MatCats win third straight divisional crown
The Columbia Falls wrestling squad dominated the field as they rolled to their third straight Northwest Class A divisional crown last week.
Haze Bell (126), Kaleb Gravelin (132), Shonn Roberts (138), Colton Gove (145), Storm Kemppainen (160), Mikey Denison (182) and Spencer Ross (285) all won championships at the Feb. 6-7 tournament in Polson.
The MatCats racked up 255 points. Polson was second with 154 points. The top-four place winners in each weight class qualify for the state Class A tournament this Friday and Saturday at the MetraPark in Billings.
Roberts, a senior, won his fourth divisional title and will attempt to win his fourth-straight Class A title.
The Columbia Falls squad qualified 17 wrestlers for the state tournament. Some MatCats wrestled each other in the divisional tourney for a chance to go to state.
Gove beat teammate Colton Sweeney in the championship, and Cody Walters (152) beat teammate Wyatt Green 2-0 for third and fourth.
The teams to beat at state include Sydney, Belgrade and Havre. Havre is the favorite — it won the Jug Beck tournament in Missoula earlier this year, considered one of the toughest tournaments in the state, pitting wrestlers across school classes.
But anything can happen in the postseason. Last year, the MatCats took third at state.
Coach Jessie Schaeffer likes where his team sets up in the bracket.
“We definitely set ourselves up for a chance at the top three,” he said. And while Havre is the favorite, the postseason can be unpredictable.
“Anything can happen, that’s why we wrestle,” he noted.
He noted that most of the wrestlers in the divisional tourney did better than their seeding. The team travels to Billings Thursday.
Championship Matches
103 — Caleb Bagnell, FT, pin Austin Nelson, CF, 5:27. 113 — Cameron Brown, Pol, dec. Ben Windauer, CF, 6-0. 120 — Cody Warner, FT, dec. Parker Adler, Pol, 4-2. 126 — Haze Bell, CF, pin Laine Young, Lib, 5:53. 132 — Kaleb Gravelin, CF, dec. Jaben Wenzel, Pol, 6-2. 138 — Shonn Roberts, CF, pin Skylar Knutson, Pol, 3:19. 145 — Colton Gove, CF, pin Colton Sweeney, CF, :45. 152 — Zach Crace, Lib, pin Preston Downard, FT, 3:16. 160 — Storm Kemppainen, CF, dec. Judah Prestegaard, WF, 7-3. 170 — Garret Chapel, Lib, pin Tele Seeman, Pol, 1:47. 182 — Mikey Denison, CF, pin, Cole Jones, FT, 2:21. 205 — Mike Corrigan, Pol, pin Bekzat Abdyrazokov, CF, 2:19. 285 — Spencer Ross, CF, pin Steven Quimby, WF, 3:56.
Third Place
103 — Mateo Quinones, Pol, pin Parker McWhirter, WF, 3:48. 113 — Shayne Pierre, Pol, dec. Winfield West, CF, 9-3. 120 — Mason Fetters, CF, pin James Buckley, WF, 1:39. 126 — Thunder Morales, Pol, pin Dillon Thorsteinson, WF, :41. 132 — Tyler Isher, FT, pin Garrett Rice, WF, 2:27. 138 — Hunter Peterson, CF, dec. Bryce Williams, FT, 5-4. 145 — Jon Blanchard, FT, dec. Dylan Parrish, Lib, 9-3. 152 — Cody Walters, CF, dec. Wyatt Green, CF, 2-0. 160 — Michael Miller, Lib, pin Matt Sampson, WF, 2:58. 170 — Miguel Garate, CF, pin Alex Yeadon, Lib, 3:54. 182 — Tristan Austin, FT, win by forfeit. 205 — Nathan Bennett, FT, def. Travis Catina, WF, injury default.