Mountain Cat wrestlers perform well at Hot Springs

It was a great day for wrestling in a grand old gym in Hot Springs.

The old gym at Hot Springs High, a building that retains its charm and functionality after decades of use, was host Saturday to wrestlers from three area schools and a lone wrestler who traveled from Darby to be part of it.

For fans it was an efficient and smoothly run show as seen from above.

In the end, wrestlers from Clark Fork, the Superior/Alberton co-op, were dominant on the red/orange mat that was laid across the ancient wood floors as fans gathered in an early 20th-century style balcony to cheer on their sons and daughters toiling below.

The Mountain Cats came away with 16 match wins, including 15 by pins in the four-way event which included the host co-op wrestling team from Plains/Hot Springs, a small contingent from Arlee and the single entrant from Darby.

Clark Fork had five wrestlers who won both of their matches during the meet, including sophomore Chandon Vulles, who pinned both of his opponents at 205 pounds and 285 pounds. Vulles has been wrestling at both weights in meets so far this season, meaning he often takes on much heavier foes in the heavyweight class.

On this day, Vulles minimized his mat time recording a pin at the 1:30 mark of the first period over Plains/Hot Springs’ William Dyson, after dispatching Denny Black, also of P/HS one minute exactly into their 285-pound matchup earlier in the meet.

The host school racked up eight wins on the day, including seven by pins. Plains/Hot Springs also featured a pair of lady wrestlers, including Taylor Angle who took a 7-2 first period lead over Clark Fork’s Micah Acker in the 113-pound classification before Acker rallied for a pin at the 53-second mark of the final two-minute period.

Angle also battled Clark Fork sophomore Ryder Hansen later in the match, losing 18-3 to the Mountain Cats standout. Another female wrestler from Plains/Hot Springs, Lillian Macdonald, lost by pin to Clark Forks’ William Buchanan in 51 seconds of the opening period at 152 pounds.

Double winners for Clark Fork in addition to Vulles were Hansen, who in addition to his win over Angle picked up a pin over Donny Nelson of P/HS; Buchanan, a pair of pins at 152 pounds; Hunter Haskins who recorded two sub-minute pins, one at 152 pounds and the other at 160 pounds; and Thomas Anderson, who also had two first period pins for the day.

Holding the event in the jumbled world of Covid complications was in itself a victory and somewhat of a rarity this season as teams and schools struggle to find opponents and keep student-athletes healthy.

Arlee arrived with four wrestlers and went 2-6 in the eight matches in which they participated. Cody Fisher, Darby’s lone wrestler, who received a round of applause from the crowd before the match began, lost his first match of the day at 182 pounds when he was pinned by Silas Acker of Clark Fork with four seconds left in the bout.

Fisher came back later in the day and defeated Clark Fork’s Carter Woodson by a 5-3 point count.

All together the old gym hosted 27 matches during the event, which took just over two hours to complete.

Match victors for Plains/Hot Springs included: Drew Carey (120) pin over Lucas Kovalsky (CF); Jacob Schultz (120), pin over Tyrel Thomas (Arlee); Peter Carey (126), pin over Milender (CF); Will James (138), pin over Drew Knoll (Arlee); Jessie Uski (170), pin over Carter McLees (CF); Donny Nelson (113), 16-7 over M. Acker (CF); Brody Shrenk (145), pin over Drew Knoll (Arlee); and Denny Black, (285), pin over Jaxon Green, (CF).

Other Clark Fork wins were by: McLees (170), pin over Stephen Vothers (PHS); Green (182) by pin over Will Dyson (PHS); Lucas Kovalsky (120), pin over Thomas (Arlee); and Decker Milender (126), pin over Stephen Schultze (PHS).