Clark Fork wrestlers begin season victorious

After weeks of schedule changes and Covid-related issues, the Clark Fork Mountain Cats wrestlers were more than ready to hit the mats.

And in so doing, they put on a dominating show against the Mission/Charlo team, winning 11 of 14 individual matches in their season opener Thursday night in Superior.

While no team scores were tabulated, the Mountain Cats made it clear they have the firepower to overcome the loss of two fourth-place state finishers from last year’s squad.

Winning two matches each were 160-pounder Hunter Haskins, Carter McLees at 170 pounds and 182-pounder Carter Woodson.

Haskins won both of his matches by pins, stopping Chance Bochman in 47 seconds and pinning Canyon Sargent to the vinyl in one minute, 24 seconds.

McLees also recorded a pair of pins, beating Christian Smith in 1:45, and wracking up a fall against Bochman in 56 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Woodson also pinned both of his opponents, downing Deago Hostetler in 1:18 and stopping Smith in 1:24.

Clark Fork was strong throughout the match in the lower and middle weights. Sophomore Decker Milender won his only match of the night, pinning Isiah Fields in just 36 seconds in the 126-pound category, while teammate Lucas Kovalsky won a 4-2 decision in the same weight class.

Others who won matches for the Cats were 205-pounder Chandon Vulles, who stuck Hostetler to the mat in a rapid 26 seconds, and Thomas Anderson, who split his two matches, beating Charlie Adams by fall at the 2:50 mark after being pinned by Mission’s Canyon Sargent in 3:30 in the 152-pound classification.

William Buchanan also split his matches for Clark Fork, winning by fall over Adams at 152 pounds and losing a 4-1 decision to Kodiak Killorn.

Clark Fork coach Charlie Crabb was clearly pleased with the season opening effort put forth by his grapplers.

“We saw good improvement in regard to shape and overall technique,” Crabb said. “We hope to continue to improve throughout the season. We saw some real good things from our younger wrestlers. If we continue on the path we are on we should have a good post-season showing.”