Area wrestlers advance to state meet
Max Hannum of T Falls works to break free from his opponent at the Western B/C Divisional tournament this past weekend in Butte. (Kami Milender for the MI- VP)
It was a good day for Sanders and Mineral County wrestlers at the Montana High School Western Divisional B/C meet in Butte this past week.
A total of 14 area grapplers finished among the top eight competitors in their weight class, with all of them advancing to next weekend’s state finals in Billings.
Superior had the most wrestlers qualify for the big meet next weekend with eight. That was enough to propel them to a fourth place team finish with 122 points, just five points ahead of Thompson Falls, which tied with Whitehall/Harrison with 117 points.
The area’s other wrestling program, Plains/Hot Springs finished in 18th place with 63 points.
Thompson Falls had two Divisional champs, including two-time defending state champion Trae Thilmony, who won this year’s Divisional title at 145 pounds. Thilmony won the title with a 19-4 technical fall over Roper Mycke of Conrad. In winning the title, Thilmony ran his record on the year to 34-1. Mycke is 40-3 this year.
The Blue Hawks also got a first place finish from Eli Ratliff who won by fall (4:33) over Adyn Meinzen of Florence-Carlton. Ratliff is now 28-5 on the season, while Meinzen fell to 9-5.
The other local wrestler to finish first was Plains/Hot Springs 138-pounder David Schulze who won an 8-1 decision over Tommy Sawyer of Anaconda. Schulze is now 46-2 on the year, while Sawyer is 30-7.
Although Superior did not have a Divisional champion in the crew, they did get a second place finish from junior Decker Milender, who lost in the title match by fall (3:42) to Dayne Sullivan of Simms.
Thompson Falls scored the most 1-3 finishes among area wrestlers advancing to state, getting second place showings from160 pound Shane Reishus, who lost by fall (3:36) to Miles Hoerauf of Whitehall-Harrision, and in the 170 pound classification where Max Hannum took second after losing a 9-4 decision to Brady Armstrong of Jefferson.
Superior state qualifiers included: Micah Acker at 113 pounds, fifth; Lucas Kovalsky, 132 pounds, fifth; Chase Woodson, eighth at 170 pounds; Silas Acker, third in the 182 pound category; Carter Woodson and Jaxon Green, fourth and eighth respectively in the 205 pound group; and Chandon Vulles, sixth place at 285 pounds.
Jefferson won the team title with 204 points, followed by Cut Bank, 199.0 points and Lincoln County (Eureka) third with 123 points.
All state qualifiers will now head for Billings and the Mat Classic this Thursday through Saturday.