Grapplers place four in Eureka

Four Bulldog wrestlers placed at the Buzz Lucey meet in Eureka Dec. 19, giving the club a good shot of confidence heading into the Christmas break.

"We wrestled better than we have," Bulldog coach Ryan Hoffman said. "The goal was to get some wins before the break and carry some momentum into next year.

"We can't go backwards from where we are at. We have to go forward and not drop off at all."

Senior Dalton Rice took first place among 130-pounders, a nice follow-up performance to last week's Butte Invitational, in which he scored a pin against Conrad's Will Shirley.

"Dalton is one of the most experienced guys on the team," Hoffman said. "He's expected to lead by example."

Senior Nick O'Dell took second in the 145-pound class, and Geoff Streeter placed third among the 160-pounders.

"Both of those guys are getting better and better," Hoffman said. "They're second-year guys, so they don't have a lot of experience. They're really coming along."

In the heavyweight class, freshman Wolf Zinke placed fourth — another good follow-up to his performance in Butte, where he scored a pin against Conrad's Ryan Townsend.

"Zinke is learning," Hoffman said. "Once he learns a few more things, he will be successful."

Whitefish has a break over the holidays and will next wrestle Jan. 2 against Libby at home.