by pin at 3:51.

Superior also got a fourth place finish in the heavyweight classification as Kaleb Pearce reached the third-place match but lost to Libby’s Tyler Smith.

Thompson Falls, meanwhile, also had a strong showing, without two-time defending state champion Trae Thilmony who did not participate in the Bob Kinney.

The Blue Hawks grapplers got a pair of first place finishes and two second place showings to help them secure their fourth place finish.

Junior Eli Ratliff, quarterback of the T Falls state champion football team, won the 152 pound division with a win by fall over Jonny Williams of Corvallis at the 1:45 mark. Ratliff made it to the final round by pinning Andrew Knoll of Arlee in the semi-finals.

And at 160 pounds, Shane Reishus of T Falls took home top honors with a pin over Knoll’s brother, RJ Knoll of Arlee.

Reishus beat Shayden Friedlander of St. Ignatius in the semis to reach the championship round.

The Blue Hawks continued their strong showing in the middle weights with second place finishes from Max Hannum at 170 pounds and Aaron Gailen at 145 pounds.

Hannum lost to Libby’s Jace DeShazer while Gailen was defeated by Corvallis’ Nate Davis.

The Blue Hawks also got a fourth place finish from Levi Wenz in the 126 pound division.

The area’s other wrestling program, Plains/Hot Springs finished sixth thanks to a first place effort from David Schulze at 138 pounds, and a trio of wrestlers who finished third.

Schulze won the 138 pound title with an 8-4 decision over Jason Davis of Corvallis. He reached the first-place match with a win over Elijah Edwards of Libby, by pin.

Third place titles went to Will James Courville, Gaven Schrenk and Drew Carey. Courville took third at 138 pounds, Schrenk did likewise at 103, and Carey grabbed third at 132 pounds for the Horsemen.