MatCats go 4-3 in duals last week
The Columbia Falls wrestling team went 4-3 in duals last week.
The MatCats lost to Sidney in a dual 41-33 at the Dillon Jamboree Dec. 12 but beat Dillon 57-19.
The next day, they traveled to Butte for the Mining City Duals, where they lost to Missoula Sentinel 65-6 but beat Butte 42-36 and walloped Anaconda 69-10. On Saturday they beat Helena 42-28 in the winners bracket but lost to Havre 58-15. Freshman Winfield West was key in the Butte dual. The match was tied up when West battled Tyler Vetter, getting the pin and the dual win.
“He wrestled hard and aggressive,” said coach Jessie Schaeffer. “He did a great job for us.”
Schaeffer said the team goal was to get into the championship bracket at Butte and they did just that.
Junior Shonn Roberts also had a couple of career wins. He beat Sidney’s Gresh Jones, 4-2 in a tough outing. Jones was Montana’s National Wrestler of the Year last season. The two haven’t been in the same weight class until this year. Roberts also beat Landon Dailey of Helena — another one of the top wrestlers in the state.
In the team’s losses, Schaeffer said wrestlers were making “aggressive mistakes” and they’d work on technique in the coming weeks.
Complete results of several duals were unavailable.
The MatCats have a home dual against Libby on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then travel to Eureka on Saturday for the Buzz Lucey Tournament.
Columbia Falls def. Butte 42-36
98 pounds: Tyler Casey (Butte) def. Manny Guzman (C Falls) pin at 4:50; 106 pounds: Winfield West (C Falls) def. Tyler Vetter (Butte) pin at 3:31;113 pounds: Mason Fetters (C Falls) def. Bryson Henningson (Butte) pin at 1:32; 120 pounds: Caleb Gravelin (C Falls) def. Kelly Merrick (Butte) pin at 2:45; 126 pounds: Shonn Roberts (C Falls) def. Tyler Ossello (Butte) pin at :46; 132 pounds: Braxton Henningson (Butte) def. Haze Bell (C Falls) pin at 2:58; 138 pounds: Chase Ramberg (C Falls) def. Kaleb Ferriter (Butte) 6-5; 145 pounds: Levi Renz (Butte) def. Zayne Brunze (C Falls) 7-3; 152 pounds: Bryan Shaffer def. Kadin Schonsberg (Butte) 7-4; 160 pounds: Andy Anderson (Butte) def. Cody Walters (C Falls) pin at 1:17; 170 pounds: Nick Challeen (Butte) def. Jason Williams (C Falls) pin at 3:14;182 pounds: Wyatt Merkel (Butte) def. Ike Schwikert (C Falls) 9-6; 195 pounds: Lee Cannon (Butte) def. Andrew Burgess (C Falls) pin at 3:12; 220 pounds: Mikey Dennsion (C Falls) won by forfeit; Heavyweight: Spencer Ross (C Falls) def. Connor Lee (Butte) pin at :17.
Columbia Falls 69, Anaconda 10
98 pounds: Manny Guzman (C-Falls) won by forfeit; 106-pounds: Winfield West (C-Falls) won by forfeit; 113 pounds: Mason Fetters (C-Falls) def. Trey Smollack (Anaconda) 6-2; 120 pounds: Caleb Gravelin (C-Falls) def. Brandon Bisch (Anaconda) pin at 3:36; 126 pounds: Shonn Roberts (C-Falls) def. Drew Vaughan (Anaconda) pin at :45; 132 pounds: Haze Bell (C-Falls) def. Chase Reisenauer (Anaconda) pin at :36; 138 pounds: Chase Remberg (C-Falls) def. Brady Sturm (Anaconda) pin at :34; 145 pounds: Bryan Armstrong (Anaconda) def. Zayne Brunze (C-Falls) 8-0; 152 pounds: Bryan Shaffer (C-Falls) def. Jesse Cooper (Anaconda 8-4); 160 pounds: Cody Walters (C-Falls) def. Dylan Flack (Anaconda) pin at 2:53; 170 pounds: Jason Williams (C-Falls) def. Ethan Reich (Anaconda) 5-3; 182 pounds: Ike Schwikert (C-Falls) won by forfeit; 195 pounds: Andrew Burgess (C-Falls) def. Seamus Tweedy (Anaconda) pin at 1:25; 220 pounds: Mikey Dennison (C-Falls) def. Giovani Molina (Anaconda) pin at :32; 285 pounds: Bryce Wigert (Anaconda) def. Spencer Ross (C-Falls) 1:51.