Six Whitefish wrestlers qualify for state tournament in Billings

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Whitefish High School wrestlers Jake Scheel, Cody Morris and Matt Starr each wrestled their way into the championship round Saturday at the Northwestern Class A divisional tournament in Ronan.

All three grapplers came up short in their title matches, but they will get another shot at the state meet in Billings this weekend.

The Bulldogs finished with 81 points overall, not enough to place as a team, but Whitefish will send six wrestlers to state.

Tanner Benedict placed third at divisionals, while Derek Crittenden placed fourth and heavyweight wrestler Kevin McDowell placed third.

These six grapplers will represent Whitefish on the mats in Billings, and they all have a shot to catch somebody by surprise, according to head wrestling coach Ryan Hoffman.

"There's always upsets," he said. "That's the thing with wrestling — everybody has a chance."

In a cruel twist of fate, Crittenden earned his trip to the big dance by beating his teammate, Dylan Dryden, in the so-called "heartbreak round."

"It came down to those two in the 186-pound class, so they had to wrestle each other for a place at state," Hoffman said. "It was a tough thing to coach, that's for sure. You never want to have to do that."

Senior Cody Morris had a tough job as he faced defending state champion Logan Torgison, of Polson, in his title match. Torgison won by technical fall to claim his fourth-straight division championship.

"Torgy is a very good wrestler," Hoffman said. "He's very good technically and conditioning-wise. Cody almost caught Torgy once, but maybe he'll get another shot at state."

Morris won a major decision over Kody Berget, of Libby, in the first round to qualify for the title match. McDowell pinned Cody Bartos in 1:17 in the first round to move on.

Starr won a 7-0 major decision over Ty Fouty, of Polson, to make it to the title match. Benedict also beat Libby's Berget in the semifinals in the 145-pound class, then went on to defeat Joe Gross, of Columbia Falls, by a 4-2 overtime decision to claim third place overall.

Starr lost his title match to Cody Kolodejchuk, of Columbia Falls, in an 8-10 decision.

"They've wrestled each other a lot," Hoffman said. "Starr actually beat him earlier this year in Columbia Falls, but he controlled that match. This time, he let Cody wrestle the way he wanted to. There were a lot of throws, and that plays to Cody's strengths, not Matt's. He might get another chance at him at state."

McDowell got a 30-second pin on Cody Bartos, of Columbia Falls, to take third place.

Senior Philip Murphy placed fifth, but didn't qualify for state. He pinned Jacob Hader, of Columbia Falls, in 2:53 in the first round.

The Bulldogs head to Billings for duals on Friday and Saturday.